A slow beginning for the Wabash soccer team allowed the University of Chicago to take an early lead on the way to a 1-0 victory over the Little Giants at Mud Hollow Stadium Wednesday night.

Wabash could manage only one shot over the first 45 minutes of the match against the Maroons, never mustering a shot on goal. The Little Giants would finish the match with only five total shot attempts and never tested the Chicago goalkeeper during the contest.

View the final box score here. View photos from the match here.

"It's disappointing to lose at home and lose in just your third match of the season," Wabash head coach Roberto Giannini said. "What's more disappointing, though, is to not really show up in the first half like we did tonight. We were disorganized; we did not play with any heart. We weren't mentally prepared. When Dylan Andrew picked up his second yellow card and we went down a man, then we put on the extra effort. At that time we gave 110 percent, which is what we should be doing from the beginning."

Wabash went down a player when Andrew picked up his second yellow card of the match less than a minute after Chicago scored the lone goal of the match. The Maroons fired a ball toward Wabash goalkeeper Matt Paul, who punched the ball to the far side of the box. However, Chicago's Alan Pikna stepped up and headed the ball into the net off the left post.

The Little Giants were more aggressive offensively in the final 45 minutes, picking up four shot attempts. The Chicago defense never allowed Wabash to mount a solid scoring attack, as the Little Giants finished the match without a shot on goal.

Paul turned aside four of the five shots on goal by the Maroons (2-1-0).

“You really couldn't tell we were down a man the way we played in the second half,” Giannini said. “We finally got close to their goal and took some shots. When you look at a game like this and you understand that you really threw it away because of a lack of effort. If we started with the same attitude and heart that we showed in the final half, we could have given ourselves a chance to win. I'm not saying we would have won — Chicago is a very good team and is well coached — but the second half proved we had the ability to compete with them physically, tactically, and technically.”

Wabash's record is even at 1-1-1. The Little Giants return to action Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. at home against Rose-Hulman.