The Wabash soccer team locked up a spot in the upcoming North Coast Athletic Conference men's soccer tournament Wednesday afternoon by virtue of its 1-1 home tie versus DePauw.

The draw gives Wabash a 5-2-1 record in conference matches, putting the Little Giants in third place in the standings thanks to a 4-1 loss by Denison at Ohio Wesleyan Wednesday night. The Big Red are fourth at 5-3 in NCAC games, while the tie puts DePauw in fifth place with a 4-3-1 mark.

Wabash closes the regular season at Wooster Saturday at 5 p.m. while Denison travels to DePauw. The head-to-head matchup between Denison and DePauw guarantees the Little Giants their first appearance in the NCAC tournament regardless of the result. A victory by Wabash Saturday would give the team its best season finish in school history. The Little Giants are tied with the 12-win efforts of the 1990 and 1996 teams.

Riley Pelton gave Wabash an early lead in Wednesday match versus its arch-rival. Pelton collected a pass from Alexiz Arellano and found the back of the net in the 32 minute for a 1-0 lead for the Little Giants. DePauw responded with a goal by eight minutes later when Taras Tataryn scored his first goal of the season after slipping through the Wabash defense to even the score.

Wabash outshot the Tigers 20-to-16 overall and held an 8-to-6 edge in shots on goal. Dayton Jennings finished the game with five saves. Pelton blasted 10 shots with five shots on goal to pace the Wabash offense.

"I was pleased with the way we defended against DePauw today overall," Wabash head coach Chris Keller said. "They are a very dangerous team. I thought our front line played very well. Pelton put in a great effort today and the guys out wide helped create a lot of opportunities. I was really happy with our offense overall. We just missed out on a couple of chances for goals to take the win.

"The positives are we control our own destiny heading to Wooster in terms of making the tournament and we went the entire season without losing a single regular season home match, which was one of our goals. We made Mud Hollow Stadium a tough place for a visiting team to try and get a result."

The Little Giants will learn which team they will face in the NCAC Tournament after Saturday's match at Wooster. The tourney starts Wednesday, November 5 at the two higher seeds in the four-team field of qualifiers.