For the second time in four seasons, the Wabash College soccer team is preparing for the semifinal round of the North Coast Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Tournament. The Little Giants travel to Oberlin College as the three seed and will play the second-seeded Yeomen Wednesday at 7 p.m.
 
Wabash earned a tournament berth in the 2013 season, the first ever for the Little Giants since joining the league in 1999. Wabash head coach Chris Keller made it clear in preseason the goal was no longer to earn a berth in the tournament. He wants that to be a common occurrence for his squads.
 
"The expectation for this program now is to be in the tournament every year. I know that can be very challenging to accomplish in a very competitive conference like the North Coast. It's one of our steps to reach our ultimate goal of winning the conference championship."
 
The Little Giants (11-5-2, 6-2-1 NCAC) dropped a 2-1 contest in double overtime in the regular season meeting between the two teams at Wabash. Since that loss the team only surrendered two goals over the next six matches with four shutouts. The Little Giants only allowed six goals in their nine conference contests.
 
"We pride ourselves on defending from the very front and from everyone who steps on the pitch. We want to be tactically sound and know what to do in every situation that can come up in a game. Our organization and communication has been good and the leadership from our upperclassmen in the back has really helped us achieve the lowest total goals allowed and goals-against-average in the conference this year. "
 
The Little Giants will need a good defensive effort against the Yeomen. Oberlin (14-3-1, 7-2-0 NCAC) averaged 2.5 goals a game this season led by Nick Wertman with 14 goals as the second-best scorer among NCAC players.
 
Wabash rallied against the Yeomen in the first meeting. After Tim Williams gave Oberlin a 1-0 lead in the first half, Nikola Kajmakoski scored the game-tying goal with ten minutes left in regulation time. The Little Giants kept the game scoreless through the first overtime before notched the game-winner in the first minute of the final extra period for Oberlin. Kajmakoski led the Little Giants in scoring this season with seven goals.
 
"I thought we played well against Oberlin in the regular season contest. We had our chances to score. They're a very good team. We need to be a little bit more dynamic going forward and little bit cleaner in the attacking middle to third. We also need to create more opportunities against Oberlin's defense. I think we'll have opportunities to attack. We have to more aggressive than we have been the past few games. We also need to keep playing good defense and maintain our focus for all 90 minutes."
 
Wednesday's semifinal match begins at 7 p.m. Admission is $7 for adults and $3 for children 18 years of age or younger. Students from NCAC institutions will be admitted free of charge with a school ID. The winner will advance to Saturday's conference championship match against the winner of Wednesday's other semifinal contest between DePauw and Kenyon.