Wabash jumped out to an early lead in its 2019 North Coast Athletic Conference season-opening lacrosse game at home versus Hiram College Saturday and never looked back, outscoring the visiting Terriers 10-4 in the first half on the way to a 15-6 victory.
 
The win was the third all time for Wabash (4-5, 1-0 NCAC) in NCAC play and marked the first time in program history the Little Giants have opened the year with a 1-0 conference record. Wabash also improved to 3-1 at home for the season; the most home wins in a season for a Little Giant lacrosse team.
 
Joseph Plencner gave Wabash the early lead with a goal 3:01 into the contest. The freshman pushed the lead to 2-0 three minutes later with his second of three goals in the game. Hiram (6-3, 0-2 NCAC) evened the score with back-to-back goals before Collin Brennan put Wabash in front for good with 5:26 left to play in the first period. Chase Cochran added a late goal in the period to put the Little Giants up 4-2 after one.
 
Wabash outscored the Terriers 6-2 in the second period. Steven Stark started the scoring with an unassisted goal in the first 30 seconds of the period. Brennan scored two more goals in the second period along with scores from Tucker Dixon, AJ Shaheen, and Drayden Hansen to put Wabash in front 10-2. Hiram scored twice in the final two minutes to cut the advantage to 10-4 at halftime.
 
Hiram scored an early third-period goal before Dixon and Plencner added to the Wabash total for a 12-5 lead heading into the final period of play.
 
The Little Giants put the game away with goals from Cochran, Dixon, and Brennan in the fourth. Hiram scored a late goal to provide the final score of 15-6.
 
Wabash kept Hiram's offense in check all afternoon. The Little Giants allowed only 15 total shots on goal and 30 total attempts for the game. Max Atkins finished with nine saves for the Little Giants. Wabash held the Terriers to one goal on four extra-man opportunities and caused 11 turnovers overall. Stark and Cochran both led the way with two caused turnovers. Stark scooped up a team-best six ground balls with Plencner finishing with two ground balls. 
 
Wabash finished the game with 24 successful clearing attempts in 29 tries. The Little Giants were 3-of-6 on man-up opportunities.
 
The victory puts Wabash in a tie for first place in the NCAC standings with Wooster (2-0), Denison (1-0), and Ohio Wesleyan (1-0). The Little Giants continue their home stand Wednesday with a 4 p.m. non-conference contest against Earlham College.