GREENCASTLE, Ind. — Wabash College created three second-half corner kick opportunities but could not break through offensively in a 5-0 North Coast Athletic Conference men's soccer loss to rival DePauw University Wednesday night at Reavis Stadium.
Wabash (10-6-1, 1-4-0 NCAC) was held without a shot in the contest. DePauw (10-3-1, 2-2-1 NCAC) finished with 17 shots, including 10 on goal. Little Giants goalkeeper Rafael Cordova played all 90 minutes and recorded five saves, including four in the second half.
The Tigers took an early lead when Julian Bell scored an unassisted bicycle-kick goal at the 10:19 mark of the first half. Cordova helped keep the Little Giants within a goal, turning away a shot by Sami Ahmed in the 30th minute. Wabash held DePauw scoreless through another stretch of offensive pressure before Braden Murphey scored off an assist from Bell with 55 seconds remaining in the opening period to give the Tigers a 2-0 halftime advantage.
DePauw extended its lead to 3-0 when Harrison Engel scored off a pass from Roman Girandola at 52:07. Wabash responded with its strongest offensive pressure of the match, earning three corner kicks in a span of less than five minutes. The Little Giants generated opportunities at 52:43, 56:59 and 57:19 but could not convert those chances into a shot.
Cordova kept the Tigers off the scoreboard during the next stretch, making consecutive saves on shots by Murphey and Girandola seven seconds apart in the 65th minute. He added another stop against Bell in the 69th minute as the Little Giants continued to battle defensively.
DePauw added two late goals to complete the scoring. Cole Garofola scored off an assist from Aditya Yogesh at 78:12, and Cayden Sumner connected on a pass from Alek Habecker at 81:59. Cordova made his fifth and final save of the match in the 88th minute.
Bell led DePauw with four shots, including two on goal, and finished with a goal and an assist. Murphey also put both of his shot attempts on goal. Tigers goalkeeper Sam Ortner played all 90 minutes to earn the shutout.
Wabash returns to Fischer Field on Saturday, Oct. 24, for a 1 p.m. NCAC match against Wittenberg University.
