NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. — Wabash scored four unanswered first-half goals Sunday afternoon to erase an early deficit and defeat Manchester University 4-1 at Spartan Stadium, giving the Little Giants their fourth consecutive victory to open the season.
Wabash improved to 4-0, matching its 4-0 start to the 2024 campaign for the program's best opening stretch since the 2015 Little Giants won their first eight matches. Manchester fell to 1-3.
The Spartans struck first when Quentin Taylor scored an unassisted goal in the fifth minute for a 1-0 lead. Wabash needed less than three minutes to respond.
Bryce Kinnaman scored off an Alfredo Campos assist at 7:35 to even the match at 1-1. Campos created another scoring chance less than four minutes later, setting up Ty Freedman for his first goal of the season at 10:58 to give Wabash a 2-1 advantage. Freedman's goal proved to be the game-winner.
Kinnaman added his second goal of the match in the 20th minute, converting a pass from Ethan Simmons for a 3-1 lead. The assist was Simmons' first of the season.
Simmons moved from distributor to scorer just over six minutes later. He finished a pass from Danny Tkachuk at 25:57 for his first goal of the season and a 4-1 Wabash advantage.
Kinnaman nearly completed a first-half hat trick later in the period, but his attempt struck the left post. The Little Giants took their three-goal advantage into halftime after putting six shots on goal in the opening 45 minutes.
Wabash continued to control the attack after halftime despite being unable to add to its lead. The Little Giants generated three corner kicks over the opening 17 minutes of the second half and produced scoring chances from Kinnaman, Carson Prather and Danny Escobedo.
Jonathan Parr put a shot on goal in the 69th minute before Kinnaman forced another save in the 78th.
The Wabash defense limited Manchester to five shots overall and just one attempt on goal. The Spartans failed to put a shot on frame after Taylor's early goal.
Kinnaman led the Little Giants with two goals while taking a team-high six shots and placing four on goal. Campos collected two assists and put two of his three shots on frame. Simmons finished with a goal and an assist, while Freedman scored on his only shot attempt.
Wabash finished with a 14-5 advantage in total shots and put 10 attempts on goal compared with one for Manchester. Spartans goalkeeper Will Martin played all 90 minutes and made five saves.
The Little Giants return home Wednesday to face Rose-Hulman at 5 p.m. at Fischer Field.
