MEADVILLE, Pa. – The visiting Wabash Little Giants came out on top of a physical battle at Frank B. Fuhrer Field, edging the Gators 1-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference opener for each team.
Wabash's Spase Dorsoleski's leaping header off of a free kick at 58' gave the visitors a 1-0 lead, and despite owning possession for the final 30 minutes of play, the Gators were unable to score the equalizer, and were sent to their third straight defeat.
In a physical battle in which the two teams combined for 26 fouls and four yellow cards, Wabash ended with a slim 14-12 margin in shots, while the Gators finished with five corner kicks to the Little Giants' three.
Allegheny came out of the gates strong, taking two corner kicks and two shots in the opening three minutes of action, but were unable to score the first goal. Play was wide open for the duration of the half, with each team receiving a number of scoring chances, many off of set pieces resulting from fouls.
In the 16th minute, the Gators'
Jack Walsh had a pair of scoring chances, receiving long feeds from midfield both times only to see his attempts go wide, before Allegheny keeper
Chris DeNelle made a save off of a blast of a free kick five minutes later. Two more Wabash efforts, at 31' and '33, both went wide, before Little Giant keeper Dayton Jennings made a quick save off of a back-heel flick from
Jonas Skattum up close with 11 minutes left in the half.
The Skattum chance was the final one for either side in the opening stanza, and the teams headed into the break in a scoreless deadlock.
Wabash opened the second frame with momentum, racking up a trio of shots in the first five minutes, but one went wide, one was blocked, and a third was saved by DeNelle to keep the game scoreless.
Moments after the DeNelle save, the Gators had a long possession deep inside Little Giant territory, resulting in a corner kick. Nothing came from the corner attempt, and on the ensuing Wabash possession, the Gators were whistled for a foul near the sideline 30 yards out. This time, Wabash was able to cash in on the set piece, as Alexiz Arellano lofted a high free kick onto the doorstep, and Dorsoleski out-leaped everyone to head it into the net and put his squad up 1-0 with just over 37 minutes left in regulation.
The Little Giants then looked to add some insurance, taking advantage of an Allegheny foul and subsequent yellow card to regain possession and tally four shots in the next three minutes. However, two were blocked, before DeNelle came up with his fourth save of the game with 29 minutes left to keep the deficit at one.
Allegheny then looked to counter, and kept possession for a number of long stretches over the remainder of the match, but Jennings proved up to the task in goal. In the 63rd minute, the Wabash netminder made a save on a
Jorge Olan shot in close, before he denied a header from
Bryce Evans off of a free kick in the 72nd minute.
The physicality then picked up, with the teams combining for eight fouls over the final 15 minutes of regulation. The multitude of whistles and stoppages effectively hindered the offenses of each squad, as just one shot was taken in the last minute of play, a leaping header by Skattum in the box that went just wide. The Gators tried one last push over the final three minutes of play, but were kept at bay in the middle third of the field by the Wabash defense.
DeNelle ended the day with four saves between the pipes for Allegheny, while Jennings made five saves for Wabash. A total of seven Gators finished with at least one shot, led by five from Skattum.
The Gators will now have a quick turnaround as they look to snap their three-game skid, as they host Mount Union in a 3 p.m. Sunday matinee at Frank B. Fuhrer Field.
