Rivalry game in Greencastle ends with 2-2 tie
Physicality and theatrics ran wild in Greencastle when the Little Giants traveled to take on their arch rivals, the DePauw Tigers. While most students were heading home for fall break, on Wednesday, October 9, Wabash soccer and its faithful made the short trip to DePauw for a thrilling opening to North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) play.
Both teams entered the contest knowing it could be the game to determine who would make the four-team NCAC tournament. In the preseason coaches’ poll, the Little Giants and Tigers tied for fourth place, setting the stage for one team to make the playoffs and one to miss them.
The first goal came less than five minutes into the game, when keeper Fernando Ramos ’25 was drawn out of the goal in a race for the ball. After a collision between Ramos and DePauw’s Branden Murphy, the goal was left empty for Murphy to score.
Wabash was quick to respond with a goal of their own. Bruno Zamora ’25 evened out the score seven minutes later, on an assist by Jose Escalante ’26 when he called a pass just a few feet away from the net and hit his shot before the keeper Sam Ortner could recover.
After the early scores, both teams struggled to find any more shots against suffocating defensive pressure.
The half probably wouldn’t have seen another goal, but in the 32nd minute Ramos was called for a foul after he collided with a DePauw player in another race for the ball. After an official review, the referees decided the foul occurred in the box and they awarded the Tigers a penalty kick. It was DePauw’s Matthew Fogo who gave his team the lead on the penalty kick.
The Little Giants went into the second half down 2-1.
Every part of the second half was steeped with chaos. From the whistle, back-and-forth action kept fans on the edge of their seats until time expired. And emotions ran high. It was everything anyone could want out of a rivalry match with such high stakes.
The Little Giants kept the pressure on the Tiger’s defense for nearly the entire half. Dynamic offense gave Wabash multiple chances to score throughout the half, but they couldn’t seem to finish. Several close calls left fans tormented as time began to run low. The two teams looked to be stuck in a stalemate that would send Wabash home defeated.
DePauw wasn’t entirely silent through the second half offensively, as they rallied for a few mad dashes at the Wabash goal when they slipped by the Little Giants in the midfield.
If it hadn’t been for Ramos’s heroics between the sticks, the Tigers would have taken a two point lead on more than one occasion. Although only credited for one save, Ramos shut down several attempts with his aggressive play.
“The first half was disappointing,” said Ramos. “But I had to pull through for my brothers in the end.”
As the clock ran lower, tension climbed and yellow cards began flying in all directions. 10 yellow cards and 33 penalties were given out during the course of the game.
The biggest of those came in the 77th minute. Physical play from DePauw’s Alec McCarty crossed the line and Wabash was awarded a penalty kick.
Under the lights with a chance to tie the game, Jesse Martinez ’26 lined up for a one-on-one shot against the Tiger’s keeper.
“I can feel the support from the bench,” said Martinez. “I can feel the support from the fans. But mentally, when you’re there by yourself, it’s just confidence running through your mind. I got this. I got this. I know I’m going to put the ball in the back of the net.”
The shot sailed past the Tiger’s keeper, and suddenly the score was even.
With 13 minutes left to play, a new wave of energy broke over the players. The Dannies, fighting to break the tie on their home turf, and Wabash, now with a chance to win the game, led a wild series of attacks and counter attacks, each one closer to finding the net. A bench-clearing near-brawl was the height of tension in the game as both teams hoped for a tie breaker to defeat their rival.
The final scare came in the final minute of a game when, out of a tangled mess of bodies in the box, a shot slipped between the Wabash goalposts. The officials waved off the goal, citing a foul on the Tigers, and the outraged Dannies were assessed two yellow cards as time expired with the rivals tied at two apiece.
“We came out in the second half and absolutely dominated the whole 45 minutes,” said Head Soccer Coach Chris Keller. “It was only a matter of time before we got the equalizer. I think if we played another 15 minutes, this game’s over and we win.”
The Little Giants move to 7-2-2 (0-0-1 NCAC), and the Tigers stand at 6-3-3 (0-1-1 NCAC), after they had previously lost to Kenyon. While a win would have set them up perfectly for a trip to the NCAC tournament, Wabash soccer continues to be a top-contender for a conference playoff berth.
“We were able to come out with a hard point on the road,” said Keller. “Anytime you’re on the road in NCAC, you want to at least get a point… I thought we had some chances to put the third [goal] away, but I’m really proud of how we played and how we fought.”