It has been a historic season for the Wabash lacrosse team, and the accolades keep coming. For the first time in program history, the team beat Wittenberg 10-6 at Fischer Field on April 9 as they continue through their North Coast Athletic Conference play.
“This is the year where we finally get over that hump of only having one conference win every year,” said attacker Quinn Fitzgerald ’26. And it started against Wittenberg. So, we are very well prepared now. We’ve learned a lot about ourselves these last few games, and it’s just about keeping momentum going for us.”
It was a well-earned win for a team that has faced tough competition, including a battle against nationally-ranked Denison University where they lost 4-20 in Granville, Ohio on April 5. Despite Fitzgerald becoming third in the all-time leading scorer list, there were a lot of improvements to be made still.
“We can watch the film, we can learn from them and we have to make some quick adjustments here,” said Head Lacrosse Coach Chris Burke. “The one thing that I really don’t want that stretch to affect is the confidence of our guys.”
Facing a team such as the Big Red gives you more than just film. It also teaches you what it takes to be at the top. And the team is using that to move themselves higher in the conference.
“For our guys, that’s a pretty telling sign of where we need to go if we want to compete in those games,” said Burke. “It sets us up pretty well having got those games out of the way between the best in the conference. ”
And these improvements were more than noticeable against the Tigers. Fitzgerald added to his impressive season with a goal to start off the Wabash team before scoring another in the third period. After going down in the second period, the team needed some energy, Charlie Rafalko ’28 delivered as he made his 20th goal of the season to end the Tigers’ scoring streak. Evan Bair ’28 tied the game before attacker Jake Pippen ’26 took the lead with two goals. The team was firing at all cylinders to ensure they would keep momentum against Wittenberg.
“It’s good to see these guys play at such a high level because It gives you a lot of hope for the future of this program and what it’s going to become,” said Fitzgerald. “Because those are the guys who are going to continue on to build this thing. We lean on those guys a lot. It’s really good to see them succeed.”
It was more than just the team that helped propel the Little Giants to a dominant win for the lacrosse team. For only the third time in the season, the Little Giants got to play in front of a home crowd, and they were not disappointed.
“Crowd momentum is a real thing, but on the field, we feel it a lot, and I think that we feed off of the crowd very much,” said Fitzgerald. “Being at home was a pretty big help for us. This was only our third home game of the season. We’ve been road warriors this year, so it felt really good to come back home and play in front of our friends and our family.”
Confidence was surely not a problem for the Little Giants when they beat Wittenberg in historic fashion. Look out for this team as they continue conference play with another game at Fischer Field on April 12, when they face Oberlin College. Then they will have a quick turnaround when they travel to face rival DePauw University on April 15. One thing for certain is that the Wabash lacrosse team will capitalize on their momentum and look to continue their historic season.