Men's Soccer opens postseason Thursday against IUPUI

Thursday, November 10

Cleveland, OH

4 PM

Wright State University

IUPUI (Semifinal)

Photo by: Joseph Craven

11/9/2022 12:45:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Watch on ESPN+HL Championship Central

CLEVELAND — The Wright State men's soccer team opens postseason play on Thursday afternoon as the No. 2-seeded Raiders take on No. 3 IUPUI in the Horizon League Championship semifinals. First kick from Cleveland is set for 4 p.m. and the match is expected to be streamed on ESPN+.

MATCH INFORMATION
Thursday, November 10 - 4 p.m. - Watch - Live Stats

LAST TIME OUT
Wright State was last in action back on November 2, battling to a 2-2 draw with Detroit Mercy in the regular season finale to lock up the No. 2 seed for the tournament and get the first round bye. In the finale, the Raiders got a pair of first half goals, with Joe Kouadio and Reece Allbaugh both finding the back of the net.

SCOUTING THE JAGS
IUPUI compiled a 6-6-6 overall record with a 4-2-3 mark in Horizon League play this fall, advancing to the tournament semifinals with a 1-0 home victory over Detroit Mercy back on November 6 thanks to Lukas Hackaa's 72nd minute penalty kick goal. The Jaguars were great at home this season, going 5-2-2 in Indianapolis, but were just 1-4-4 on the road during the regular season.

HISTORY VS. IUPUI
Wright State and IUPUI will meet for the 24th time, with the Raiders holding a 18-4-1 all-time mark against the Jaguars after a 2-2 draw at Alumni Field on September 10 in the Horizon League opener for both teams.
All the scoring in the first meeting came in the second half, with IUPUI jumping out to a two goal lead behind scores from Josemir Gomez and Lukas Hackaa before the Raiders responded with tallies from Conner Osterolt and a PK goal from Joe Kouadio.

BACK IN THE POSTSEASON
Wright State will play in the Horizon League postseason for the first time since 2019 when the Raiders won the title over Milwaukee in penalty kicks and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, where they defeated Notre Dame in the first round before falling to national seed Michigan in penalty kicks.

HORIZON LEAGUE RAIDERS
Five Raiders received All-Horizon League honors last week, as Pierson Davis was named to the first team and Reece Allbaugh, Sebastian Jimenez, Joe Kouadio and Brock Pickett were all named to the second team.
Davis started and played in all 16 regular season contests with a team-best 1,440 minutes as he has played the full 90 minutes in every match while anchoring the Raider backline. Davis' play helped lead Raider defense to a 1.40 goals against average, the fourth-best mark in the Horizon League.

Allbaugh has started and played in all 16 of the team's regular season contests, logging 1,326 minutes, while his five goals are tied for the Wright State team lead and his 11 total points are the second-most on the Raider roster Allbaugh's 61 total shots leads the team and the Horizon League, as do his 29 shots on goal. Kouadio started 14 games and played in all 16 of the team's contests, logging 973 minutes, as his 13 points lead the Raider roster while his five goals are tied for the Wright State team lead and his 11 total points are the second-most on the Raider roster. Pickett started and played in 15 of the team's regular season contests, logging 1,202 minutes while recording a goal and assist on nine shots, four of which have been on goal.

Jimenez started 11 of the team's 16 contests, logging just under 1,000 minutes with three shutouts this season, including a pair in Horizon League play. His 1.129 goals against average is the third-best in the Horizon League, while he has only allowed 12 total goals. In Horizon League play, his goals against average dropped down to 1.000. Jimenez has 45 total saves this season and 27 saves in Horizon League play, both the fifth-best in the HL, while his 4.09 saves per game is also the fifth-best in the Horizon.

ON THE RAIDER SIDELINE
Head coach Jake Slemker is no stranger to the Raider sidelines, having been involved as a player, assistant coach and associate head coach with the program before taking the reigns in 2018. He is joined by three fresh faces on this season's staff - Alex Van der Sluijs, Adam Maloney and Ian Molfenter. Van der Sluijs joins the Raiders after a four-season stint as the head men's soccer coach at Wilmington College, guiding the Fightin' Quakers to four consecutive winning seasons and being named the 2021 OAC Coach of the Year.

Molfenter joined the Raiders after serving as a Player Development Intern with the Columbus Crew and has also managed both soccer programs at Carroll High School. He began his collegiate career at Wright State, playing one season for the Raiders (2017) before transferring to Wilmington College, where he played under Van der Sluijs. Maloney most recently was an assistant coach at Wilmington College under Van der Sluijs and played collegiately as a goalkeeper at Xavier before graduating from Wright State with a degree in organizational leadership in 2008.

DO I KNOW YOU?
Wright State will see a familiar face on the opposing bench, as IUPUI first year head coach Sid van Druenen moved west to lead the Jaguars following five seasons at Wright State, including serving as the Raiders' top assistant before heading to IUPUI. IUPUI assistant Arturo Rodriguez also spent time on the Raider staff from 2019-2021 before joining van Druenen.

WELCOME TO THE TEAM
Wright State welcomed 10 new players to this year's roster – seven transfers and three freshmen. Uche Odemena, Cameron Radeke and Max Williams begin their collegiate careers this fall, while Jacob Adams, Noah Boffo, Kobe Perlaza, Dominic Ruffolo, Brady Shapiro, Logan Smith and Cole Werthmuller continue their careers in the Green and Gold.

INTERNATIONAL FLARE
Wright State's 2022 roster features six international players from Brazil, England, France, Portugal, Spain and Wales, while nine states are represented: Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas.