Men's Soccer set for Sunday meeting in Jacksonville

Sunday, August 28

Jacksonville, FL

1 PM

Wright State University

Jacksonville

Photo by: Jessica Roberts

8/27/2022 12:15:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Watch on ESPN+Follow Live Stats

JACKSONVILLE, FL — The Wright State men's soccer team wraps up its trip to Florida with a Sunday afternoon matchup against Jacksonville as the Raiders look for their first victory of the young season. Sunday's match is expected to be available on ESPN+.

MATCH INFORMATION
Sunday, August 28 - 1 p.m. - Watch - Live Stats

LAST TIME OUT
The Raiders opened the year at Stetson on Thursday, enduring an hour weather delay and steady rain in the later portions of the match while battling to a 0-0 draw. Wright State outshot Stetson 16-13, but the difference came in quality attempts, as the Raiders produced eight shots on goal to the Hatters' one, which was easily turned away by Wright State keeper Sebastian Jimenez in the first half. Reece Allbaugh, Joe Kouadio and Conner Osterholt each had three shots for the Raiders, with Allbaugh's two attempts on frame the only player on either side with multiple quality attempts.

SCOUTING THE DOLPHINS
Jacksonville finished last season 3-10-1 with a 2-4-1 ASUN record, missing out on the postseason. The Dolphins opened 2022 on Thursday night with a 2-2 draw against fellow Horizon League member Detroit Mercy, with an early first half goal from Shane Clancy before Joshua Araujo-Wilson's 88th minute score helped pull Jacksonville to the tie.

HISTORY VS. JACKSONVILLE
This will be the second all-time meeting between Wright State and Jacksonville after the Raiders were 3-2 winners in the lone other meeting back on September 8, 2006, in a match also played in Jacksonville.

FIRST TIMERS
Wright State had a host of players see their first action donning the Green and Gold on Thursday night: sophomore Pierson Davis, freshmen Uche Odemena and Cole Werthmuller and transfers Jacob Adams, Nico Likulia and Brady Shapiro. Davis and Shapiro each logged 90 minutes, while Adams recorded a shot in his 65 minutes, Likulia had an attempt of his own in 78 minutes and both Odemena (12 minutes, 1 shot) and Werthmuller (21 minutes, 2 shots) came off the bench.

HORIZON LEAGUE RAIDERS
Four Raiders received All-Horizon League honors last fall, including returners Reece Allbaugh (Second Team), Conner Osterholt and Brock Pickett (All-Freshman Team). Allbaugh finished the season with a team-leading 17 points in 2021 behind six goals and five assists as he played in 15 matches with eight starts and accumulated over 700 minutes of action. He scored all six of his goals during Horizon League play, including a hat trick against Cleveland State in a comeback win. Osterholt tallied a trio of goals, all in Horizon League play, with nine starts as he played in 16 matches and nearly 800 minutes. He finished the year with 25 shot attempts, the third-most on the Raider roster, while his 14 shots on goal were the most on the team. Pickett started seven matches and played in 15 matches overall last fall across just shy of 800 minutes.

NEW TO THE SIDELINES
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.

WELCOME TO THE TEAM
Wright State welcomes 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.

PRESEASON POLL
The Raiders were picked fourth in the 2022 Horizon League preseason coaches poll. Wright State tallied 68 total points and one first place vote in the poll, which the league's 10 head coaches voted on.

NEXT UP
Follwoing Sunday's match, the Raiders return to Ohio for their next two matches – at Akron and Ohio State to begin September – before returning to Alumni Field for the home and Horizon League opener on September 10 against IUPUI.