Men’s Soccer battles to important draw in Cleveland

Saturday, October 28

Cleveland, OH / Krenzler Field

7 PM

Wright State University

3-8-5, 2-4-2

Cleveland State

3-8-5, 2-2-4

Wright St.

Cleveland St.

Photo by: Alexis Hutchinson

10/28/2023 9:35:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

CLEVELAND – The Wright State men's soccer team battled to a 1-1 draw on Saturday night at Cleveland State, earning a much need point in the Horizon League standings heading into next week's regular season finale.

With the draw, Wright State (3-8-5, 2-4-2 Horizon) notched its eighth point of the season, while Saturday's final moved Cleveland State (3-8-5, 2-2-4 Horizon) up to 10 points in the League standings. Cleveland State will enter Wednesday's final day of the regular season in the sixth and final position for advancement into the Horizon League tournament. Wright State faces Northern Kentucky on Wednesday, with NKU currently at nine points in the standings. Along with the Raiders, RMU and Milwaukee also have eight points.

Wright State and Northern Kentucky will face off Wednesday at Alumni Field. All matches around the League on Wednesday will be 2 p.m. starts, while Raider fans can follow the action on live stats or watch on ESPN+.

On Saturday night, the Raiders and Cleveland State were knotted at zero after the opening 45 minutes as Wright State held an 8-2 shot advantage and tallied both first half shots on frame.

The night's second half action came in a flurry, first in the 59th minute when Reece Allbaugh grabbed a bad pass from the hosts and buried the ball into the near post from just outside the box. The lead was short lived, however, as Cleveland State responded with the equalizer just 50 seconds later on Marko Rimac's goal from 25 yards out.

Despite chances for both sides from there, the match appeared to be closing towards the draw until the final minute of play with another flurry of activity. In the 89th minute, Cleveland State was awarded a penalty kick, but Danilo Bakoc proceeded to miss the PK opportunity. In the closing seconds, Rimac and Cleveland State had a final chance, but his shot was saved by Raider keeper Alessandro Malterer with 10 seconds to play.

Cole Werthmuller led all players with six shots while Allbaugh added four shots for the Raiders. Harrison Rody tallied a pair of shots and four other Raiders had an attempt each. Rimac's five shots led Cleveland State as Cleveland State keeper Omeed Naeemy and Malterer each finished with four saves.