Wright State v.s Bradley Men’s Soccer Game | Photo by Christian Peters | The Wright State Guardian
After a rough season opener against Akron, Wright State University (WSU) men’s soccer played two matches this week against fourteenth rated Kentucky and Bradley.
WSU fell to the Wildcats 0-3 off of back-to-back goals from Eythor Bjorgolfsson but would strike early against Bradley, winning their first home game of the regular season 2-1.
The Raiders will be back in action on Sept. 11 against IUPUI to open Horizon League play.
Need to finish
In the match against Kentucky, WSU had solid chances but were not quite able to find the back of the net.
The Wildcats were first to the ball more often than the Raiders, dominating possession throughout the game. However, both teams had trouble in the attacking third in the first half, with WSU only taking one shot and UK only taking three.
Daniel Evans was still able to find the back of the net with one of those shots for the Wildcats, scoring in the 35th minute to give UK the advantage coming into the second half.
The second half was a different story for the Wildcats, who would take 14 shots through the rest of the game. Bjorgolfsson would score his back-to-back goals here, one in minute 58 and one in minute 61.
WSU had some excellent runs to the corner and into the box from Zion Beaton and Joe Kouadio in the second half, but even with five corner kicks to UK’s three, they were unable to put a single shot on goal.
Breaking Bradley
Under Head Coach Jake Slemker, the Raiders seemed ready for their first home game against Bradley, jumping on the Braves off of the starting whistle.
Kouadio scored first for the Raiders, with a ball in the bottom-left corner giving the Raiders a 1-0 lead. WSU found the back of the net once again before the end of the half, with Ids Hannema connecting with Alex Hummel before the intermission for the finish.
BU woke up in the second half, coming out of the gate with fury, as Danny Collins scored in the 49th minute to bring them within one of WSU. However, WSU’s defense stood strong for the rest of the match, as two big saves in the rest of the half secured the win.
The Raiders were able to find more chances on the net in this match, with both WSU and BU having five shots on goal throughout the game.
Looking to league play
The Jaguars have struggled so far in their season, ending 0-0 against Bowling Green after double overtime, and losing to Xavier 1-3.
The Raiders tied Xavier in the preseason, who have also struggled so far, with their win against Bradley making their record 1-2.
The Jaguars’ shortened season in the spring would see them at the bottom of the Horizon League 0-6 and losing to WSU 0-2.
It seems that the Raiders will have the advantage heading into the Sept. 11 game, but the Jaguars will fight hard, as they have something to prove.
