Women’s Soccer | Photo by Christian Peters | The Wright State Guardian
Wright State University Women’s Soccer ties Saturday game against Cleveland State.
Overview of win
Wright State Women’s Soccer remains undefeated in Horizon League play after Saturday night’s action, with Marcella Sizer netting an equalizer in the seventy seventh minute for the Raiders, tying the Cleveland State Vikings 1-1.
The Raiders now move to first in the Horizon League with a record of 3-0-2, and are in a position to secure a Horizon League Tournament spot. Cleveland State had a solid showing versus WSU, but currently sits in fifth at a 2-2-1 record.
The game: moving the ball and penalties
For the first few minutes of the match, WSU got to play its game. The Raiders moved the ball quickly through the defense and midfield, eventually getting it to the outside wingers, who attacked by sending the ball across the box.
The Raiders totaled two corner kicks and three shots in the first seven minutes of the game, piling the pressure on early by forcing the defenders to give up a corner or a ball across the box, and by moving off the ball in the attacking third. However, CSU held firm.
The CSU squad eventually woke up and began its counterattack. For the next 20 minutes, the Vikings slowly held the Raiders in their own half and waited patiently for opportunities. WSU got counterattack opportunities, but nothing too dangerous came of it.
Eventually, the Raiders got impatient, and the defense began to make bad tackles, bringing down a Viking attacker twice in the box for two penalties in just a few minutes.
CSU’s Maddie Young missed the first off the right side of the crossbar, but Kathryn Ramicone nailed the second, giving the Vikings a 1-0 lead in the thirtyfifth minute.
After the halfway point, the game was all WSU. The Raiders shot 11 times to CSU’s three in the second half, shooting 16 times with seven shots on goal throughout the game to CSU’s nine and two.
WSU also used wingers to force corner kicks while holding defensively, giving six corner kicks in the second half, while The Vikings had none.
The pressure put on CSU felt like a goal was inevitable, and in the seventieth minute, Olivia Mace connected with Marcella Sizer for a 1-1 tie. The Raiders had several more opportunities for a second, including a ninetieth minute try from Kaylin Helinsi toward the top corner, but the game would end in a tie.
Moving forward
While a win would be ideal on Alumni Night and a home match for the Raiders, WSU still sits at the top of the Horizon League, an improvement from the past few years.
WSU has usually held steady around fourth through sixth in HLstandings and struggled to make the postseason tournament for years.
As the Raiders moved forward a significant problem in the matchup against Cleveland State was defensive, as the team struggled to control the match’s pace at points of the game, and gave up two penalty kicks in a few minutes.
The Raiders have a rough few matches ahead of them, as the next two matches are against the second and third place teams in the Horizon League, the Detroit Mercy Titans and the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons.
Women’s Soccer will face the Titans first on October 6 at 7 p.m. on the road, then return home to face the Mastodons on October 9 at 1 p.m. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+.
