Wright State men’s soccer: Raiders enter final stretch in first place in league

And though they were outscored by a combined 8-1, the schedule was brutal. All of the matches were on the road, and two were against national top-20 teams in Ohio State and Akron.

But Slemker wasn’t so sure how his players were processing the results. That’s why he had to turn into part coach and part psychologist.

“We had to keep preaching to the guys: ‘It’s a long season. We’re doing the right things. The goals will come,’” he said.

“That’s the thing that comes later in the season — finding that rhythm in the final third (of the field) and getting those goals. We had to keep telling the guys, ‘It’s going to work out. We’ve just got to keep getting a little bit better and keep grinding, and things will start turning.’”

The Raiders have gone 4-0-3 since the rocky start, vaulting to first in the league at 4-0-2. They’ve scored 14 goals and given up just seven in that span.

Their last three HL matches are at third-place Oakland (2-1-1, 2-7-1 overall) at 1 p.m. Saturday, at second-place Cleveland State (4-0-1, 8-1-2) on Oct. 29 and home against fifth-place Detroit Mercy (1-1-3, 2-5-4) on Nov. 2.

The six-team league tourney is Nov. 6-12 with the No. 1 seeding getting a first-round bye and hosting the semifinals and finals.

“We’re trying to fine-tune some of the things that we aren’t real happy about, even though we’ve won,” Slemker said. “The group is like sponges right now. We’re really giving them a lot of information, and hopefully they can apply it.”

The Raiders are balanced on offense with senior forward Joe Kouadio notching a team-high eight points (three goals, one assist) and junior forward Reece Allbaugh (three goals, one assist) and fifth-year senior forward Nico Likulia (two goals, three assists) with seven apiece.

Allbaugh is tied for first in the league with 40 shots and first in shots on goal with 19.

“We knew he could score goals. He created a lot of chances and was really close the first couple games. But he’s starting to find his way and is putting the ball in the back of the net, which gives us another threat in the front three,” Slemker said.

Goal-keeper Sebastian Jimenez, a fifth-year senior, is third in the league in goals-against average at 1.14. He’s a solid three-year starter, giving up 1.58 and 1.04 goals per game the previous two seasons.

“He’s providing that security that makes everyone play better in front of him,” Slemker said.

“We always preach that everyone is a defender. But having a guy that people trust behind them, the defenders are able to play a little more freely. And it can spark attacks as well.”

The Raiders, who are 247-245-46 overall since joining the league in 1994, captured their first regular-season title in 2016, and they added another in 2018.

They have two non-league matches left at Western Michigan on Oct. 22 and home against Marshall on Oct. 26.

“The group is really putting in the work,” Slemker said. “It’s exciting for them, and it’s exciting for the coaching staff. We’ve got to keep that excitement going and keep the intensity really high.”