Fifth-year coach Travis Sobers would’ve liked more routs to empty his bench, but he savors every win, even the low-scoring kind.
“We were joking about (that stretch). We weren’t scoring a lot, but we weren’t giving up a lot. That was important,” he said of the streak against Chicago St., Central Michigan, Purdue Fort Wayne and Detroit Mercy over two weeks in September.
“To win a lot of 1-0 games shows we’re doing everything we need to do to minimize chances, and we’re really being stingy in that.”
That miserly style has propelled the Raiders to their first berth in the six-team Horizon League women’s soccer tourney in three years.
They’re the fourth seed at 4-1-5 in the conference and will play fifth-seeded Green Bay (4-3-3) in the quarterfinals at home at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The semifinals are Thursday, Nov. 6, at Milwaukee (8-0-2), which is the No. 1 seed and won the regular-season title for the 10th time in 11 years.
No. 3 Youngstown State (6-2-2) and No. 6 Oakland (2-2-6) meet in the other quarterfinal.
Northern Kentucky (7-1-2) earned the 2 seed and a bye into the semis.
Credit: Joseph R. Craven
Credit: Joseph R. Craven
“We talked about it all year: Our goal was to get into the tournament — because if you play well, you give yourself an opportunity to be there at the end,” Sobers said.
“I feel we can compete and make a run at it.”
The Raiders, who are 7-6-5 overall and looking for their first tourney win since 2017, have given up just 12 goals in 10 league games.
Fifth-year goal-keeper Kiera Sarka has three shutouts this season, giving her 10 in her career, while freshman Leigha Lauer has one. The two played 45 minutes each in another shutout.
“I’m really confident in the goal-keeping group. Whoever’s out there is going to do a good job for us,” Sobers said.
The Raiders don’t have any individuals even close to being in the top 10 in goals or points. But Caitlin Burger, Olivia Stroud and Mariella Hartmann have four goals each, and Ruby Dunlevy and Samara Nunn have three apiece.
“We haven’t scored a ton, but we’ve scored goals when it mattered. And the fact it hasn’t come from just one person shows the balance we have,” Sobers said.
A late surge put the Raiders into the field. They tied Milwaukee on the road, 2-2, on Stroud’s goal with eight seconds left, knocked off Robert Morris, 3-2, after falling behind 2-0, and pulled out a 2-2 draw against NKU in the regular-season finale Wednesday.
Stroud, Burger and Taliah Pellizzari all scored in the second half against the Colonials, while Hartmann scored both goals against the Norse.
“We respect everyone, but no one scares us. We know we’ve got to go out and compete. If we do that and play at the level we’re capable of, it gives us a chance to be successful,” Sobers said.
About the Author