The Saint Francis men's soccer team (1-0-1) will hit the road Saturday afternoon for their first away test of the 2023 season as they travel to Wright State. The Red Flash and Raiders will kick off at Alumni Soccer Field at 3:00 p.m.
Saint Francis played nonconference Fordham at home in a competitive 1-1 draw on Sunday. Junior
Torren Aikens produced the match equalizer when he headed in a
Julian Jakopovic corner kick in the 68th minute.
Aikens earned the Northeast Conference Player of the Week for his performance this past week. Freshman
Álvaro Planas was named Rookie of the Week for his stellar collegiate debut against Canisius.
THE WORD ON THE RAIDERS
Wright State come's into Saturday match 0-1-1 overall under second year head coach Alex Van der Slujis. The Raiders opened the season with a 1-1 draw against Xavier before falling Monday night to No. 11 Marshall, 0-5.
Wright State is led offensively by junior defenseman Kobe Perlaza who netted the Raiders only goal of the season against Xavier. Perlaza played 969 minutes and recorded an assist last season.
The Raiders also return top shot taker Reece Allbaugh and Horizon League All-League Second Team selection Pierson Davis from last year's 4-7-6 squad. Allbaugh recorded 33 shots on goal and five goals in 2022. The junior forward notched an assist on Perlaza's goal on Thursday. Davis started all 17 matches for Raiders, logging a team-high 1,530 minutes.
Freshman goalkeeper Natan Admassu has registered eight saves and allowed four goals in the Raiders' last two matches.
Wright State was picked to finish fourth in the Horizon League preseason poll.
LAST TIME WE MET
Wright State leads the all-time meeting series, 1-0. The Raiders defeated the Red Flash in 2019 at the Stokes Soccerplex in a 1-0 decision.
Saint Francis is 16-23-3 all-time against Horizon League opponents.
UP NEXT
The Red Flash will begin a three-match home stand starting with Robert Morris on Tuesday, September 5 at 3:00 p.m.
