Men's Soccer Bounces Back vs UC

Wright State’s shut out the University of Cincinnati Bearcats in their 3-0 win Monday evening.

The Raiders (3-1) after a scoreless first half came out firing, as freshman midfielder Jackson Dietrich got the ball rolling at the 49^th minute. The Raiders weren’t concerned with their lack of scoring in the first half, staying upbeat at the halfway point.

“We felt we were the better team,” assistant coach Jake Slemker said.  “We were more confident and obviously this is our home field. So we said ‘enjoy it, put a show on for your fans, enjoy the game. We’ll gain energy from it,’ and it showed. We got a goal and it sparked everything which is great.”

Cincinnati had a very difficult time matching Wright State’s speed, looking gassed as the game went on.

“(We) just keep moving the ball and teams gotta chase, they get worn down,” Slemker said.  “That’s why most of our goals are coming in the second half because we keep our tempo high and make their team work so hard.”

Junior forward Peguy Ngatcha scored his third and fourth goals of the season as he paced the Raiders with the two final goals of the game. Ngatcha was in attack mode for most of the game, leading the team in shots (five) and shots on goal (three).

“He’s hungry to score and we keep telling him ‘you’re going to score goals inside the ’18, inside the box,” Slemker said. “Keep putting yourself there, the ball’s going to fall to your foot in someway, some fashion he’s putting the ball in the back of the net, and that’s what good forwards do, so it was great to see.”

After a minor setback Friday with their loss to Kentucky, Wright State maintains their position at first place in the Horizon League. The Raiders will get a few days to rest before taking on Eastern Illinois on Friday, Sept. 12. Slemker expects more of the same out of the team when they take the field again.

“We’ve got high expectations,” he said.  “This team’s ready to push for everything this year so we’re going game by game and looking at the next game. We want to focus, get a good week of training in and play another good 90 minutes and see what happens.”