Courtesy photo | Wright State University
Carroll High School alum Conner Osterholt scored one of Wright State’s goals in a 5-1 win over Northern Kentucky in the season finale.
FAIRBORN — The Wright State men’s soccer team saw Jacob Adams tally a pair of first half goals as the Raiders added three more scores in the second half to cruise to a 5-1 victory over Northern Kentucky in the regular season finale Wednesday afternoon at Alumni Field.
With the victory Wright State (4-8-5, 3-4-2 Horizon) moved up to 11 points in the Horizon League standings, tying the Raiders in points with Robert Morris. The Raiders and RMU battled to a tie in their head-to-head meeting this season, with the tiebreakers going from the top of the HL standings. Both lost to regular season champion Oakland, while Wright State has a 2-0 win at Green Bay this season and RMU tied with Green Bay, giving the Raiders the tiebreaker and the sixth and final spot in the Horizon League Championship.
Postseason play will begin on Sunday, with the Raiders going on the road to take on an opponent to be determined.
On Wednesday, Adams gave Wright State a lead it would not relinquish just 91 seconds into the match when he found the upper right corner of the goal. The Raiders had an early throw in opportunity that went into the box, and NKU’s header attempt trying to clear found its way right to Adams’ left foot. Adams second tally was also unassisted, this time coming in the 39th minute, after the Raiders’ first shot attempt from Reece Allbaugh was blocked by an NKU defender in front of the goal, again bouncing right to Adams off the deflection and into the back of the net.
Wright State added on in the second half in the 63rd minute when fancy footwork from Henry Hutchinson saw him get taken down in the box, with Allbaugh depositing the ensuing penalty kick into the bottom right corner. The Raiders pushed the advantage higher in the 84th minute when former Carroll standout Conner Osterholt found the back of the net off a give-and-go with Dominic Ruffolo, who found the scoring column himself in the 86th minute when he took a feed from Hutchinson and dribbled into the box before going top shelf for his first goal as a Raider.
NKU’s Roberto Burlew scored for the visitors in the 84th minute, the lone blemish in a six save afternoon for Alessandro Malterer. The Raiders finished the match with a 21-15 shot advantage as Allbaugh and Hutchinson each notched five shots each. Burlew and Ben Hegge each had four shots to lead NKU in the loss, while NKU keeper Nic Lemen had four saves along with his five goals allowed.
