HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky men's soccer team heads to Wright State on Saturday to face the Raiders in Horizon League action. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m., and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
 
Northern Kentucky Norse (6-3-4, 2-2-2) at Wright State Raiders (8-5-1, 4-2-0)
Saturday, Oct. 21 – 7 p.m.
Dayton, Ohio – Alumni Field
 
HEAD COACH STU RIDDLE: Stu Riddle is in his first season at the helm of the NKU men's soccer program. He was most recently the head coach at the University at Buffalo, where he spent four seasons. Last year as head coach of the Bulls, Riddle led the team to a 12-4-3 overall record. For his career, Riddle sports a 67-71-25 overall record as a head coach. In the past seven seasons, Riddle guided his teams to the Mid-American Conference Championship match four times (2010, 2011 at Western Michigan and 2015, 2016 at Buffalo).
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Norse earned a point in a 0-0 draw against UIC on Oct. 14. Jim Barkei made a season-high 10 saves in the contest to get the shutout. It was his seventh shutout of the season, which is the most for NKU in the Division I era.
 
SCOUTING WRIGHT STATE: The Raiders enter the match at 8-5-1 overall and 4-2-0 in the Horizon League, and the team currently sits in second place in the League standings. Wright State averages 1.64 goals per match, while allowing 1.21 per contest. The Raiders most recently fell to Milwaukee in overtime by a score of 3-2. Offensively, the team is led by A.J. Paterson and Stefan Rokvic. Paterson has seven goals, while Rokvic has contributed six goals on the year. Joel Sundell has started 13 contests at goalkeeper for Wright State. He has a 1.25 goals against average with 44 saves on the year.
 
NORSE IN THE 2017 SEASON:  NKU is 6-3-4 this season and 2-2-2 in the Horizon League. The Norse are averaging 1.23 goals per match, while allowing 1.00 goals per match. The team will be looking for its first win on the road this season, as the Norse currently sport a 0-1-2 record in away matches. Tom Suchecki leads the team with four goals and two assists for 10 points. Rikard Lindqvist has also contributed four goals on the season. In the net, Jim Barkei has started every match for the Norse. He has a 0.89 goals against average and a 0.803 save percentage. Barkei has recorded 49 saves on the year, and he has seven shutouts.
 
TAKING A LOOK AT THE STANDINGS: At the end of the regular season, six teams will qualify for the Horizon League Tournament. The race for the final six spots will be highly contested, as just six points separate the first and eighth place teams. Right now, NKU is sitting in seventh place, but a win this weekend would move the Norse up the standings.
 
1.      Green Bay – 4-1-1 (13)
2.      Wright State – 4-2-0 (12)
3.      Cleveland State – 3-1-2 (11)
4.      Detroit Mercy – 3-2-1 (10)
5.      UIC – 3-2-1 (10)
6.      Milwaukee – 3-3-0 (9)
7.      Northern Kentucky – 2-2-2 (8)
8.      Oakland – 2-3-1 (7)
9.      Belmont – 2-4-0 (6)
10.    IUPUI – 0-6-0 (0)
 
HORIZON LEAGUE AWARDS: Jim Barkei was named the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 18. The redshirt junior from Downers Grove, Ill., recorded a shutout in a 0-0 draw against Cleveland State. In the match against the Vikings, he faced 22 shots and made seven saves to prevent CSU from getting a goal. Earlier in that week, Barkei helped the Norse to a 1-0 win over Dayton. He faced 13 shots, making three saves.
 
Barkei earned his second Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week honor on Oct. 16. He made a season-high 10 saves in the match against UIC to preserve a 0-0 draw. The shutout was his seventh of the season, which is the most in the program's Division I era.
 
FRESH FACES: NKU signed 13 student-athletes to its 2017 class. Jim Barkei, Victor Bjurhall, Felix Komolong, Alex Greive, Brett Wilson, Tom Suchecki, Rikard Lindqvist, Edo Durante, Abdul Kooistra, Jake Minkovitz, Joe Paasewe, Harvey Moyes and Isaiah Schatz are all in their first seasons with the Norse.
 
Barkei, Koositra, Lindqvist, Suchecki and Wilson are transfers who have played at the Division I level. Komolong, a freshman, is the brother of NKU soccer alum Alvin Komolong. Schatz is also a freshman, and he earned a selection to the U.S. Youth Futsal Team that competed in Costa Rica in late July.
 
UP NEXT: The Norse will be on the road for the second-straight weekend, when they travel to Detroit Mercy on Oct. 28. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m., and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN3.