Opening night of the 2022 men's soccer season left both the host Stetson Hatters and the visiting Wright State Raiders with a little bit of a bad taste in their mouths.
 
The two teams battled for 90 minutes on the ATC pitch in a game that featured a more than one hour delay in the second half because of lightning, and saw the two teams play the final 35 minutes in a driving Florida rain shower.
 
Both teams put on impressive defensive displays. Hatters keeper Owen Jack turned away seven of the 16 shots by Wright State while the Stetson defenders – Tom DiLorenzo, Daniel Wintermeier, Kelvin Zinck, Andres Rodriguez Colin and Sheldon Sackey – helped foil every Raiders advance into the Stetson end of the field.
 
Wright State keeper Sebastian Jimenez made just one save in the game as his defenders kept the Hatters away from the Raiders goal.
 
Stetson received six yellow cards in the game, to just one for Wright State. Junior Alessandro Gabbani received two of those yellow cards for Stetson, resulting in a red card with less than five minutes left on the clock.
 
Both teams will have another change to get their first wins of the season on Sunday. The Hatters will host Detroit Mercy at noon while the Raiders will play at Jacksonville. The Dolphins and Crusaders opened the season against each other on Thursday and played to a 2-2 draw in Jacksonville.
 
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program is driven by a shared purpose. It is what inspires, motivates and binds us together. More than a task, a reason for being. THE HATTER PURPOSE is to create and provide an experience of a lifetime through teamwork and relationships to achieve excellence. This purpose is achieved through five Core Values: Communication, Integrity, Excellence, Value People and Commitment. To learn more about the HATS program and our Core Values, visit GoHatters.com/HATS. Get in on the conversation on social media by following Stetson Athletics on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For video content, visit our YouTube channels: Stetson Hatters, Stetson Athletics and, for live events, Hatter Vision.