Soccer: Streaking Dominican squad eyes first winning season since 2012 - Marin Independent Journal

For the first two months of the season, Dominican men’s soccer looked like it was operating on island time. Often a step too slow, the Penguins started 1-7-1 and seemed destined for their seventh losing record in a row.

Then they took a trip to Hawaii.

With the tropical breeze at their backs, Dominican’s offense exploded for 10 goals as the Penguins swept their three-game business trip to the islands, sparking a turnaround that has translated back to the mainland over the past month.

On Saturday, PacWest points leader Luke Raley scored two goals to carry Dominican to its seventh straight win — the longest streak in the program’s NCAA Division II era — and push the Penguins (8-7-1) above .500 with two games remaining. Raley’s tallies brought his season total to 15, tying Wilson Briggs (2018) for Dominican’s single-season record.

The secret? Not Hawaii’s humidity, but a critical lineup adjustment that created a sort of harmony for head coach David Frank’s squad.

With freshman center back Louie Galdamez returning from a year-long injury, Frank moved Eddie Silverbush from defense up to right wing, forming a new connection with Raley that has fueled the Penguins’ recent run.

“It was like a domino effect,” Frank said. “(Galdamez) solidified the back for us, and Eddie (Silverbush) has just been so deadly from up there. (Silverbush) isn’t even been doing anything that spectacular — he’s just so smart, so efficient, and executes under pressure.”

Playing with an unfamiliar lineup for the first time on the Big Island, Dominican’s chemistry clicked immediately. Against Hilo, Silverbush found Raley for an early score in the fourth minute before recording his first career goal to give the Penguins a 5-1 win. Three days later, they flew to Honolulu, where Silverbush sent a cross to Raley for the game-winning strike in the 74th minute at Chaminade.

Dominican capped its visit at Hawaii Pacific on only one day of rest. Clinging to a 1-0 lead late while facing high-pressure defense, Silverbush took a touch, looked up, and saw Raley racing down the field with his finger pointed to the front post. The sophomore delivered a beautiful ball to Raley for another game-winner as Hawaii Pacific answered in the final minutes to make it 2-1. The victory capped the Penguins’ first undefeated tour of Hawaii in program history.

“Our chemistry is off the charts, especially recently,” Silverbush said of Raley. “He’s starting to look for me a lot more now since we’ve been connecting and I’m looking for him every chance I can get. He just puts himself in the right spot a lot.”

For Raley, a two-time PacWest Player of the Week this year, improved off-ball movement has been instrumental in his breakout season.

“His movement, the timing of that movement, he’s just figured it out,” Frank said of Raley. “He’s got a knack for it now. And Eddie’s service from wide areas is so consistent that it just makes Luke’s job even easier. That’s why those two have linked up so well for goals during this stretch.”

Dominican will have to overcome its toughest tests to date if the team wants to extend its historic win streak. The fourth-place Penguins host third-place Concordia University Irvine on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. before taking on the top-ranked team in the country, undefeated Azusa Pacific, on Saturday at the same time. They need to split the pair in order to secure their first winning season since 2012.

No matter what happens this week, though, Frank remains confident that Dominican’s recent streak has already paid dividends for the future of his program.

“The level of player we’re recruiting now is significantly higher than when I got here,” Frank said. “We’ve already done enough to keep the program churning in the right direction, and I’m just hoping we finish this last week strong. Long term, we want to be able to be above .500 every year, hopefully push for the conference title and make the tournament.”