A system and method are provided for achieving slot synchronization in a Wideband CDMA system in the presence of large initial frequency errors. A FSC matched filter having a reduced coherence window is provided for reducing degradation of a symbol due to carrier phase rotation resulting from oscillator error, thereby preventing severe loss of signal energy at the peaks of the FSC matched filter output. Additionally, a circular sliding integrator is provided to combine the accumulated disbursed signal energies due to the oscillator error and multipath interference, thereby allowing easier identification of the time index representing the time slot boundary. Further, a sorter is provided for determining a predetermined number of time index candidates representing the time slot boundary, thereby increasing the possibility that the true time index boundary is sent to the second stage of synchronization.