MATCH #17
vs. Detroit Mercy | Friday, Nov. 3 | 7:00 p.m.
Live Stats | Live Video

PDF NOTES
Week #11

THE OPENING KICK:
• Cleveland State closes the regular season with a single match this week.
• CSU hosts Detroit Mercy Friday, Nov. 3, at 7:00 p.m.
• CSU is 12-16-2 all-time against Detroit, but the Vikings have held the upper hand in recent years. CSU is 7-3-1 in meetings within the past decade, which includes a 5-0-1 mark at home in that time span.
• Friday's match will be the 10th meeting in the last eight seasons between the programs, and the squads have met at least once each season since 1994.
• Hesham Hammouda has scored in each of the past two matches against  Detroit, last year's meeting and a 2015 Horizon League Tournament affair.
• CSU will honor four players on Senior Night prior to the match.

LAST WEEK:
• The Vikings dropped their non-conference finale, 2-1, at Cincinnati.
• CSU returned home and ran out to a 2-0 lead over Wright State and hung on to claim a 2-1 win. Noah Pio assisted on both Viking goals.

FREE KICKS:
• Kirk Harwat is in his first season as head coach for CSU after serving as an assistant for the program for the past five seasons.
• Senior midfielder Alec Nagucki, an All-Horizon League First Team honoree last season, has played in every match--all 71--since he arrived on campus.
• CSU has been seeded fourth or better in the Horizon League Tournament in eight of the past nine seasons, the only team that can make this claim.
• CSU lost two central defenders from last year that combined to play in 108 matches, with Sergio Manesio twice earning HL Defensive Player of the Year. CSU has started two newcomers at central defense in 11 of 16 matches.
• Noah Pio has a point in five of the past nine matches and has scored in three of them. Pio is tied for second in the League in shots in League matches with 25. He is also among the top 10 in points, goals and assists.
• Six CSU players have posted their first point as a Viking in 2017, with three--Bielanski, Conde and Jandric--scoring for the first time.
• Twenty seven of Cleveland State's last 36 goals have come in the second half. In fact, 11 of those goals have taken place in the 77th minute or later.
• Six of Cleveland State's 10 newcomers have started a match this season.
• The Vikings allowed the fewest goals in the Horizon League last season, conceding 16 goals in 17 matches.
• Six of CSU's eight non-League opponents are in the top 80 in the RPI. Five of the eight are among the top 55, including three in the top 15.
• Three Vikings have played in all 16 matches--seniors Hesham Hammouda & Alec Nagucki and junior Noah Pio. Hammouda tops the team with 15 starts.
• CSU has allowed eight goals from the run of play in its last 13 matches.
• Cleveland State has allowed seven goals in eight Horizon League matches, the second lowest total.
• Vlad Jandric and Noah Pio have combined to score six of CSU's last eight goals in Horizon League play.
• CSU is the only Horizon League team not to attempt a penalty this season. Eight of the other nine have made multiple penalty kicks in 2017.
• CSU is 7-1-1 in its last nine home games and has allowed six goals.
• CSU's 3-0 win at Oakland was its first three-goal win in Horizon League play since 2013. Amazingly, the last time CSU won by 3+ goals in a road League match came in 1993.
• Cleveland State currently sits 89th in the NCAA's RPI rankings. If the Vikings can hold that position, it would be the first time since 2012 that CSU cracked the top 100.
• In its Oct. 24 match at Cincinnati, head coach Kirk Harwat started four true freshmen along the back line. It was the first time this season that CSU started four freshmen at defense.
• Entering the week, Cleveland State ranks 11th in non-conference strength of schedule among the more than 200 Division I programs.
• Junior Noah Pio has taken 41 shots this season, the highest total by a Viking since the 2006 season.
• CSU's two senior co-captains are neck and neck for the team lead in minutes played with Alec Nagucki having seen 1,367 minutes of action and Hesham Hammouda having played 1,341 minutes.
• Senior Kareem Banton's winning goal vs. Wright State was the second by a CSU defender in 2017. Redshirt junior Madifing Conde scored in a win over Loyola (Md.). Freshman defender Thomas M'Barek also registered an assist at Oakland.
• Sophomore Vlad Jandric has the lone brace for CSU this season, scoring a pair of goals in a 3-0 win at Oakland.
• Junior Antonio Burgoa has served a variety of roles for head coach Kirk Harwat this season. He has started as a central defender, a holding midfielder, an attacking midfielder and a target forward. Sophomore Vlad Jandric has also displayed his positional versatility, starting in central defense, a holding midfield role and a central playmaking midfield role.
• Junior Noah Pio has scored or assisted on CSU's last five goals in Horizon League play.
• This will be the ninth consecutive season in which six teams make the Horizon League Tournament in men's soccer. Cleveland State will have competed in eight of the nine events, the most among its League peers.
• Seniors Kareem Banton and Alec Nagucki, both of whom have primarily played in the defensive half of the pitch most of their careers, have each scored this season. In both cases, the goal was the player's first since his freshman season.

UP NEXT:
• Unless it wins and has three other matches end in the desired result needed to earn a bye, CSU will play in a Horizon League Tournament quarterfinal Monday, Nov. 6. Presuming the Vikings compete in a quarterfinal, they will either travel to Milwaukee, UIC or Wright State or they could host any of those three schools along with Northern Kentucky or Oakland.

HORIZON LEAGUE TOURNAMENT SCENARIOS:
• If CSU wins vs. Detroit, it could be seeded anywhere from 2nd to 5th.
• If CSU ties vs. Detroit, it could be seeded 4th or 5th.
• If CSU loses vs. Detroit, it could be seeded 5th or 6th.

• For CSU to clinch a first-round bye, it needs:

CSU Win AND WSU Loss/Tie AND Milwaukee Loss/Tie AND UIC Loss

• For CSU to clinch a home quarterfinal, it needs one of the following:

CSU Win AND Wright State Loss/Tie

CSU Win AND Milwaukee Loss/Tie

CSU Win AND UIC Loss

CSU Tie AND Wright State Loss