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Vikings Head to Wright State for Tourney Opener

Vikings Head to Wright State for Tourney Opener
Posted: Nov 05, 2017

MATCH #18
Horizon League Tournament Quarterfinal
at Wright State | Monday, Nov. 6 | 7:00 p.m.
Live Stats | Live Video

PDF NOTES
Week #12

THE OPENING KICK:
    •    Cleveland State opens postseason play by facing an in-state foe.
    •    CSU travels to Wright State Monday, Nov. 6, at 7:00 p.m.
    •    CSU is 18-15-1 all-time against Wright State with the squads having met at least once every season since 1989.
    •    The only tie in the all-time series came in 1993.
    •    The postseason match will be the teams' 13th meeting in the last 10 seasons.
    •    CSU is 9-7-1 all-time at Wright State but dropped a 2-0 decision in its last road meeting in 2016.
    •    The winning team has scored exactly two goals in eight of the past 10 meetings between the Vikings and Raiders.
    •    Alec Nagucki owns two goals and an assist in his career vs. the Raiders.

LAST WEEK:
    •    The Vikings dropped their regular season finale, 2-1, against Detroit Mercy.
    •    CSU held a 1-0 lead through Jordan Ianiro's first collegiate goal, but the Titans scored on two penalty kicks in the final 10 minutes to flip the outcome.

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 72--since he arrived on campus.
    •    While it took the fifth seed this season, CSU has been seeded fourth or better in the Horizon League Tournament in eight of the past 10 seasons.
    •    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 17 matches.
    •    Noah Pio has a point in six of the past 10 matches and has scored in three of them. Pio was tied for third in the League in shots in League matches with 27. He was also among the top 10 in points, goals and assists.
    •    Six CSU players have posted their first point as a Viking in 2017, with four--Bielanski, Conde, Ianiro and Jandric--scoring for the first time.
    •    Twenty seven of Cleveland State's last 37 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 17 matches--seniors Hesham Hammouda & Alec Nagucki and junior Noah Pio. Hammouda tops the team with 16 starts.
    •    CSU has allowed eight goals from the run of play in its last 14 matches.
    •    Cleveland State posted a 0.93 goals against mark in Horizon League play, the best mark of a team playing in a quarterfinal match.
    •    Vlad Jandric and Noah Pio have combined to score six of CSU's last nine 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'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 43 shots this season, the highest total by a Viking since the 2003 season.
    •    CSU's two senior co-captains are neck and neck for the team lead in minutes played with Alec Nagucki having seen 1,457 minutes of action and Hesham Hammouda having played 1,431 minutes.
    •    One week after scoring the game-winning goal, senior Kareem Banton had the primary assist on CSU's goal last week against Detroit Mercy. Banton is one of two Viking defenders to find the net in 2017 as 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 six goals in Horizon League play.
    •    This is the ninth consecutive season in which six teams made 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:
    •    If Cleveland State is able to advance past Wright State, the Vikings would play in a Horizon League semifinal match at UIC this Thursday, Nov. 9. CSU would play Green Bay if Milwaukee won the other quarterfinal and would play the host Flames if Detroit Mercy won the other quarterfinal.

HORIZON LEAGUE TOURNAMENT NOTES:
    •    Cleveland State has been the fifth seed in the Horizon League Tournament twice previously. The Vikings are 1-1 in quarterfinal matches as the fifth seed, beating Northern Illinois, 1-0, in 1996 and losing to Loyola (Ill.), 3-2, in 2006.
    •    Monday's match will be the third meeting between the programs in the Horizon League Tournament. Cleveland State won both previous meetings by 2-1 scorelines and was the home team in both matches. CSU won in 2008 and again in 2013.
    •    Wright State has competed in three consecutive Horizon League championship matches and has advanced to the semifinals in four straight years. The last time the Raiders made the tournament and did not make the semifinals came in 2008, when they lost to Cleveland State in the second round.