Oct. 25, 2008
Contact: Brian McCann
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Slavisa Ubiparipovic scored a pair of goals and added an assist as Cleveland State routed Wright State, 3-0 on Saturday night to move back into a first place tie with Butler in the Horizon League standings.
With the victory CSU clinched a first round bye in the upcoming Horizon League Championship and moved themselves into a position to claim the league title next week.
The win was the sixth in seven matches for the Vikings, who improved to 7-7-2 overall and 5-2 in league play. Wright State slipped to 3-11-1 and 2-2-1 in conference action.
"We played as well offensively in the first half as we have in any game the last three seasons," CSU head coach Ali Kazemaini said. "Our forwards and mid-fielders worked very well together and did a nice job of running set plays to create opportunities.
"Slavisa did tonight what we thought he could do all year. He is such a big target and moves so well that he is hard to stop. Each of the plays he made tonight were different but they show his versatility."
The Vikings jumped on the Raiders quickly, scoring twice in the first 11 minutes to take control of the match.
Cleveland State opened the scoring at the 6:09 mark when Ubiparipovic perfectly fed a ball ahead down the right side to Stephen Byer, who ran onto the ball and took two dribbles before blasting a shot from the corner of the box into the back corner of the net.
The goal was the third of the year for Byer and it came in his return to the field after missing four straight matches with a leg injury.
"It was good to get Stephen back tonight," Kazemaini said. "We have been playing well offensively with him out of the lineup, but now that he is back, he gives us that extra weapon up front."
The Vikings made it 2-0 at the 10:23 mark when Ubiparipovic gathered in a misplayed ball by the Wright State defense and blistered a shot from the right corner of the box the skipped off the near post and into the left corner of the net.
Ubiparipovic made it 3-0 in the 37th minute when he took a long pass down the left side from Josh Williams and split two defenders before rifling a shot past Raider netminder Aaron Ritter and into the goal.
The goals were the second and third of the year for Ubiparipovic, who moves into second place on the team in scoring this year with nine points (3 goals, 3 assists).
The win continued the blistering play of the Vikings of late.
Just three weeks ago, the Vikings returned home for the second time all season with a 1-6-2 record. With wins in six of its last seven matches, five of which have come at home, CSU returned to .500 for the second time this season.
The win also allowed CSU to end the regular season with a 5-0-1 record in matches played at Krenzler Field this season.
"Our guys like playing at home because it is the best playing surface in the league," Kazemaini said.
With only next Sunday's match at Butler (4-0-3) remaining in the regular season, the Vikings (7-7-2, 5-2) need to beat Butler and have UIC (4-1-1), which has a pair of matches remaining, lose or tie once to clinch their first Horizon League regular season title.
The top three teams in the regular season receive first round byes in the league tourney with the top two teams also receiving a bye in the second round.
Regardless of the outcome of the Butler match, CSU can finish no worse than third in the regular season standings, guaranteeing the Vikings a first round bye in the tournament. CSU can open league tourney play no sooner than the second round on Sunday, Nov. 9.
