Men's Soccer Begins 2009 Preseason

Posted: Aug 18, 2009

Aug. 18, 2009

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The 2009 season is underway for the Cleveland State men's soccer team as two-a-day practices have begun. The Vikings, under fourth-year head coach Ali Kazemaini, are coming off a 9-8-3 season, where they advanced to the Horizon League Championship, losing to Loyola, 1-0.

With 10 starters and 20 letterwinners returning, the men's squad has high hopes for another successful season and a return trip to the Horizon League Championship. With almost half of the roster being seniors (12), there will be a source of leadership that the Vikings haven't seen much of in the past.

"The seniors on this squad have great leadership and they provide a sense of pride in the locker room," Kazemaini said. "This is going to make a difference for us down the line when freshman are coming into an already established system. We are trying to inch closer to the NCAA elite group and in the long run it is going to be very important that they are coming into a program that they can get confidence in and grow as a player."

Seniors Slavisa Ubiparipovic, Mitch Boyer and Stephen Byer along with sophomore Justin Mancine return after earning All-Horizon League accolades following the 2008 season. Ubiparipovic garnered All-Horizon League first team honors and Boyer was named to the All-Horizon League second team. Byer and Mancine both received a spot on the all-newcomer team.

Ubiparipovic is set to lead the offense after tying for the most goals during 2008 with five. Byer will also be playing a major role for the Vikings up front, after finishing last season with three goals.

Boyer will once again be strong on the defensive side, along with seniors Eric Tattersall, Anthony Baraldi and junior Audric Kilroy who played in a combined 41 matches last season.

Junior Nick Harpel returns to defend the goal after a solid sophomore campaign where he had 104 saves with six shutouts, playing in all 20 matches. His six shutouts earned him a spot in the CSU record books for single season shutouts, and moved him into fifth place on the list for career shutouts at CSU with 10. He is also seventh in career saves with 170.

Kazemaini is a veteran when it comes to working with his players to figure out the best competitive lineup to put on the field. "If you look at what we do in the beginning of the year, we play all kinds of combinations to help with development of the bench and see who works well with each other on the field," Kazemaini said. This is something that the team will be focusing on during the two-a-day practices and exhibition matches before they hit the field in their first regular season match."

The Vikings begin action against Duquesne in their first exhibition match on Sunday, August 23. The contest will be played at Lost Nation Sports Park in Willoughby, Ohio. Start time is set for 2:00 p.m..