Aug. 27, 2007
Contact: Brian McCann
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Match 1
St. Bonaventure (3-12-2 in 2006) at Cleveland State (6-10-2)
Date: Friday, August 31, 2007
Time: 8:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Krenzler Field (1,680), Cleveland, Ohio
Series: CSU leads, 8-1
Last Meeting: @SBU 4, CSU 1 (9/28/02)
Match 2
Cleveland State at Niagara (7-7-4)
Date: Sunday, September 2, 2007
Time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Niagara Field (1,000), Lewiston, N.Y.
Series: CSU leads, 3-2-2
Last Meeting: NU 4, @CSU 3 (9/13/06)
SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State begins its 44th season of intercollegiate men's soccer competition when the Vikings host St. Bonaventure on Friday, August 31 beginning at 8:00 p.m. at Krenzler Field. CSU then begins a five-match road swing when the Vikings travel to Niagara for a 1:00 p.m. match on Sunday, Sept. 2.
REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings played a pair of exhibition contests in preparation for the regular season opener this week. Here are a synopsis of those contests:
Exhibition 1: CSU 2, Bowling Green 1 (Aug. 19, Krenzler Field)
Bryan Henson and Jordan Zapotechne scored second half goals, the last coming on a penalty kick with 9:56 remaining, as CSU outlasted Bowling Green in a driving rainstorm at Krenzler Field. BG outshot CSU, 13-6 but the Vikings made their efforts count to garner the victory.
Exhibition 2: Akron 3, CSU 0 (Aug. 26, Akron, Ohio)
Akron scored three goals in a 13-minute period centered around halftime and the Vikings could manage just five shots as CSU fell, 3-0, in its exhibition final. The goalie tandem of Dan Duric (5 saves) and Nick Harpel (3) played well, facing 22 Akron shots.
PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: The Vikings are bolstered by the return of nine starters and 14 lettermen off last year's squad that posted the nation's largest improvement in wins from one year to the next. Add to the mix 10 first year players and CSU easily has its deepest lineup in at least the last decade. The offense is led by sophomore forwards George Kephart (5 goals, 2 assists, 12 points) and Josh Williams (2-0-4), both of whom started all 18 matches last year. The midfield trio of senior Roshard Gilbert (2-2-6 in 2005) and sophomores Bryan Henson (3-0-6) and Marco DiFranco (2-3-7) return to give CSU a solid group of playmakers, though Gilbert did not play in 2006. The defense was much improved in 2006, holding opponents to 31 goals in 18 matches (down from 65 in 2005). Sophomores Mike Barton, Mitch Boyer and Eric Tattersall each return as starters on defense and they will be joined by Rutgers transfer Kevin Malone, giving Kazemaini and young, but veteran, back line. Sophomore Dan Duric and freshman Nick Harpel were neck-and-neck through preseason for the goalkeeper duties with either being capable of leading CSU to an improvement on the field.
THE SOPHOMORES HAVE IT: The sophomore class has had the biggest impact on the 26-player Viking roster as 11 second-year players are on the roster with nine of those players currently owning a starting assignment. Those nine sophomores combined to make 110 starts a year ago, an average of seven players in the starting lineup each contest.
A LOCAL FLAVOR: Two years ago, the soccer roster consisted of seven players who lived outside of the United States and only five who hailed from the greater Cleveland area. It hasn't taken long for Ali Kazemaini to change that as the only members of the 2007 Vikings to live outside of the U.S. are seniors Tom Sadd (Christchurch, New Zealand) and Roshard Gilbert (Scarborough, Ont.) and 22 of the 26 players are from Ohio (including 11 from the greater Cleveland area).
IMPROVING BY LEAPS & BOUNDS: The 2006 Vikings proudly wore the moniker of being the most improved team in the nation (based on improvements in wins and losses). After going 0-17-1 in 2005, CSU improved to 6-10-2 a year ago, a 6.5 game improvement. Evansville also made a 6.5-game increase, jumping from 2-14-1 in 2005 to 9-8 last season, while both Harvard and Western Illinois each improved by 5.5 games.
VIKINGS PICKED SIXTH: Cleveland State has been picked sixth in the Horizon League this year in a preseason poll of the league coaches. Defending champion UIC was a unanimous choice to win the title, garnering all eight first place votes and 64 points while Green Bay, which finished second last year, received 53 points and the first place vote from the UIC coach (who was not allowed to vote for his own team). Milwaukee was picked third with 48 points, followed by Loyola in fourth (45), Butler fifth (31), CSU sixth (27) Detroit seventh (25), Wright State eighth (23) and Valparaiso ninth (8).
NEXT UP: The Vikings continue their five-match road trip with a Wednesday (Sept. 5) contest at Western Michigan. CSU then plays at Kentucky on Saturday (Sept. 9) before closing the trip with a pair of matches in a tourney at UNLV.
