Sept. 17, 2007
Contact: Brian McCann
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Match 7
Notre Dame College (4-1-1) at Cleveland State (2-3-1)
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Krenzler Field (1,500), Cleveland, Ohio
Series: First Meeting
Match 8
Cleveland State at Duquesne (1-3-1)
Date: Sunday, September 23, 2007
Time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Rooney Field (4,500), Pittsburgh, Pa.
Series: Duquesne Leads, 3-1-1
Last Meeting: @DU 3, CSU 0 (9/22/05)
SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State (2-3-1) returns home for only the second time during the 2007 season when the Vikings host Notre Dame College on Wednesday, Sept. 19 beginning at 7:00 p.m. at Krenzler Field. CSU then takes to the road on Sunday (Sept. 23) for a 1:00 p.m. contest at Duquesne in Pittsburgh, Pa. Cleveland State has two weeks until it opens Horizon League play vs. UIC on Oct. 5.
REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings played a pair of matches against California schools at the UNLV adidas Invitational in Las Vegas, Nevada. Here is a synopsis of those contests:
Match 4: Cal State Northridge 2, CSU 0 (Sept. 14, Las Vegas, Nevada)
Playing in blistery, windy conditions with an air temperature in the mid-90's, Cal State Northridge scored a pair of second half goals and the Vikings were out-shot 13-5 after the intermission as CSU dropped a 2-0 decision to the Matadors.
Match 5: Cal Poly 1, CSU 0 (Sept. 16, Las Vegas, Nevada)
Cal Poly scored the only goal of the contest in the 10th minute and then held off a furious Viking charge in a 1-0 win over CSU on the final day of the UNLV adidas Invitational. The Vikings had an 11-7 edge in shots but only one was on target. Dan Duric made four saves in goal for CSU.
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 in 2006) 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. Freshman Nick Harpel appears to have won the goalkeeper honors after allowing just three goal in three and a half matches, including shutouts of Niagara (2-0) and Western Michigan (1-0).
POWER OUTAGE: The Vikings enter the week having gone scoreless in their last 266:50, including back-to-back shutouts vs. Cal State Northridge (2-0) and Cal Poly (1-0) last week at the UNLV adidas Invitational in Las Vegas. CSU has not scored since Roshard Gilbert found the net in the 24th minute of a 1-1 tie at Kentucky on Sept. 9. The Vikings have scored just five goals in six matches this year with one of those being an own goal. Last year, CSU scored 15 times in 18 matches (1.39 avg.).
. . . THE DEFENSE IS UP: Fortunately for Cleveland State, the defense has picked up the slack created by the offense's scoring inability by limiting opponents to just seven goals this season, including four in the last five contests. Both of CSU's wins this season have been shutouts.
HOME SWEET HOME: When Cleveland State returns home to host Notre Dame College on Wednesday night (Sept. 19) it will mark only the second time this season that the Vikings will have played at Krenzler Field. The trend is nothing new as CSU will play at home just six times this year, the third-lowest total in school history, trailing only the record low of five home matches in both 1965 and 1972. The Vikings played seven home contests in each of the last two years.
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 eight of those players currently owning a starting assignment. The sophomore class combined to make 110 starts a year ago, an average of seven players in the starting lineup each contest.
HARPEL & THE HORIZON LEAGUE CHARTS: Freshman goalkeeper Nick Harpel continues to lead the Horizon League in three stat categories. By allowing just three goals in 425 minutes, he leads the league in goals against average (0.64), save percentage (.893) and shutouts (2), is fourth in saves per game (5.00) and fifth in saves (25).
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).
NEXT UP: The schedule slows for the Vikings in the final week before Horizon League play begins as CSU plays just one match, a Sunday (Sept. 30) contest at Canisius.
