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Men's Soccer To Take A Break From Horizon League Action

Men's Soccer To Take A Break From Horizon League Action
Posted: Oct 05, 2009

Oct. 5, 2009

Contact: Renee Adam

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Match 11
Cleveland State (3-4-3, 1-1-2 HL) at Ohio State (5-2-3, 1-1 Big Ten)
Date: Friday, Oct. 9, 2009
Time: 5:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium (10,000), Columbus, Ohio
Series: Cleveland State leads, 14-8-1
Last Meeting: Ohio State 1, CSU 0 (10/22/08), at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium

Match 12
SIU-Edwardsville (3-5-1) at Cleveland State
Date: Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009
Time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Krenzler Field (400), Cleveland, Ohio
Series: SIU-Edwardsville leads, 4-1-0
Last Meeting: CSU 3, SIU-Edwardsville 1 (9/2/95), at Krenzler Field

SETTING THE SCENE: The Cleveland State men's soccer team will take a break from Horizon League action this week and face two non-conference opponents. The Vikings will travel to Columbus, Ohio and face Ohio State on Friday (Oct. 9) at 5:00 p.m. and will return to Krenzler Field on Sunday (Oct. 11) to host SIU-Edwardsville at 1:00 p.m.

REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings were in action twice last week. Here are reviews of those contests:

Match 9: CSU 0, Milwaukee 0 (2OT) (Oct. 2, Engelmann Field)
Goalkeeper Brad Stuver entered the match in the 23rd minute and stopped Milwaukee's penalty kick opportunity that was awarded because of a foul in the box by starting goalkeeper Nick Harpel, keeping the match tied at 0-0. It was a battle of the goalies as Milwaukee took 12 shots on goal and the Vikings tallied seven. Slavisa Ubiparipovic recorded three of the shots, while Admir Suljevic and Marco DiFranco each added a pair.

Match 10: Green Bay 3, CSU 0 (Oct. 4, Aldo Santaga Stadium)
The Vikings dropped their first league match when they fell to Green Bay. CSU was not able to convert on any of the five shots they had during the contest. Green Bay scored twice before halftime and once again in the middle of the second half.

2009 SEASON PREVIEW: With 11 seniors returning, including nine that have been in the 2009 starting lineup so far, the men's soccer team is bringing experience and depth to the field this season. 2008 All-Horizon League first team honoree senior Slavisa Ubiparipovic returns up front, leading the team in points (8) and tying for second on the team in goals (2) and assists (4). He is joined up front by freshmen Aaron Adkins (2g, 4pts) and Admir Suljevic (2a, 2pts) who both earned high school All-America honors following their senior campaigns, giving the Vikings a loaded front row. Experience is the key to the midfield this season, as all three starters return: Marco DiFranco, who is tied for the lead on the team with four assists, Josh Williams who is leading the team in goals with three and Kevin Malone. The entire defense returns for 2009 after posting six shutouts last season. Leading the charge are seniors Eric Tattersall, Mitch Boyer (1g, 2pts) and Anthony Baraldi and junior Audric Kilroy (1a, 1pt). They have played in a combined 36 matches this season, allowing 13 goals. Goalkeeper Nick Harpel has played in six contests, recording 32 saves and two shutouts. Backing up Harpel this season have been freshmen goalies, Brad Stuver (19 saves) and Almir Suljevic (4 saves).

STUVER STOPS: Freshman goalkeeper Brad Stuver's penalty kick save was instrumental in the Vikings' 0-0 double overtime tie with Milwaukee last Friday (Oct. 2). Stuver entered the match in the 23rd minute and saved Milwaukee's penalty kick opportunity that resulted from Nick Harpel receiving a red card in the box. The penalty kick save was the first of the 2009 season. He added 12 more saves through 178 minutes of action in both contests this past weekend.

SENIOR LEADERSHIP: Seven out of the 11 CSU goals this season have been scored by seniors, along with nine out of the 12 assists coming from the upperclassmen, accounting for 23 points. Leading the group is Slavisa Ubiparipovic, who has tallied two goals with four assists for eight points. Josh Williams is second with three goals and six points, followed by Marco DiFranco with four assists equaling four points, Stephen Byer with one goal and one assist totaling three points and Mitch Boyer who rounds out the group with two points from converting a penalty kick. The veterans are also responsible for taking 65 shots this season, which is more than 50-percent of the total shots taken.

OCTOBER OUTLOOK: The CSU men's soccer team holds an 8-10-3 record during the month of October, including 6-8-1 at Krenzler Field over the last three seasons. In 2008 the Vikings went 6-1 during the month, falling only to Ohio State in Columbus, giving them a perfect 6-0 record at home. Twelve current players have scored at least one point during the month of October in their career, led by seniors Marco DiFranco and Josh Williams who have each recorded 11 points. DiFranco has tallied three goals and five assists and Williams has recorded four goals and three assists. Junior Nick Harpel has posted three career shutouts during the month along with 61 saves.

HORIZON LEAGUE LEADERS: The Vikings currently hold the record for most team saves in a single match out of the nine Horizon League teams with 12. The 12 save effort came in last weekend's match against Milwaukee, when Brad Stuver tallied 10 saves, Nick Harpel added one and one was recorded as a team save. Stuver's 10 saves is also the highest individual single match save total through matches as of October 5.

NEXT UP: The Vikings will be in action on Wednesday and Sunday next week, traveling to IPFW for a mid-week match on Wednesday (Oct. 14) at 7:00 p.m.They will return to Horizon League action when they host Detroit on Sunday (Oct. 17) at 2:00 p.m.