Oct. 9, 2007
Contact: Stefan Scheibelhoffer
SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State (3-6-2, 0-1-1) continues league play this weekend as they travel to Wisconsin for a pair of road contests. CSU begins the week by taking on Green Bay on Friday, Oct. 12 beginning at 8:00 p.m. The Vikings finish their week by taking on Milwaukee on Sunday Oct. 14, at 1:30 p.m.
REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings opened Horizon League play last week at home with a pair of matches. Here is a synopsis of what happened.
Match 10: CSU 1, UIC 1 (Oct. 5) Mitch Boyer scored his first goal of the season on a penalty shot in the 83rd minue to help rally CSU to a 1-1 tie against Horizon League preseason favorite UIC. Goalkeeper Nick Harpel continued to play well as he recorded three saves.
Match 11: Loyola 2, CSU 0 (Oct. 7) Loyola scored a goal in each half to earn a to a 2-0 victory over CSU at Krenzler Field. Loyola's Markian Zyga intercepted a pass and fed Michael Fergusson who hammered a shot that found the left corner of the net early in the contest. The Ramblers second goal came off a free Kick at the top of the box by Sung Kim.
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 has struggled to find the net through the first half of the season, scoring just nine times with no player having more than one marker. The midfield is currently made up of sophomores Josh Williams and Anthony Baraldi and junior Anthony Rucci. The defense was much improved in 2006, holding opponents to 31 goals in 18 matches (down from 65 in 2005). The improvement has continued this year as sophomores Mike Barton and Mitch Boyer, senior Tom Sadd and freshman Audric Kilroy have anchored the unit. Freshman Nick Harpel (3-3-2, 1.16 gaa, 44 saves) appears to have won the goalkeeper honors after shutting out Niagara (2-0), Western Michigan (1-0) and Canisius (1-0) this year though sophomore Dan Duric (0-3, 2.50 gaa, 6 saves) has started three matches in goal.
SPREADING THE WEALTH: Although the Vikings have combined for just 24 points this season, eight different players have recorded a point. Mitch Boyer leads the team with six points on one goal and a team high four assists, while Marco DiFranco and Josh Williams have a goal and an assist each for three points. George Kephart, Bryan Henson, Roshard Gilbert, Steve Trapp and Anthony Rucci have each scored one goal for two points.
LOSING STREAK AGAINST UIC ENDS: CSU ended a two match losing streek against UIC. In 2004 the Vikings also tied the Flames 1-1.
OFFENSIVE STRUGGLES: The Vikings enter the week continuing to struggle on offense. After their shutout loss to Loyola, the Vikings have scored just three goals in their last 390 minutes played. Their lone goal against UIC on October 5th came on a penalty kick; they had a shutout loss against Loyola, and only scored once in their 1-0 victory over Canisius.
BOYER SCORES HIS FIRST GOAL: Sophomore defender Mitch Boyer continues to lead the team in scoring with six points. Boyer scored his first goal on Oct. 5th on a penalty kick.
HARPEL CONTINUES TO SHINE: Although goalkeeper Nick Harpel gave up three goals over the weekend, the freshman netminder played well. The lone goal against UIC came off a deflection, the two goals Loyola scored were off of CSU turnovers. Harpel still ranks 5th in gaa (1.16), second in save percentage (.800), 5th in saves per game (4.40), and 5th in shutouts (3).
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).
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). (Balloting by the Horizon League Coaches)
1. UIC (8) 64
2. Green Bay (1) 53
3. Milwaukee 48
4. Loyola 45
5. Butler 31
6. Cleveland State 27
7. Detroit 25
8. Wright State 23
9. Valparaiso 8
NEXT UP: The Vikings are at home against Butler next Friday (Oct. 19th) at 7:00 p.m. before hitting the road for a match at Wright State on Sunday (Oct. 21) at 1:00 p.m.
