Oct. 16, 2006

Contact: Josh Rattray

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Match 16

Detroit (6-7-2, 2-4) at Cleveland State (4-9-2, 1-4)

Date: Wed., Oct. 18, 2006

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Site: Krenzler Field (1,680) - Cleveland, Ohio

Series: Detroit leads, 12-3-1

Match 17

Wright State (7-8, 1-5) at Cleveland State

Date: Friday, Oct. 20, 2006

Time: 5:00 p.m.

Site: Alumni Field (500) - Fairborn, Ohio

Series: WSU leads, 11-8-1

SETTING THE SCENE:  One home match and one road match remain in the regular seasonas the Vikings host Detroit on Wednesday (Oct. 18) at 7:00 p.m. at Krenzler Fieldand then travel to Wright State on Friday (Oct. 20) for a 5:00 p.m. match that was originally scheduled for Sept. 27 but was postponed due to lightning.

VIKINGS TIE ONE, LOSE ONE LAST WEEK: CSU tied, 2-2, at IPFW and lost, 2-1 at UW-Milwaukee in its two matches last week. Here is a look at those contests:

MATCH 14: CSU 2, IPFW 2 (Oct. 11, Hefner Soccer Complex): Freshman Andrew Gutting, one of 11 freshmen to start for CSU, scored in the 88th minute to force extra time and help CSU avoid a loss. Senior David Stewart also found the back of the net for the Vikings, notching his team-leading fifth goal in the 18th minute.

         MATCH 15: UW-Milwaukee 2, CSU 1 (Oct. 15, Engelmann Field): UW-Milwaukee scored two first half goals and outshot the Vikings, 32-9, to pick up the win. Freshman Marco DiFranco scored off a free kick with just two second remaining to help CSU avoid the shutout.

PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: The youthful Vikings have seen their share of ups and downs this season, which is to be expected from a team that starts no fewer than seven freshmen along with two sophomores. CSU has had its moments on offense, but hasn't been able to show it can consistently score goals. Freshmen Andrew Gutting (2 goals, 6 assists, 10 points) and George Kephart (3-1-7) have served as offensive catalysts. Gutting is currently tied for second in the Horizon League lead in assists and has been ranked as high as 19th nationally in the category, while Kephart leads the team in shots (32) and shots on goal (14). Another freshman, Bryan Henson, has come on strong with his aggressive style of play, scoring three goals on just 17 shots. Junior co-captain Tom Sadd anchors the defense, but has been hampered by injuries in the last week, while freshman Josh Williams has started all 15 matches in the midfield. The Vikings have consistently started four freshmen on defense, led by Mitch Boyer, Anthony Baraldi and Eric Tattersall, each of whom have started the last several matches, with senior Mark Zambra also seeing action in the starting lineup.  Sophomore Kasey Gray has 61 saves in goal, which is the third highest total in the Horizon League.

KAZEMAINI ON THE VIKINGS: "We did some good things this past week, but I thought we could've played a lot better. We just need to focus on playing our best soccer for 90 minutes and avoid breakdowns on either end. This is the last week of the season and both matches are very important in deciding our standing in the league tournament. We need to play aggressive, smart soccer in order to gain some momentum heading in to the tournament."

DOWN THE STRETCH: There is a lot to play for in the final week of the regular season, as the Viking can still finish as high as fourth in the league standings with two wins and two UW-Milwaukee losses. A win and a tie would send CSU into a tie with Butler, whom the Vikings hold the head-to-head tie-breaker. With a  loss and a tie, CSU would need some help to stay out of last, and with two losses, the Vikings would finish last and have to travel to the first seed in the opening round of the Horizon League Championship.

ROAD TRIP OVER: The Vikings finished 1-3-1 during their five-match road swing that ended on Sunday at Milwaukee. CSU defeated Butler, 1-0, on Sept 30 and tied IPFW, 2-2, last Wednesday, 2-2 while losing matches to Rutgers (6-1), UIC (2-0) and UW-Milwaukee (2-1) on the trip. The swing would have been six matches long but CSU's Sept. 27 match at Wright State was postponed due to lightning after 45 minutes of play.

FIELD FULL OF FRESHMEN: CSU became the only team in the Horizon League to start 11 freshmen last Wednesday at IPFW. At least seven newcomers have started every match this season, including six times in which eight started. The Vikings are 2-2-2 when giving at least eight freshmen the starting nod and 2-7 when seven newcomers start.

FRESHMEN PRODUCTION: The Vikings have gotten a large portion of their offensive production from the team's freshmen. Eleven of CSU's 19 goals have been scored by five different freshmen, with George Kephart and Bryan Henson each having three tallies and Andrew Gutting and Marco DiFranco each have two. Pete Wagner is the other newcomer to have found the back of the net. Freshmen have also accounted for 32 of the team's 52 points (led by Gutting's 10) and 109 of the squad's 159 shots. A Viking freshman has found the back of the net in eight matches with CSU going 4-3-1 in those contests.

CLOSE CALLS: The Vikings are 2-5-2 in matches decided by one goal or less, winning 2-1 at Valparaiso on Sept. 17 and 1-0 in overtime at Butler on Sept. 30. CSU has also lost three times by a 1-0 score.

MUCH BETTER THAN LAST YEAR: CSU's defensive play has been astoundingly better compared to last year's effort. The Vikings have allowed just 27 goals this season in 15 matches. CSU allowed 59 in the same span last season en route to a yielding school-record 65 tallies.

IMPROVEMENT IN SCORING, TOO: Andrew Gutting's goal in the 88th minute at IPFW last Wednesday was CSU's 18th tally (in 14 matches)  this season, surpassing last season's scoring total of 17 (in 18 matches). David Stewart's goal in the 18th minute against the Mastodons tied the mark.

WORKING OVERTIME: CSU was 0-5-2 in its last seven overtime matches before defeating Butler, 1-0, on Sept. 30. It was the first time the Vikings won an overtime match since defeating Alabama A&M, 3-2, on Sept. 5, 2004. The Vikings are 1-0-2 in overtime contests this season with a ties at Pittsburgh on Aug. 30  and at IPFW (2-2).

LEAGUE SCHOLAR: Tom Sadd was named the Horizon League Male Scholar Athlete of the Week on Tuesday, Oct. 3. The junior international business major from Christchurch, New Zealand, a league All-Academic team member in 2005, boasts a team-high 3.83 grade point average and is the first men's athlete from CSU to win the award.

UP NEXT:  Eight teams begin the Horizon League Championship on campus sites on Saturday, Oct. 28. The location and time of CSU's first round contest will be known at some point in the next week, depending on this week's results around the league.