Oct. 31, 2005
Contact: Brian McCann
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Match 18
Cleveland State (0-16-1, 0-7) at Detroit (11-5-2, 6-1)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 5, 2005
Time: 1:00 p.m. EST
Site: Titan Field (500), Detroit, Mich.
Series: Detroit Leads, 11-3-1
Last Meeting: Detroit 3, CSU 2, (10/16/05, Detroit, Mich.)
Other First Round Pairings
Saturday, November 5 (at Campus Sites)
No. 7 Butler at No. 2 UW-Milwaukee, TBA
No. 6 UW-Green Bay at No. 3 UIC, TBA
No. 5 Loyola at No. 4 Wright State, TBA
SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State opens play in the 2005 Horizon League Championship with a first round game at regular season champion Detroit on Saturday, Nov. 5 beginning at 1:00 p.m. EST at Detroit's Titan Field. This will be the fourth time that the Vikings have faced Detroit in tournament play with the Titans holding a 3-0 edge in those contests. Detroit claimed the regular season meeting between the two teams, a 3-2 decision at home on Oct. 16.
REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings closed the regular season with a pair of road matches last week, including a Horizon League contest at Loyola. Here is a synopsis of those contests:
Match 16: Bowling Green 3, CSU 1 (Oct. 26, Bowling Green, Ohio)
Bowling Green built a 2-0 halftime lead and then held off a furious Viking rally in the final 40 minutes to come away with a 3-1 win. Kim Kroken brought CSU to within 2-1 with a goal in the 49th minute, but the Vikings could come no closer with BG adding their last marker in the final minute.
Match 17: Loyola 2, CSU 1 (Oct. 30, Chicago, Ill.)
The Vikings held a 14-11 shot advantage, including 11-7 in the second half but it was not enough as Loyola scored the match-winner in the 71st minute. Mark Zambra scored on a penalty shot to put CSU ahead 1-0 at the 11:40 mark but the Ramblers evened the match two minutes later. Anthony DeMarco made five saves in goal.
PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: The Vikings have born some resemblence to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde this season defensively, especially over the last handful of matches. CSU has led or been tied at halftime in six of the last seven matches, but the Vikings have gone 0-7 during those contests. Freshman Nenad Stojkovic has emerged as the squad's offensive leader, scoring goals in four of the last eight contests to lead the team with 11 points this year (5G, 1A). Another thing that has been consistant this year has been the youth of the team. In the Oct. 9 loss to UIC, the Vikings used a starting lineup that consisted of four freshmen, five sophomores and two juniors. CSU took an offensive hit on Sept. 23 when junior Ismail Ismail, who was leading the team in shots, broke his left ankle in practice. Freshman netminder Anthony DeMarco continues to show improvement, entering the week leading the Horizon League in both saves (103) and saves per match (6.4) while ranking among the top five nationally in both categories.
TWO ELIGIBLE FOR ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA HONORS: The emphasis that Cleveland State places on performing academically as well as athletically was apparent this month as a pair of Vikings were eligible to be nominated for ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors. The duo consisted of sophomore defender Tom Sadd and sophomore midfielder Vincent Rosati. Each qualified because they have cumulative grade point averages of 3.20 or higher, are starters or important reserves and are sophomores. Sadd has a 3.78 grade point average while majoring in business while Rosati sports a 3.27 GPA in business. The Academic All-America team is selected by the membership of the College Sports Information Directors of America.
GETTING THE SCORING NENAD: Freshman forward Nenad Stojkovic finished the regular season on a strong note, leading the team in goals (5), points (11), shots (26) and shots on goal (13). The freshman from Parma Heights, Ohio has scored a goal in four of the last eight matches to rank ninth in the Horizon League with five markers this year.
ONE-GOAL SETBACKS: One trend that appears to have carried over from last season for the Vikings is their hard luck in league contests. The 2-1 loss at Loyola on Sunday was the fourth one-goal loss by the Vikings in the seven league matches this year and the seventh in the last two years. CSU opened the league slate with a 1-0 loss on Sept. 28 to UW-Milwaukee, a team that won both the Horizon League regular season and championship titles a year ago. The Vikings have also dropped one-goal decisions to UIC (2-1 in overtime), and 3-2 at regular season champion Detroit on Oct. 6. Last year, CSU was 0-3-1 in one-goal matches in league play, tying UIC (1-1) while falling to Wright State (2-1), UW-Green Bay (1-0 in OT) and UW-Milwaukee (1-0 in OT).
DeMARCO PASSES THE CENTURY MARK: Wth seven saves in two matches last week, freshman goalkeeper Anthony DeMarco has become the 10th player in CSU history to record 100 or more saves in a season. DeMarco has now made 103 saves this year, the ninth-highest season total in Viking annals. Just about every save he makes this week will move him up another spot as he needs just one save for eighth place (109 by Geoff Mauch in 1999), three for seventh place (106, Horst Hotzy in 1968) and four saves for sixth (107, Jay Longsworth in 1981). Demarco ranked second in the nation in saves (96) and was fourth in saves per game (6.86) in the latest NCAA statistics (through matches played Oct. 23).
AN INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR: The 2005 Vikings have members that hail from six different countries, including citizens from the United States, Canada, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand and Norway. In addition, two of the three CSU coaches are from the United Kingdom in head coach Pete Curtis and graduate assistant Steve Kehoe.
NEXT UP: A victory over Detroit this week will send the Vikings to the semi-finals of the Horizon League Championships where they would face the winner of the No. 4 Wright State vs. No. 5 Loyola contest. The match would be played at the top remaining seed in the tourney.
