Nov. 1, 2004
Contact: Brian McCann
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Match 18
Cleveland State (5-10-2) at Pittsburgh (5-7-3)
Date: Wednesday, November 3, 2004
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST
Site: Founders Field (1,000), Pittsburgh, Pa.
Match 19
2004 Horizon League Championship
Cleveland State (5-10-2, 0-6-1) at UW-Miwaukee (10-4-3, 6-1)
Date: Saturday, November 6, 2004
Time: 1:00 p.m. CST
Site: Engelmann Field (2,000), Milwaukee, Wis.
SETTING THE SCENE: The Vikings are on the road for a pair of matches this week, closing the 2004 regular season this week with a road contest at Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Nov. 3 beginning at 7:00 p.m. EST at Pitt's Founders Field. CSU will then have little time to prepare for the opening round of the 2004 Horizon League Championships, a 1:00 p.m. CST Saturday (Nov. 6) rematch at UW-Milwaukee.
REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings closed the 2004 Horizon League slate with a 1-0 overtime loss at UW-Milwaukee. Here is a synopsis of that match:
Match 17: UW-Milwaukee 1, CSU 0 (OT) (Oct. 31, Milwaukee, Wis.) UW-Milwaukee scored on an own goal just three minutes into overtime to spoil an outstanding defensive effort by the Viking defense and claim a 1-0 win over CSU.
HURRICANE IVAN STRIKES AGAIN: Earlier this fall, the Vikings had their Sept. 18 match at Marshall delayed by one day because of havy rains caused by Hurricane Ivan. Over six weeks later, Ivan strikes again as this week's match at Pittsburgh, had to be pushed back a day to allow the Panthers the ability to reschedule their league match with Syracuse, which was originally slated for Sept. 17 but cancelled because of Hurricane Ivan. Pittsburgh will play The Orange on Nov. 2, the original date of its match with CSU, and then host the Vikings on Nov. 3.
IT IS DEJAVU ALL OVER AGAIN: Saturday's opening round match against UW-Milwaukee may seem familiar to the Vikings. After all, it will be the second match for CSU against the Panthers in seven days and the third time in the last four years that the Vikings will face UW-Milwaukee in the Horizon League Championship. CSU has only once before played the same opponent twice in the same week in the 51-year history of the program, facing Akron in back-to-back matches in 1955. UW-Milwaukee has not been a good opponent for the Vikings to face as CSU has dropped 13 straight meetings, including seven on the road and three in league tournament action.
CSU IN THE HORIZON LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP: The Vikings enter their 10th Horizon League Championship with a 4-9 record playing in nine previous league tourneys since joining the loop in 1994. The deepest run that the Vikings have made in the tourney came two years ago when CSU upended both UW-Green Bay (2-1) and Illinois-Chicago (5-3) before falling in the cahmpionship match to UW-Milwaukee.
OVERTIME WOES: Sunday's overtime loss at UW-Milwaukee marked the sixth time in 17 matches this year that the Vikings have needed overtime to decide a contest, with CSU owning a 1-3-2 mark in those matches. The Vikings started the year out right, claiming a 3-2 OT win over Alabama A&M in the second match of the season on Sept. 5 in a tournament at Louisville. Since then, CSU has dropped OT decisions to IPFW, UW-Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee and tied matches with Niagara and Illinois-Chicago. The six overtime contests is one short of the school record of seven set in 1980 and the most since the 1981 team also played six overtime games. CSU played just three overtime matches, going 1-2, in the first four seasons under current head coach Pete Curtis.
KETTANI MAKES THE SAVE: With 93 saves in the 15 matches he has played in this year, senior Amir Kettani has moved into sixth place in CSU history in career saves. Kettani is one of six CSU goalies to surpass the 200 save mark, making 221 saves in 41 career matches. He currently leads the Horizon League in both saves (93) and saves per game (6.20).
SADD RETURN IS A HAPPY ONE: The UW-Milwaukee match marked the return to the lineup of freshman defender Tom Sadd, who had missed the previous 10 contests following knee surgery. Sadd, a native of Christchurch, New Zealand, started the first six matches of the year on defense, scoring one goal and taking seven shots.
VIKINGS CLOSE NON-CONFERENCE SLATE: Wednesday's match at Pittsburgh will be the 11th -- and final -- non-conference contest of the season for CSU with the Vikings owning a 5-4-1 record in those contests. A win or a tie against the Panthers will allow Cleveland State to post its first winning non-conference season since 1997, when CSU went 6-5-1.
VIKINGS WELCOME NOVEMBER: You won't find any of the Vikings unhappy to see the month of October come and go. After all, over the course of the last two seasons, CSU has compiled just a 2-14-1 record in 17 matches played in October. Over that same span, CSU was 9-5-2 in matches played in September.
LAPPIN THE COMPETITION: Spencer Lappin continues to rank among the Horizon League leaders with seven goals this year, but the senior has struggled to find the net recently. A starter in all 17 contests, Lappin scored his seven goals in the first nine games of the year, posting multiple goal efforts in back-to-back games against Duquesne and Marshall. Since scoring in the 10th minute against Wright State on Oct. 3, Lappin has gone 830:28 without a marker.
NAIL BITERS: Cleveland State's 5-10-2 record this year is in no way indicative of how closely the Vikings have played their opponents. Twelve of CSU's 17 matches have been decided by one goal or less this year with the Vikings owning a 4-6-2 record in those contests. Four of thos matches have come in Horizon League play with CSU going 0-3-1.
NEXT UP: If the Vikings claim a win over UW-Milwaukee on Sunday, they will advance to the semi-finals of the Horizon League Championship, facing the winner of Saturday's Illinois-Chicago vs. Wright State contest on Saturday, Nov. 13 at the highest remaining seed in the tournament.
