MATCH #7
Cleveland State (3-2-1, 2-1-0) at Green Bay (1-5-2, 0-3-0)
Saturday, Oct. 5 | 8:00 p.m. ET
Green Bay, Wis. | Aldo Santaga Stadium
Live Stats | Video 

THE OPENING KICK:
Cleveland State will be looking to maintain its recent home success as it opens a three-game road trip with its longest trip of the campaign.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
After a pair of ties and a win in its opening three matches, Green Bay has dropped five straight fixtures and sits at 1-5-2 on the campaign. The Phoenix have already played defending HL tournament champion UIC and Oakland, which currently sits in first place in the league. Green Bay had been scheduled to take on Creighton in a midweek matchup, but it was canceled due to weather. Senior Andre Baires earned All-Horizon League First Team honors on defense last season and was one of GB's top returning players. Six different players have scored for Green Bay this season while Jamison Yoder has started seven of the eight matches in goal.

AGAINST THIS OPPONENT
Cleveland State is 17-21-6 all-time against Green Bay. The Vikings and Phoenix have met at least once every season since 1983. Green Bay claimed a 2-1 win last season after the squads had played to 1-1 draws in each of the two prior campaigns. Cleveland State has scored in nine straight matches against the Phoenix and has scored exactly one goal in the last five fixtures between the teams. Lawrence Karpeh is the only active Viking to have scored against GB, which he did during his rookie campaign.

LAST TIME OUT:
Cleveland State used a first-half strike from Lawrence Karpeh and strong goalkeeping by Omeed Naeemy to hold on for a 1-0 win over Milwaukee. It was CSU's first win over the Panthers since 2014.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Freshman Omeed Naeemy was named the league's Defensive Player of the Week this week after backstopping CSU to last week's win. He posted a season-high seven saves in earning his second shutout. He has played every minute in goal this season for CSU and leads the league in both goals against average (0.79) and save percentage (.792).

WORKING (AND WINNING IN) OVERTIME
Cleveland State posted a 2-1 victory over Northern Kentucky in overtime Sept. 21. The Vikings' most recent overtime victory had come in the 2015 Horizon League Tournament. It marked CSU's first win in extra time in its past 57 matches and its first win in its past 13 overtime matches.

VIKING DEBUTANTS:
Twenty of the 21 outfield Vikings have played this season. Seven Vikings have made their NCAA soccer debut this season, six outfield players and goaltender Omeed Naeemy. Naeemy and transfer Andrew Nicholas are the two debutants to start a match thus far this season.

ON THE COMEBACK TRAIL:
Trailing 2-0 with under 20 minutes to play in the season opener at Louisville, Cleveland State rallied to earn a result. It was the first time in CSU's last 50 matches that it had rallied from a multi-goal deficit to earn a result. The most recent such occurrence had come at Robert Morris in August 2016. CSU has now come from behind to earn a result at least once in 14 consecutive seasons and has achieved the feat on the road in nine straight seasons.

ON THE COMEBACK TRAIL, PART II
Trailing 1-0 with under five minutes to play in the HL home opener, Cleveland State rallied to claim the win. The Vikings tied the match in the 86th minute before winning it in the 100th minute on a Gabriel Pewu strike. It was the second time this season the Vikings scored two goals in under 15 minutes to turn a deficit into a result.

ALRIGHT AGAINST ACC:
In earning a 2-2 tie against Louisville to open its season, Cleveland State secured a result against an ACC side for the fourth time in the last five seasons. The Vikings took down a pair of Power Five sides last season, notching wins over Ohio State and Pittsburgh.

LEADING THE CHARGE:
Cleveland State is under the direction of first-year head coach Sinisa Ubiparipovic in 2019. Ubiparipovic, who attended high school and college in Northeast Ohio, was elevated after previously serving as the program's top assistant. He appeared in over 200 professional soccer matches, including an even 100 in the Major League Soccer (MLS) ranks with New York Red Bulls and Montreal Impact.

FREE KICKS:

• Cleveland State has won its first three home matches for the first time since 2010
• CSU has outscored its opposition 7-1 at home this season
• Eight Vikings have started all six matches this season
• Gabriel Pewu leads the team with three goals
• Cleveland State has not allowed more than one goal in five straight matches, its longest such stretch since October 2016
• Jannis Schmidt has a goal and two assists in the four matches he's played
• CSU's win over Northern Kentucky was its first in the five all-time meetings between the teams
• CSU has now scored three goals after the 85th minute in the last two meetings with NKU
• Thomas M'Barek's goal vs. Robert Morris was the first of his collegiate career
• Omeed Naeemy notched his first shutout as a collegian vs. Robert Morris
• Omeed Naeemy was named HL Defensive Player of the Week Sept. 30
• Jannis Schmidt was named HL Offensive Player of the Week Sept. 3
• Forty seven of Cleveland State's last 70 goals have come in the second half. In fact, 18 of those goals have taken place in the 77th minute or later
• The last seven Cleveland State head coaches combined to post a 5-0-2 record in their first game as the Vikings' head coach 

PRESEASON FREE KICKS:

• Vlad Jandric and Thomas M'Barek were both selected All-Horizon League Second Team in 2018
• It was the second straight season that Jandric earned all-conference honors
• Cleveland State returns 17 student-athletes from last year's roster, 16 of which competed in a match
• Six Vikings return that started at least 10 matches last season, with five of those six competing in at least 14 of the squad's 15 fixtures in 2018
• CSU has eight newcomers on the roster, four true freshmen and four transfers
• Thomas M'Barek was the only Viking to start all 15 matches last season
• Gabriel Pewu and Jannis Schmidt were the other returning Vikings to play in all 15 fixtures in 2018
• Cleveland State is facing at least one Big Ten opponent for the third straight year and an ACC foe for the fifth time in six seasons
• The Vikings will face four of the top 40 programs from last season's final RPI, including two of the top five
• Cleveland State has earned a top-four seed in the HL Tournament seven times since the league went to a six-team format, which is the highest such figure among its league peers
• Cleveland State won consecutive matches at Ohio State and at Pittsburgh last season, the first time since 1984 the Vikings won back-to-back matches against teams currently in a Power Five conference
• Cleveland State's win at Ohio State last season was its first victory over the Buckeyes since 1996 (though the sides have not played every year since then)
• With a 2-0 win at Ohio State last year, Cleveland State has now shut out a Power Five side in three of the past four seasons and six of the past nine
• The Vikings twice rallied from deficits to claim a 4-3 win at Pitt, scoring the winning goal with under six minutes remaining
• Gabriel Pewu had six goals and an assist in the final 11 matches last season
• Vlad Jandric had a hat trick in last year's 3-1 win over UIC, the first by a Viking since 2013
• The Vikings were only outshot once in Horizon League play last season
• Among the 75 starts made by Vikings on defense or in goal last season: 31 starts were made by true freshman or redshirt freshman, 40 starts were made by sophomores with two starts by a junior and two by a senior
• Ryan Kolonick led all CSU freshmen with 11 starting assignments last season
• Thomas M'Barek was named Academic All-Horizon League in 2018
• Noah Pio has joined the Viking coaching staff as a student assistant after playing for CSU the past three seasons