CLEVELAND, Ohio - Jannis Schmidt's tally late in the first half proved to be the game-winner as the Cleveland State Vikings took down the visiting Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons 1-0 on Friday at the Krenzler Bubble.
Goalkeeper Omeed Naeemy made three saves as the Vikings claimed their league-leading fourth clean sheet of the year while recording their second two-game shutout streak.
Cleveland State moved above .500 at 4-3-0 on the season, good for fourth in the #HLMSOC standings.
THE GAME
In his first career start, freshman midfielder Julian Pelligrini logged the Vikings' first shot of the match in the 10th minute, sending a ball in from a tough angle that was deflected away by Mastodons keeper Erik Josson.
The Vikes nearly found the go-ahead goal on a 22nd-minute attempt by Pablo Kawecki, but his low shot to right side was knocked out of bounds for a corner. On the ensuing play, Schmidt fired a ball on frame before rattling off two more shots, totaling three shots within a span of 41 seconds.
Naeemy made his lone save of the opening half in the 28th minute, and it was a beauty. The sophomore navigated through a crowded box to dive and punch away a point-blank opportunity that seemed destined for the right corner of the net.
Cleveland State, which outshot Purdue Fort Wayne 9-4 over the first 45 minutes, upped the pressure over the final 10 minutes of the half. First, Bojan Kolevski took a feed from Pablo Kawecki before firing a hard shot that was saved by Josson. Approximately one minute later, Kawecki created another scoring chance, dribbling into the attacking third from the left side before being tripped up. The sophomore, who was celebrating his birthday, recovered quickly and pushed the ball forward to Schmidt, who took a few touches before patiently shooting into the lower left side of the goal from the top of the 18.
With the goal, Schmidt became the third Horizon League player to score five goals on the campaign. The junior ranks third in the conference in points with 12 on the year (five goals, two assists).
Seeing significant minutes for the second straight home match, freshman Michael Neumann nearly doubled Cleveland State's lead soon after the intermission, taking a well-placed long ball over the top from Kawecki before fighting through contact to produce the first shot on goal of the half.
Both sides traded chances over the final half hour of play, with Naeemy adding two more saves to his stat line before the final whistle. Kawecki and Schmidt both stood out for the Vikings, launching five shots each while earning the only points of the match for either team.
Pelligrini and Neumann chipped in a pair of shots each while Danilo Baboc played all 90 minutes in his first career start on the back line.
Cleveland State held a 17-9 edge in shots overall and generated seven corners compared to four for the Mastodons.
UP NEXT
The Vikes hit the road next Thursday, March for a showdown against second-place Oakland at 2:30 p.m.
#GoVikes
