MATCH #10
Cleveland State (4-5-0, 4-5-0) vs. Saint Francis (PA) (0-0-0, 0-0-0)
Saturday, April 17 | 4 p.m.
Cleveland, Ohio | Krenzler Bubble
Live Stats
THE OPENING KICK
Cleveland State looks to snap its two-game skid and end the 2021 spring season on a high note on Saturday against St. Francis (PA). Saturday's match at the Bubble will conclude the Vikings season, as the Green and White narrowly missed the #HLMSOC playoffs.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Saturday's contest against the Vikings will be St. Francis' first match of the season, as all five of their spring matches have been cancelled. In the 2019 season, the Red Flash compiled an overall record of 10-5-1, losing in the NEC championship match to Fairleigh Dickinson in a penalty kick shootout.
AGAINST THIS OPPONENT
This will be Cleveland State's fourth meeting all-time between St. Francis, holding an all-time record of 2-1-0. The last time these two teams met was during the 1998 season, as the Green and White took a 2-1 decision at Krenzler.
LAST TIME OUT
Cleveland State narrowly lost to UIC, 1-0, on March 24. The Vikings recorded 11 shots on the day and two corner kicks. Michael Neumann tallied four of CSU's 11 shots, including two shots on goal. Pabloe Kawecki added three shots, all on goal, while Jannis Schmidt recorded two shots and Tommy Paltani and Ivan Babic each added one shot. Goalkeeper Omeed Naeemy finished the match with seven saves, one more than Sokratis Vasilas of UIC. Cleveland state was slated to finish its regular season against IUPUI on Monday, April 5, but that match was cancelled due to COVID reasons.
ALL-HORIZON LEAGUE HONORS
Bojan Kolevski, Jannis Schmidt, Thomas M'Barek and Saahb Kular have all been named to the All-Horizon League Second Team. In addition to being a member of the second team, Kolevski was also named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team.
- Kolevski, a native of Skopje, North Macedonia, has seen action in eight games, all starts, for the Vikings this season, tallying four goals and one assist. The forward's four goals are tied for fifth-most goals scored in the Horizon League this season and second-most on the team. Kolevski had impressive back-to-back matches early in the season for the Green and White, scoring the game-winning goal against Robert Morris on Feb. 10, before tallying a goal and an assist against Detroit Mercy the following week.
- Schmidt has found the back of the net a team-leading six times this season, including posting a two-score outing in the Vikes 3-0 win over Detroit Mercy on Feb. 16, which garnered him Nike Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week honors. The junior's six goals are also good for third-most in the league. Schmidt, who has appeared and started in all nine of Cleveland State's matches this season, ranks first on the team in points, third in the Horizon League, and first on the team in assists, tied with Pablo Kawecki (three).
- M'Barek has appeared and started in eight games for the Vikes this spring season. The senior defender has been named as a finalist for the 2020-21 Senior CLASS Award, as announced on Wednesday. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner, and fans are encouraged to vote on the Senior CLASS Award website through May 3. Fan votes will be combined with media and Division I head coaches' votes to determine the winner.
- Kular has suited up and started in all nine of Cleveland State's contests this season. Behind Kular and M'Barek's stellar defense, the Vikes have allowed 10 goals this season, third-lowest amongst all 11 Horizon League teams. This season, Kular has tallied two assists, notching his first-ever collegiate assist against Northern Kentucky on Feb. 28. The Mississauga, Ontario, native has recorded a career-high six shots this season, while notching a career-high two points.
STAYING HOT
Jannis Schmidt has emerged as one of the best players in the Horizon League in his junior season. The Germany native is the third-leading scorer in the league and has registered at least one point in six of his last seven matches. Freshman forward Bojan Kolevski is right behind him, tallying four goals thus far. The duo is tied for the HL lead with two game-winners apiece.
GETTING DEFENSIVE
In all four of their wins this season, the Vikings have shutout the opponent. Goalkeeper Omeed Naeemy, who has started every match thus far, within the top 11 nationally in clean sheets while the Vikings own the third-best defense in #HLMSOC with a 1.13 goals-against average. Overall, Naeemy owns two of the top three highest single-game save totals in the Horizon this season with an eight-save effort against Green Bay on Feb. 4 as well as six stops at Milwaukee on March 6.
ROOKIES STEPPING UP
In a 1-0 win over Purdue Fort Wayne on March 12, freshman midfielder Julian Pellegrini and sophomore defender Danilo Bakoc made their first career starts. Bakoc played all 90 minutes in his second appearance of the year filling in for senior captain Thomas M'Barek while Pellegrini recorded a pair of shots, including an early effort on goal, while logging 82 minutes. Pellegrini has appeared in every match thus far and is one of four Vikings goal-scorers. The St. Ignatius graduate recorded a team-high four shots against Oakland last week.
#HLMSOC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
The Vikings won the league's weekly award in back-to-back weeks, with junior Jannis Schmidt being awarded Nike #HLMSOC Offensive Player of the Week on Feb. 19 after his two-goal performance against Detroit Mercy, while redshirt sophomore Saahb Kular was named Defensive Player of the Week after propelling the Vikes to their first shutout against Robert Morris on Feb. 10. Last week, Naeemy took home Defensive Player of the Week honors with a three-save shutout against PFW.
SEASON FORMAT
Horizon League schools will play a complete round-robin schedule in men's soccer with every league school scheduled to play each other once in the regular season. The league schedule sees each school slated for 10 matches over 11 dates of competition with each school having one bye week. The opening day of the men's soccer season was Thursday, Feb. 4. Matches will continue to be held every sixth calendar day until the regular season concludes Monday, April 5.
