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Contact: Kevin Zeise
Oct. 27, 2003
CLEVELAND - The regular season ends this week for the Cleveland State men's soccer team with a pair of matches on the road. The Vikings will head to Akron on Tuesday, Oct. 28, for a 7:30 p.m. matchup with the Zips before traveling to UW-Green Bay on Saturday, Nov. 1 for a 1 p.m. game against the Phoenix.
About the Vikings
Cleveland State (6-10-1, 2-4 Horizon) enters the week in sixth place in the Horizon League and will find themselves on the road for the league quarterfinal on Nov. 8. The Vikings dropped a pair of decisions last week, including a critical match with Butler on Friday, Oct. 24.
IPFW 2, CSU 1 - Bryan Fecke (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne) scored his first goal of the season just over three minutes into the match, but a pair of IPFW goals in a three-minute span in the second half sent the Vikings to their seventh defeat in their last eight matches.
Butler 3, CSU 2 - The Vikings rallied from a two-goal deficit early in the first half to tie the score, but a Butler goal late in the first half proved the be the gamewinner as CSU fell to 2-4 in the Horizon League. Stephen Ademolu (Windsor, Ontario/Herman) and Nic Ademolu (Windsor, Ontario/Herman) both scored for the Vikings.
About Akron
Akron enters Tuesday's match with a 11-4-1 record after knocking off No. 11 Michigan on Friday (Oct. 24). The Zips are 6-1 at home, with their only home loss coming at the hands of Horizon League member UW-Milwaukee on Oct. 5. Akron, which has won seven of its last nine matches, is led by Alex Odwell's 22 points on eight goals and six assists.
About UW-Green Bay
The Phoenix have struggled this season to a 2-11-1 record, including an 0-5 mark in the Horizon League. UW-Green Bay will face Loyola on Wednesday, Oct. 29 before meeting the Vikings on Saturday. UWGB has lost eight straight matches entering Wednesday's tilt with the Ramblers in Chicago. Adam Schmitt leads Green Bay in scoring with six points on three goals on just ten shots.
Series Notes
Akron has been CSU's most frequent opponent, with the two schools meeting for the 45th time on Tuesday. The Zips hold a 30-10-4 edge in the series, which dates back to 1954. Akron has won the last 11 meetings, with the last Viking win being a 1-0 win in Akron in 1989. Cleveland State holds a slight 13-12-2 advantage in the series against UW-Green Bay, which dates back to 1971. The Vikings have won the last two meetings, both of which were played at Krenzler Field.
Head Coach Pete Curtis
In his fourth season as head coach, Pete Curtis has a record of 22-49-2. He guided the Vikings to a 10-11 mark last season, including a berth in the Horizon League championship game, and was named the Horizon League co-Coach of the Year. Curtis has a career record of 118-137-12 in his 14 seasons as a head coach. He is assisted by John Harr, in his first season, and Andy Carl, in his sixth season.
Breaking Down The Playoffs
Three league matches remain this week, and picture for the seeds for the Horizon League tournament is still not clear. Only UW-Milwaukee and Butler have secured their seedings for the Horizon League Championship, with UWM finishing first and Butler second. A Wright State win at UIC on Monday, coupled with a CSU win over Green Bay on Saturday, would place the Vikings fifth, and would send CSU to Wright State for the first round of the playoffs. Should UIC defeat the Raiders on Monday, Cleveland State would finish sixth in the league, and would face Detroit in the opening round of the playoffs. The Vikings could also find themeselves heading to Butler for the opening round as the seventh seed, if UW-Green Bay defeats Loyola and Cleveland State this week.
Tying One On
The Oct. 16 draw with Bowling Green was the first tie in over three and a half years for the Vikings. The last tie came on Sept. 1, 2000, against Western Michigan in Pete Curtis' first game as head coach. In between ties, the Vikings have had five games go into overtime and be decided in the extra sessions.
Rally Time
The Oct. 16 tie with Bowling Green was another in a series of memorable come-from-behind games for the Vikings this season. Trailing 2-0 with 20 minutes to play, the Vikings scored twice in five minutes to even the score and send the game to overtime, where it ended deadlocked. Cleveland State also rallied from a 2-1 deficit with two goals in the final 10 minutes to defeat Pittsburgh on Sept. 24, and came back three times before ultimately claiming a 5-4 win against UIC on Sept. 20.
A Rough Month
The month of October has not been kind to Cleveland State. After going 6-2 in September, including winning four straight matches on the road, the Vikings dropped their first four games in October before snapping that skid with the Oct. 16 tie with Bowling Green. CSU has yet to find the win column in October, going 0-6-1 after entering the month with a 6-4 mark.
Following The Leader
Friday's match against Butler snapped one streak for the Vikings, but not in the way coach Pete Curtis would have liked. Stephen Ademolu scored a goal in the 3-2 loss to Butler, the first time he has scored in a Viking loss this season. On the other side of the ledger, the Vikings have not won a match in which Ademolu has not found the back of the net. Of his 12 goals on the year, 10 have come in the six CSU wins, with Ademolu also scoring in the 2-2 draw with Bowling Green on Oct. 16. Ademolu has 25 points on the season on 11 goals and three assists.
Dangerous Even When Not Scoring
Even though he wasn't credited with the goals, Stephen Ademolu has created three other goals on the season for Cleveland State. Ademolu has been fouled three times in the penalty area, leading to three penalty kicks. The Vikings have converted all three this season, with David Carmichael (Paisley, Scotland/Penilee) scoring two and Benny Eck (Ottendorf, Germany/Freidrich-Fischer-Schule) finishing the third.
We're Going Streaking
The Vikings won four straight road games at Robert Morris, Loyola, Niagara and Xavier after starting the season 0-2. That streak is tied for the second-longest road win streak in school history, tying the 1981 campaign that saw the Vikings record wins at Bowling Green, UW-Milwaukee, Marquette and Ohio State. The record for consecutive wins away from home is six, set during both the 1977 and 1979 seasons.
The Drought Is Over
Stephen Ademolu's three-goal output against Robert Morris on Sept. 3 earned him Horizon League Player of the Week Honors for the week ending Sept. 7. That marked the first time a CSU soccer player has received the award since Colin Knott claimed it on Sept. 8, 1997. Ademolu then won the award again two weeks later after tallying an eight-point game against UIC in the home opener on Sept. 20.
Senior Salute
The Oct. 24 match with Butler marked the final regular-season game at Krenzler Field for three seniors. Defenders Benny Eck, Jim Sears (Bay Village, Ohio/Bay) and Matteo Zappa (Cleveland, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) each likely made their final appearance at the downtown pitch.
Tournament Honors
Spencer Lappin (Pepper Pike, Ohio/Orange) and Stephen Ademolu were each named to the all-tournament team at the Duquesne Classic. Lappin scored a pair of goals in the tournament, while Ademolu collected an assist in the tournament's final match against Duquesne.
50 Years of Soccer
The 2003 campaign is the 50th season of soccer at Cleveland State University, a milestone that was marked during the Sept. 20 home opener against UIC. More than 50 former players and coaches were on hand for the festivities, which included an alumni game and recognition of alumni at halftime of the CSU-UIC match.
Up Next
The Vikings will hit the road to begin postseason play, as they will travel to one of the top four seeds for the Horizon League Quarterfinal on Nov. 8.
