Posted: Apr 04, 2021
Cleveland State vs. Detroit Mercy
Monday, April 5 | 5:00 p.m.
Krenzler Bubble | Cleveland, Ohio
Presented by Cleveland Clinic Sports Medicine
Free Kicks
SETTING THE SCENE
The Cleveland State women's soccer team (5-4-0) concludes its regular season on Monday evening with a home match against Detroit Mercy. Last week, Kathryn Ramicone scored twice and Stevie Holbrook recorded her first shutout of the season and the 13th of her career in a 3-0 win over Robert Morris. Senior Ali Martin also had a marker as Cleveland State won its second straight game. At 5-4-0, the Vikings rank sixth in the #HLWSOC standings.
A WIN ON MONDAY WOULD...
...potentially allow the Vikings to clinch a Horizon League Championship bid depending on the results of IUPUI and Oakland's matches on Monday. It would also improve Cleveland State to 7-10-2 against Detroit Mercy in the head-to-head series and give head coach Dallas Boyer four wins in five matches against the Titans while moving the Vikings' home record against their Horizon League rivals to 6-2-2.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Detroit Mercy (2-5-1) has dropped four of its last five matches, including last week's 2-1 home setback against UIC. The lone victory during the stretch was a 2-1 double-overtime win over Robert Morris on March 24. Julie Ann Piechocki leads the Titans with a pair of goals over eight appearances while Karsen Murray has a team-high two assists. Goalkeeper Marisa Silver has garnered the majority of the playing time in net, compiling a 2-4-1 mark to go with a .639 save percentage over seven games.
FINISH STRONG
The sixth-place Vikings need to leapfrog both Oakland and IUPUI on the final day of the season in order to sneak into the four-team #HLWSOC Championship. First and foremost, Cleveland State needs to collect all three possible points against Detroit Mercy. Then, the Vikings will clinch a postseason spot if IUPUI and Oakland lose on Monday. An Oakland draw paired with an IUPUI loss would tie Cleveland State and Oakland for the fourth seed and take the decision down to tiebreakers.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Following a six-save shutout against Robert Morris last week, Stevie Holbrook became the first Viking this season to take home the #HLWSOC Defensive Player of the Week award. Holbrook follows Elena Gutlove and Maddie Young as Vikings to receive Horizon League weekly honors this season.
HOME COOKING
The Vikings have won three of four matches on home turf this season, continuing a trend of success at Krenzler Field under head coach Dallas Boyer. Since Boyer took over the program ahead of the 2017-18 campaign, Cleveland State owns an 11-4-1 mark at home during conference play.
COMEBACK KIDS
The Vikings fell behind 2-0 early in the second half against Green Bay on March 24 but erupted for four unanswered tallies by four different players in a 4-2 come-from-behind win over the Phoenix. The explosion marked Cleveland State's first four-goal half since 2017 and its first time winning a match in which it faced a two-goal deficit in the second half since a 3-2 overtime win over Detroit Mercy during the same season. Four different Vikings found the back of the net in the win: Kathryn Ramicone, Christina Trickett, Megan Bine and Ja'Maya Ward. For Bine and Ward, it marked their first goals of the campaign. The contest also represented the first time Cleveland State saw four different goal-scorers in the same match since a 5-0 win over the Phoenix on October 6, 2018. Both Ward and Essence Canady scored in that victory.
MOVING UP THE RANKINGS
Maddie Young is tied for second in the Horizon League lead in scoring with 12 points on the year while Kathryn Ramicone, who has three goals in her last two matches, ranks fourth with 11 points. Young ranks sixth and assists and both Young Ramicone share the #HLWSOC lead in goals with four apiece. Elena Gutlove and Christina Trickett are two of several players tied for seventh with three tallies.
RISING IN THE HORIZON - AS A TEAM
Cleveland State is first in the Horizon League in shots (132) and shots on goal (71). The Vikes also lead the conference in corners (51), rank second in goals (18) and third in assists (15). As a team, Cleveland State is outshooting the opposition 62-45 after the opening half, including 5-1 in overtime periods. Overall, the Vikings average 14.7 shots per match compared to 10.3 by the opposition.
Young and Gutlove rank second and third, respectively, in shots in #HLWSOC. Young has rattled off 29 attempts, averaging 3.22 per match. Young fired nine shots against Purdue Fort Wayne on Feb. 25, the second-highest single game shot total by a Viking in team history. Gutlove also accomplished the feat on Feb. 10 against Wright State. The Vikings each of the three highest indidivual single-game shot toals in the Horizon League in 2021 and two of the three highest team totals (28 and 25).
