Sept. 15, 2008

Contact: Brian McCann

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Match 6
Cleveland State (1-3-1) at St. Bonaventure (1-1-2)
Date: Friday, Sept. 19, 2008
Time: 5:00 p.m. EDT
Site: McGraw-Jennigs Field (1,000), Olean, N.Y.
Series: CSU leads, 8-2
Last Meeting: St. Bonaventure 3, @CSU 1 (8/31/07)

Match 7
Cleveland State at No. 2 Akron (3-1-2)
Date: Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Lee R. Jackson Field (3,000), Akron, Ohio
Series: Akron leads, 33-10-4
Last Meeting: @Akron 3, CSU 0 (8/26/07)

SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State (1-3-1) returns to the road this week for a pair of matches. The Vikings will travel to Olean, N.Y. on Friday, Sept. 19 for a 5:00 p.m. match against St. Bonaventure. CSU then returns to northeast Ohio to play at second-ranked Akron on Sunday, Sept. 21 beginning at 7:00 p.m.

REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings played just one match last week, opening the 2008 home slate. Here is a synopsis of that contest:

Match 5: CSU 3, Niagara 3 (Sept. 12, Krenzler Field)
CSU spotted Niagara a pair of goals in the first 17 minutes but came back to tie the match before half and then force OT with a Jeff Baker goal with just 5:11 left as the Vikings tied Niagara, 3-3. Mitch Boyer and Nenad Stojkovic each scored their first goals of the season in the first half to even the match at 2-2. After falling behind, 3-2, just 2:51 into the second half, CSU rallied to force OT with Baker's goal off an assist from Justin Mancine. Nick Harpel made five saves for CSU.

PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: Third-year head coach Ali Kazemaini has a young, talented roster with nine starters returning from last season's 3-12-3 team. With eight freshmen and three transfers added to the mix, Kazemaini has the depth at every position to improve upon last season. Junior defender Mitch Boyer returns to lead the backline after earning second team All-Horizon League honors for leading the team in assists (4) and points (6). He is joined in the back by junior Josh Williams, who will transition from forward, as well as freshman Justin Mancine and junior Eric Tattersall. Sophomore Nick Harpel is back as the starting goalkeeper. He ranked fourth in the league in save percentage (.767) and fifth in saves (69), while recording four shutouts. The midfield is extremely deep and Kazemaini can call on any number of players, led by Anthony Rucci, the lone senior on the roster. The key will be up front where the Vikings will need to improve upon their 12 goals scored last season. Junior Slava Ubiparipovic, a Xavier transfer, was brought in to supply the offensive attack up front. Freshman Alfred Majer and junior Jeff Baker will also see action as forwards.

THE HEAD COACH: Former Viking All-American Ali Kazemaini is in his third season as the head coach at Cleveland State. He was hired in December of 2005 and immediately charged with returning the program to prominence. In his three years at the helm, Kazemaini claims a 10-25-6 mark, as his Vikings were the most improved team in Division I in 2006. Kazemaini boasts a career record of 186-101-18 as a head coach, which includes a 14-year stint as the head coach at John Carroll. He is a three-time OAC Coach of the Year and two time region coach of the year, leading JCU to seven conference championships and four tournament titles.

WELCOME BACK NENAD: When Nenad Stojkovic scored to even the Niagara match at 2-2 just before halftime on Friday (Sept. 12), the goal marked the end of a long comeback for the junior from Parma Heights. After scoring eight goals in his first two seasons, including a team-high five markers as a freshman in 2005, Stojkovic tore the anterior cruciate ligament in knee during preseason and was forced to sit out the campaign following knee surgery.

VIKINGS SOLVE POWER ISSUES: After scoring just 11 goals in 18 matches a year ago, the biggest question heading into this season was how would the Vikings improve their goal-scoring. Through five contests, the Vikings have shown a dramatic improvement, scoring six times with sophomore Jeff Baker leading the way with a pair of goals. Three other Vikings, Stephen Byer, Nenad Stojkovic and Mitch Boyer have each scored. Of the four goal-scorers this year, only Boyer scored a goal last year.

SEPT. 12 WAS A WIN-WIN SITUATION: When the Vikings won at Missouri State on Friday (Sept. 5) and the women's soccer team claimed a victory at Robert Morris earlier in the day, it marked just the second time in school history that both soccer teams won on the same day. The other time came on August 27, 2006 when the women defeated Delaware State, 6-0, for the first win in program history and the men followed with a 3-1 win over Canisius in a doubleheader at Krenzler Field.

. . . AND ALMOST A REPEAT: Friday night has been a good one for the CSU soccer teams this year. Last Friday, the women won at Ohio (2-1) while the men tied Niagara (3-3), marking just the second time in the two program's history that the teams won and tied on the same day.

FOR STARTERS: Through five matches this season, only five players have started every contest with 18 different players starting at least once. The starters in every match include defnders Mitch Boyer and Josh Williams, midfielder John Wargo, forward Slava Ubiparipovic and goalkeeper Nick Harpel.

HENSON ASKS `CAN I ASSIST YOU?': Despite coming into the season without an assist in 26 career games, junior Bryan Henson has turned into the playmaker for the Vikings this season, assisting on all three of CSU's six goals to date. He is second on the team in scoring, trailing Jeff Baker who has totaled a pair of goals for four points.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN (AND AGAIN): Of CSU's 17 regular season home matches this year, the Vikings will only play six of them at home. To make matters worse, CSU plays just one of its first nine matches at home, that coming against Niagara on Sept. 12. The best chance to see the Vikings play at home is early October when they play four matches at Krenzler Field in an eight-day stretch (Oct. 3-11).

NEXT UP: The Vikings head to Chicago to open Horizon League play at UIC on Friday (Sept. 26) and at Loyola on Sunday (Sept. 28).