Men's Soccer Heads To Wisconsin For A Pair Of Matches
    The Vikings Will Face Milwaukee and Green Bay
    Slavisa Ubiparipovic

    Slavisa Ubiparipovic

    Sept. 28, 2009

    Contact: Renee Adam

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    Match 9
    Cleveland State (3-3-2, 1-0-1 HL) at Milwaukee (1-7-1, 0-1-1 HL)
    Date: Friday, Oct. 2, 2009
    Time: 8:00 p.m. EDT
    Site: Engelmann Field (2,000), Milwaukee, Wis.
    Series: Milwaukee leads, 13-23-2
    Last Meeting: CSU 2, Milwaukee 1 (10/5/08), at Krenzler Field

    Match 10
    Cleveland State at Green Bay
    Date: Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009
    Time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
    Site: Aldo Santaga Stadium (3,500), Green Bay, Wis.
    Series: Green Bay leads, 14-17-2
    Last Meeting: CSU 2, Green Bay 1 (10/3/08), at Krenzler Field

    SETTING THE SCENE: The Cleveland State men's soccer team will hit the road this weekend and travel to the state of Wisconsin where they will continue Horizon League play. The Vikings will face Milwaukee on Friday (Oct. 2) at 8:00 p.m. EDT and Green Bay on Sunday (Oct. 4) at 1:00 p.m. EDT. The Vikings are 3-3-2 overall and 1-0-1 in the Horizon League going into this weekend, following a 1-0 victory over the preseason runner-up Loyola, and a 1-1 draw against the preseason favorite, UIC.

    REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings were in action twice last week. Here are reviews of those contests:

    Match 7: CSU 1, Loyola 0 (Sept. 25, Krenzler Field)
    Justin Mancine recorded his first career goal when he scored the game winning goal with just 62 seconds left in regulation to give the Vikings a 1-0 win. Slavisa Ubiparipovic fed Mancine in the box, who found the back of the net from five yards out. Goalkeeper Nick Harpel posted the shutout making five saves.

    Match 8: CSU 1, UIC 1 (2OT) (Sept. 27, Krenzler Field)
    Justin Mancine forced overtime when he scored his second goal of the weekend to tie the match at 1-1 in the 70th minute. Mancine beat the UIC keeper low and to the right from five yards out off an assist by Audric Kilroy, his first of the season.

    2009 SEASON PREVIEW: With 11 seniors returning, including eight that have been in the 2009 starting lineup so far, the men's soccer team is bringing experience and depth to the field this season. 2008 All-league first team honoree senior Slavisa Ubiparipovic returns up front, leading the team in points (8) and tied for second on the team in goals (2) and assists (4) after eight matches this season. He is joined by freshmen Aaron Adkins (2g, 4pts) and Admir Suljevic (2a, 2pts) who both earned high school All-America honors following their senior campaigns, giving the Vikings a loaded front row. Experience is the key to the midfield this season, as all three starters return: Marco DiFranco, who is tied for the lead on the team with four assists this season, Josh Williams who is leading the team in goals with three and Kevin Malone. The entire defense returns for 2009 after posting six shutouts last season. Leading the charge this year are seniors Eric Tattersall, Mitch Boyer (1g, 2pts) and Anthony Baraldi and junior Audric Kilroy (1a, 1pts). They have played in a combined 30 matches so far this season, allowing 10 goals. Goalkeeper Nick Harpel has played in five contests so far, recording 31 saves and two shutouts. Backing up Harpel this season have been freshmen goalies, Brad Stuver and Almir Suljevic.

    JUST-IN-TIME: Sophomore Justin Mancine recorded his first career goal in Friday night's 1-0 victory over Loyola. Mancine's goal came with just 62 seconds left in regulation when he found the back of the net from five yards out off an assist by Ubiparipovic. Mancine continued his scoring ways when he tallied the game tying goal against UIC on Sunday to force overtime, ending in a 1-1 draw with the Flames. Prior to the contests this weekend, Mancine had one shot on the season.

    UNBEATEN VIKINGS: CSU has a current unbeaten streak of 2-0-1, following victories over Niagara, 2-1 and Loyola, 1-0 and a 1-1 draw with UIC. The Vikings have bounced back from a 1-3-1 start, evening their record at .500 with a 3-3-2 record following this weekend's action. The streak is reminiscent of the 2008 season when the Vikings started off 1-6-2, but picked up the pace after retuning home, going 8-2-1 in their last 11 matches.

    HARPEL KNOWS HOW: With his 10 save performance and one shutout this past weekend, junior goalkeeper Nick Harpel moved into fifth place in the CSU career record books for shutouts with 12. The 10 saves gave Harpel a career total of 201, making him just the seventh keeper in school history to record 200 saves. Harpel currently leads the league in both saves per game with 6.20 and save percentage (.886).

    DOMINATING DEFENSE: The defensive combination of Mitch Boyer, Audric Kilroy, Anthony Baraldi, John Wargo and Eric Tattersall played a large part in CSU's first two conference matches this weekend. The defense allowed just one goal against UIC, the Horizon League preseason favorite, while handing Loyola just their second shutout of the season. The play this weekend was a 180 degree turnaround compared to last season's contests when the Viking defense allowed a combined 10 goals against UIC and Loyola.

    SUPER SLAVISA: Senior Slavisa Ubiparipovic once again leads the team in points this season with eight and is tied for first in assists (4) and goals (2). Ubiparipovic was the team leader in points (14), goals (5) and assists (4) last season, earning him Horizon League First-Team honors.

    NEXT UP: The Vikings will travel to Columbus, Ohio for a match against Ohio State on Friday (Oct. 9) at 5:00 p.m. CSU will then return to Krenzler Field on Sunday (Oct. 11) when they host SIU-Edwardsville at 1:00 p.m.