2006 Horizon League Men's Soccer Prospectus
Aug. 2, 2006
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UW-Milwaukee attempts to secure its fifth consecutive Horizon League men's soccer championship, but 2005 regular-season titlist Detroit leads a pack of challengers as the circuit opens its 20th season of competition.
UWM's 14-4-5 overall record included a 4-2-1 League ledger in 2005, before the Panthers logged three consecutive 1-0 shutouts (including a victory over UDM in the final) to capture the League Championship. UW-Milwaukee then defeated Bradley 2-0 in the opening round of the NCAA Championships before being eliminated by eventual national runner-up New Mexico in penalty kicks.
Jon Coleman takes the reins in Milwaukee after mentor Louis Bennett's departure to cross-town rival Marquette, inheriting a roster which includes nine starters from last year's squad. One of those two lost starters is Neil Dombrowski, whose nine goals were one behind the League leaders (Detroit's Andrew Ornoch and Joshua Okoampa of UW-Green Bay), but seniors Steve Sperl (six goals, 16 points in 2005) and Craig Mallace (four goals and a League-leading ten assists) lead the way for UWM while Grant Fernstrum attempts to repeat his performance from last fall when he had ten shutouts and led the nation with a 0.47 goals-against average. Junior defender Steve Bode earned First-Team All-League honors for his work in front of Fernstrum, along with his five goals and 11 points.
UWM is one of only seven schools to win games in each of the last four NCAA summits, but the Panthers will have to battle through a series of teams in order to return to the national tournament this fall. The Panthers don't have any favors on the schedule, having to play Detroit (Sept. 15) and UIC (Oct. 3) on the road to open their League slate. UWM lost a 2-1 decision to Detroit in Milwaukee last fall and played UIC to a draw in which 45 shots failed to produce a goal.
Detroit compiled a 12-6-2 ledger in 2005, claiming the regular-season crown with a 6-1-0 loop mark. The Titans' 2006 roster features the reigning League Defensive Player of the Year in senior defender Jason Massoglia (who also scored eight goals---including four match- winners---last fall) and the Goalkeeper of the Year in sophomore Sasha Boskovic (1.06 GAA), but Titan coach Morris Lupenec must find another scoring threat after the departure of Ornoch.
The League's Player of the Year in 2005, Ornoch topped the circuit with ten goals and 25 points before signing a professional contract to play in Hungary last spring. Detroit will now rely heavily on senior midfielder Vahid Assadpour (four goals plus a League-high ten assists) and a defense which recorded seven shutouts last year. Detroit hosts UIC in another critical early-season League battle on Sept. 24.
UIC also finished 4-2-1 in the League (10-5-2 overall) during the regular season but the Flames ended the year on a disappointing note following a 3-0 loss to UW-Green Bay to open the League tournament. That setback erased some of the enthusiasm created when UIC defeated a pair of teams ranked in the national top 25 (2-0 vs. then-No. 24 Loyola Marymount on Sept. 3 and 2-1 at then-No. 22 Creighton on Oct. 5). Still, second-year boss John Trask has the top seven scorers and two goalkeepers back.
Junior midfielder Pavle Dundjer (seven goals plus eight assists) and senior forward Tonci Skroce (eight goals and three helpers) form one of the most potent scoring tandems in the League. Skroce netted five match-winners including three overtime markers a year ago, while junior midfielder Cesar Zambrano added four goals and set up four other strikes. All three were First-Team All-League picks in 2005.
At Wright State, midfielder Tony Labudovski returns for his senior campaign after earning First-Team All-League honors with nine goals and 20 points a year ago. Sophomore Josh Grossman contributed five goals and set up three other strikes, but the Raiders must replace the graduated trio of Jason Tackis (eight assists), Dana York (four goals), and Paul-Anthony Perez (two goals, two assists) for another extended run in the League championship. WSU started slowly (1-4-0) in 2005 but won four in a row late in the year to close the season at 4-3-0 in League action and 10-10-0 overall.
Loyola went 7-9-2 last fall and features the League's reigning Newcomer of the Year in sophomore midfielder Keum Sung Kim, who hit the net six times with five assists as a freshman to garner First-Team All-League recognition in 2005. Senior forward Matt Marek and senior midfielder Javier Lopez each added four goals, providing depth to LU coach Brendan Eitz's attack. Brad Sommer and Sean Bond combined for a 1.78 GAA while splitting time in net for the Ramblers, whose four League win tied the mark for the most ever by a Loyola squad.
For UW-Green Bay to improve upon last year's 9-10-0 overall ledger, the Phoenix looks to an attack led by First-Team All-League honoree Okoampa. Sophomore Tosaint Ricketts hit the net four times in 2005, while senior Glenn Herzog added a pair of goals along with three assists. Sideline boss Tom Poitras must find a way to replace the playmaking talents of Bati Tola, who had seven assists as a senior last fall. In goal, Adam Stikl (0.86 GAA) and Josh Loyd (1.31 GAA) split time with the now-departed Matias Wilson, with each logging at least 476 minutes of experience in net. Stikl registered his biggest win of the year with a 1-0 decision over instate rival UW-Milwaukee on Oct. 26.
Butler raced out to a 9-2-0 start before a wave of injuries hit the Bulldog roster, as only two players started all 19 matches a year ago. Goalkeeper Frank Peabody was one of those injured BU standouts, missing six matches due to an elbow injury in the middle of the year. At the time of his ailment, Peabody led the nation in goals-against average and save percentage, but Butler never fully recovered down the stretch, losing its final eight contests of the year. Peabody finished his junior campaign with a 0.73 goals-against mark and six shutouts but Butler scored only 18 goals in 2005. Sophomore Eduardo Garcia (four goals and two assists) and senior John DeVae (three goals and two helpers) anchor the attack for first-year coach Kelly Findley this fall.
Cleveland State coach Ali Kazemaini returns to the campus where he was an All-America selection 20 years ago. His new task includes resurrecting a program which went 0-17-1 and was outscored 65-18 a year ago. To meet that challenge, Kazemaini---who recorded 176 victories in 15 seasons at John Carroll College---looks to a pair of sophomores in forward Nenad Stojkovic (five goals, 11 points) and midfielder Steve Trapp (two goals plus four assists) to step up with a cast of newcomers in 2006. Three Vikings will battle for the chance to replace goalkeeper Anthony DeMarco, who led the League with 105 saves last season.
A spot in the NCAA Championship is on the line in this year's League summit, which begins Saturday, Oct. 28, at campus sites. The top four seeds host quarterfinal-round action, with the winners meeting at the home of the highest-seeded survivor for the remainder of the tournament the following weekend. Semifinals are currently scheduled for Friday, Nov. 3, and the championship is slated for Sunday, Nov. 5, although each round could move to a day earlier if the host school also holds the women's League Championship that same weekend.
Valparaiso, which officially joins the League in 2007, makes its final trip through the Mid-Continent Conference in 2006. Senior forward D.J. Catrow led Valpo with six goals and six assists a year ago, helping the Crusaders to a 3-2-1 Mid-Con mark as part of a 6-10-2 overall ledger.
