Men’s Soccer Results (Sept. 22)
Detroit 3, Cleveland State 1
UIC 1, Wright State 1 (2OT)
Loyola 0, Valparaiso 0 (2OT)
INDIANAPOLIS – Detroit continued its surge to open Horizon League play, while four teams played to draws in their respective League-opening matches.
Detroit 3, Cleveland State 1
Adam Bedell extended his points streak to six matches, netting two goals to help Detroit knock off visiting Cleveland State, 3-1, at Titan Field.
Detroit (5-4-0, 2-0-0 Horizon) remained perfect at home, while Cleveland State (4-4-0, 0-1-0 Horizon) fell in its League-opener.
The Titans struck quickly when Kevin Pinkos’ free quick skipped through the box, where Matt Nedwicki headed the ball past Brad Stuver to give Detroit the edge just 15 minutes into the match.
Detroit kept the pressure on when Bedell found the back of the net for his sixth goal in as many games. At the 22:10 mark, Matt Harkema and Bedell were 2-on-1 against a Viking defender when Harkema touched the ball to Bedell, who beat the keeper to take a 2-0 lead.
UDM held the momentum coming out in the second half when it was awarded a corner in the 53rd minute. Pinkos found Bedell in the box and he headed the ball past the keeper giving Detroit a commanding 3-0 lead.
The two goals give Bedell seven on the year as he now leads the Horizon League in goals and points (16).
The Vikings got on the board in the 90th minute when Admir Suljevic beat Nathan Steinwascher on a penalty kick to spoil the shutout.
UIC 1, Wright State 1 (2OT)
After trading goals in the first half, UIC and Wright State played to a 1-1 draw at WSU’s Alumni Field.
Wright State (2-6-1, 0-0-1 Horizon) struck first, as Brett Elder buried his third goal of the year just 13 minutes into the match to put the Raiders out front early.
UIC (2-4-2, 0-0-1 Horizon) came back shortly, as reigning Horizon League Offensive Player of the Year Ivan Stanisavljevic netted his team-leading fourth goal of the season in the 32nd minute, converting his second penalty kick of the season. The opportunity was awarded after a hand ball was called on Wright State inside the 18-yard box following a restart.
The Flames out-shot Wright State 13-9, and held a 10-5 edge on corner kicks. Wright State was whistled for 27 fouls, and Raider goalkeeper Jacob Bye was forced to turn away four shots by UIC. Stanisavljevic led the charge, attempting a game-high seven shots, including three shots-on-goal.
Loyola 0, Valparaiso 0 (2OT)
Valparaiso and Loyola played to the same result at last year’s Horizon League Tournament semifinal, a 0-0 draw at Brown Field.
Without penalty kicks to settle the result, both Valparaiso (1-5-2, 0-0-1 Horizon) and Loyola (1-5-1, 0-0-1 Horizon) settled on picking up a point in their League openers.
Valpo dominated the opening 45 minutes, not surrendering a shot attempt to the visiting Ramblers while tallying seven shots of its own. The Crusaders had a golden opportunity off a corner kick in the 32nd minute, but the header attempt went off the crossbar and bounced straight back down, just outside the goal line. Loyola netminder Peter McKeown also made three first-half saves to keep the game scoreless.
The second half saw both sides put a number of attempts on goal, as Valpo goalkeeper Kyle Zobeck had to stop four shots to maintain the shutout while McKeown made three more stops. The Crusaders had one last effort right before time expired, but the shot was well high as the game went into extra time.
After a scoreless first overtime period, the best scoring chance for either side on the night came in the 104th minute. The Crusaders had a set piece deep in the attacking third, but a clearance turned into a counter for the Ramblers. Loyola's Brian Bement was played in past the final defender, leaving him one-on-one with Zobeck, who came 30 yards off his line to cut down the angle. Bement's chip avoided Zobeck's body, but ultimately rolled harmlessly over the goal line, just right of the right-hand post.
Zobeck ended the night with five saves to earn his second clean sheet of the year, while McKeown stopped six shots for Loyola. Valpo closed with a 15-9 advantage in shot attempts and earned four corners to the Ramblers' three.
