Horizon League Men’s Soccer Tournament Schedule (Nov. 9)
(4) Valparaiso vs. (2) Cleveland State, 11 a.m. ET – Horizon League Network
(6) Loyola at (1) Detroit, 2 p.m. ET – Horizon League Network
DETROIT – Two teams are after their first Horizon League men’s soccer titles. Another is looking for its first since 1996. And the fourth men’s soccer tournament semifinalist is out to repeat as the No. 6 seed.
The latter of the two matchups is one of the oldest in the Horizon League, with top-seeded Detroit (10-8-0) holding a 15-13-1 edge on Loyola (4-11-2), which is in the tournament as the No. 6 seed for the second consecutive season.
The Ramblers will be out to match their feat of 2011, when the program became the lowest seed to ever win the Horizon League men’s soccer tournament. After struggling offensively for much of the year, Loyola has scored four goals in each of its last two matches, including a 4-3 win in the rain on Tuesday night to reach the semifinals.
Detroit, which capped a worst-to-first campaign this fall, is led by 6-6 junior midfielder Adam Bedell. Leading the League with 11 goals and 27 points and tying for the conference lead with five assists, Bedell was named the Horizon League Player of the Year and the Offensive Player of the Year.
Bedell is currently 23rd in the nation in goals and 25th in points and was named the Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week four times.
As a result of its 6-1-0 Horizon League mark, the Titans were richly rewarded in postseason awards balloting. While Bedell collected the major hardware, he was joined by forward Pat Lepera on the First Team. Sophomore midfielder Matt Ybarra and defender Matt Nedwicki both took Second Team All-League accolades while Matt Harkema and keeper Nathan Steinwascher were both named to the All-Newcomer team for their play on the pitch.
The match preceding the two Jesuit members’ will see No. 2 seed Cleveland State (9-5-3) battle fourth-seeded Valparaiso (6-8-5). The Vikings are looking for their third appearance in the Horizon League Championship, while the Crusaders have never been, losing to Loyola at home last year as the No. 1 seed.
The two top goalkeepers in the Horizon League will square off in the match, with the two-time defending Goalkeeper of the Year Kyle Zobeck of Valparaiso opposing Cleveland State’s Brad Stuver. Stuver won the honor in 2010, and the two were nearly tied for the honor this season.
Zobeck’s 0.84 goals-against average leads the Horizon League, just beating Stuver’s 0.89 GAA.
While Zobeck garned Keeper of the Year accolades, two members of the Vikings’ program collected individual postseason awards. Ali Kazemaini, in his seventh season leading the Vikings, was named the Horizon League Coach of the Year for the first time. The former Cleveland State player has helped to build the program from the ground up, taking over the team in 2006 following a winless campaign. CSU's second place league finish in 2012 is the highest the team has ended the regular season in the Horizon League standings since the 2002 campaign.
One of the reasons for Cleveland State’s strong play came from the Defensive Player of the Year, junior Cam Eisses. Eisses, also an All-League first team member, was a defensive anchor all season long for CSU, helping to lead a defense that posted a league-high seven shutouts on the year.
Given both teams’ strength in net and in the middle of the field, it should be no surprise that the teams played to a scoreless draw in their meeting this season.
