2011 Horizon League Men's Soccer Tournament Bracket
UIC earned a spot in the Horizon League Men's Soccer Championship, while Loyola hung on to the final spot in the field on a frantic Saturday night. Both teams will be on the road on Tuesday, when the 2011 edition of the men's soccer tournament get underway.
While Valparaiso had locked up the No. 1 seed in the League Tournament with a midweek tie with Butler, the last five seeds in the tournament were up for grabs entering Saturday. Cleveland State assured itself of no worse than a No. 3 seed on Friday night, defeating Detroit, and with six teams in action on Saturday, almost everything was in flux.
The first seeds were settled early in the afternoon, as Green Bay defeated Valparaiso, 1-0, in overtime. The win clinched no worse than the No. 4 seed in the tournament for the Phoenix, depending on the result of the Wright State-Butler match later in the day.
With Butler needing a win to get into the Horizon League Tournament, Craig Feehan withstood 17 shots to turn a shutout in a 1-0 Raiders win, wrapping up the No. 2 seed for the Raiders and eliminating the Bulldogs from League Tournament contention.
The win bumped Cleveland State to the No. 3 seed, with Green Bay taking the No. 4 seed. All that was left to determine was the opponents for both, and UIC solved the puzzle by knocking off Milwaukee, 3-1, in the nightcap of League action. The win meant the Flames will head to Green Bay on Tuesday for a 4-5 matchup, with the Vikings hosting Loyola in Tuesday's other first round game.
In the regular season, UIC took a 3-1 win over Green Bay, though the Phoenix played without keeper Ryan Wehking for much of the match. In the other matchup, Cleveland State ran past Loyola, 4-0, in early October.
