2011 Horizon League Men's Soccer Tournament Bracket
The Horizon League Men's Soccer Tournament gets underway on Tuesday night, with both first round matches available to fans on the Horizon League Network. In the night's opener, No. 3 Cleveland State welcomes No. 6 Loyola to Krenzler Field at 7 p.m. ET. One hour later, fans can catch fifth-seeded UIC's trip to No. 4 Green Bay, live at 8 p.m. ET.
(6) Loyola at (3) Cleveland State - 7 p.m. ET - Horizon League Network | Live Stats
Much has changed since these two teams met on Oct. 8. Back then, Cleveland State (9-8-1, 5-2-1 Horizon) pounded Loyola (5-11-1, 3-5-0 Horizon), 4-0, part of a four match winning streak for the Vikings and sending CSU to a 7-2 closing record. For the Ramblers, their defense buckled down, allowing just five goals in their final six matches to earn the final spot in the League Tournament.
The Vikings will turn loose Admir Suljevic and Aaron Adkins up front to try and beat Loyola keeper Peter McKeown; in October, it was a hat trick from Adkins that spurred the rout.
Loyola has relied on freshman Brian Bement to lead the offense throughout the year, with the Waterloo, Ill.-native collecting All-Newcomer honors after a four-goal campaign in the regular season.
(5) UIC at (4) Green Bay - 8 p.m. ET - Horizon League Network | Live Stats
Green Bay (10-6-1, 5-3-0 Horizon) will be looking for a measure of revenge at Santaga Stadium when UIC (9-6-3, 3-4-1 Horizon) visits on Tuesday. However, they may also thank the Flames at the same time.
On Oct. 1, the Phoenix made the trip down to Flames Field, where they dropped a 3-1 contest to UIC after keeper Ryan Wehking was assessed a red card. With Wehking out for the next match at DePaul, Green Bay fell to 4-5-1 on the year; however, they would lose just once the rest of the season, reeling off wins in six of its last seven matches to reach the conference tournament.
A potent UIC attack has been hampered due to a recurrence of injuries, but Tuesday night's match will feature the League's Offensive Player of the Year, Ivan Stanisavljevic, squaring off with the League's Player of the Year, Tony Walls, in the midfield.
Top-seeded Valparaiso will host the highest remaining seed (any team but the No. 3 seed) in Friday's semifinal, while No. 2 Wright State awaits the lowest remaining seed (any team but the No. 6 seed). Both semifinal and championship matches will be played at Brown Field on Valparaiso's campus, with live coverage on the Horizon League Network.
