Horizon League Play Heats Up for Men's Soccer

Saturday, Oct. 5 Results

Valparaiso 0, Green Bay 0 (2ot)
Oakland 2, Detroit 1
Milwaukee 3, Wright State 0
UIC 1, Cleveland State 0

Valparaiso 0, Green Bay 0 (2ot)

GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) – Playing in his first Horizon League contest, freshman Kyle Ihn (Wales, Wis.) earned his first career shutout as the Green Bay men’s soccer team finished in a scoreless draw against Valparaiso on Saturday afternoon at Aldo Santaga Stadium.

The draw moved Green Bay’s record to 5-2-3 overall and 0-0-1 in the conference, while Valpo went to 3-3-4 overall and 0-1-2 in the Horizon League.

Playing in a heavy rain in the first half, Valparaiso put the first shots on goal, but Green Bay quickly responded with scoring opportunities of its own. Just over 23 minutes into the match Sam Krenzien (Wauwatosa, Wis.) had a shot blocked, and he then followed with a header in front of the Valpo keeper, but Tom Serratore was able to collect the shot.

Krenzien again attacked the net in the closing minutes of the first half, camping out in front of the keeper, but his header attempt was again collected by Serratore and the game headed into the break at a scoreless draw. At the half, Green Bay held a 7-3 advantage in shots including 3-0 on goal, while Valpo led corner kicks, 5-1.

As the rains let up to start the second half, both offenses picked up the pace. In the 62nd minute Lawrence Talery (Coon Rapids, Minn.) put a shot on goal that sailed just over the crossbar. The Crusaders then took the ball down the field with a breakaway opportunity by Jesse Ortiz, but Ihn came up with a big save to preserve the shutout.

Heading into extra minutes, both teams tacked a shot on the board, but it was Green Bay that picked up the intensity in the second overtime session with five shot attempts. IN the 105th minute Valpo was called for a handball just outside the box. With a direct shot on the free kick, Krenzien’s attempt sailed over the crossbar. AJ Patterson (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) and Jordan Dover (Ontario, Canada) also saw scoring opportunities go just wide as the game drew to a close.

For the match, Green Bay led in shots, 17-8, including 5-2 on goal. Valpo edged the Phoenix in corner kicks, 7-5. Ihn made two saves in the shutout.

GREEN BAY, Wis..-- Despite creating the best chances and having the better of play for much of the game, the Crusader men played to a 0-0 double overtime draw in their Horizon League game at Green Bay. With the draw, the Crusaders were able to leave the game with an important league point on the road.

The Crusaders wasted no time putting pressure on the Phoenix defense in Saturday’s league game, as Yannick Iwunze (Paris, France/Hightower (Tex.) H.S.) found himself with a one on one opportunity in just the 5th minute of the game. The right back collected the ball at midfield and was able to carry it all the way into the Phoenix penalty area. With seemingly just the goalkeeper to beat, Iwunze fired a shot that was blocked at the last minute by a recovering Phoenix defender. The goal saving tackle put in by the defender resulted in a Crusader corner, but the chance would be left unfinished. Just moments later, the Crusaders found themselves with another opportunity to take an early lead in the match, as Jesse Ortiz (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) had the Phoenix goalkeeper scrambling on an effort that went just wide of the far post.

The second half of play would be very similar to the first - the Crusaders held possession for long stretches of the game and created plenty of chances to end the draw, but were unable to convert. In the 52nd minute, Todd Vervynckt (Plymouth, Ind./Plymouth) was able to beat a Phoenix defender and cut the ball inside on his right foot near the top of the penalty area; his shot however would rise just over the crossbar, keeping the game level at 0-0.  In the 69th minute, a run from Ortiz seemed certain to put the Crusaders up a goal to none, but the Phoenix goalkeeper was able to come up with a save to keep the match even at 0-0.

With regulation ending in 0-0, overtime would be necessary to decide the result of the game. Again, the Crusaders would leave quality chances unfinished in the first period of overtime. In his first appearance of the season, freshman Kevin Klett (Muncie, Ind./Burris) was unlucky not to end the match on a golden goal. A fantastic strike from Klett forced the Phoenix goalkeeper to produce yet another game saving stop.

In the second overtime period, the Crusaders were able to withstand several chances from Green Bay. The most pressing came in the 107th minute, as Tom Serratore (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew) was called upon to make a diving save on a ball headed for the top corner. Serratore’s save preserved the draw and allowed the Crusaders to leave the game with an important league point.

Although the Phoenix outshot the Crusaders 17-8 in the match, nearly every effort came from long range and was easily dealt with by Serratore and the Crusader defense. Serratore ended the game with five saves. Vervynckt, Klett, Zev Taublieb (Malibu, Calif./Agoura), Nick Suker (Downers Grove, Ill./South), Eric Nieto (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Louisville (Ky.) Collegiate), and Omar Lawrence (Kingston, Jamaica/Excelsior) each had one shot for the Crusaders, while Ortiz had two with one on frame. With the draw, the Crusaders now sit at 3-3-4 on the season and 0-1-2 in Horizon League play.

Oakland 2, Detroit 1

ROCHESTER, Mich. (10/5/13) – Jason Leslie scored his second consecutive goal for an early 1-0 lead, but the University of Detroit Mercy men's soccer team dropped a 2-1 Horizon League match against rival Oakland Saturday night at OU Soccer Field.

Not as if the 22 matches before did not matter, but with both teams members of the Horizon League this one added a bit more incentive.

Detroit (1-5-4) had several opportunities in the first half of play, but several last minute defending by Oakland (4-2-4) kept the Titans from taking an advantage early on in the match.

In the Titans last match against IPFW, Jason Leslie entered the match and put a shot in the net on his first touch. Leslie decided to go quicker this time, as he scored his second consecutive goal of the season in the 21st minute to give UDM a 1-0 lead.

At the half, Detroit led Oakland in the shot column 9-5, while both teams had four corner kicks apiece.

The Grizzlies came out more aggressive in the second half, closing the gap in shots. In the 66th minute some misjudgment by the back line of the Titans left Joey Tinnion free to even the match at 1-1.

Shortly after the Grizzlies goal, Leslie was one on one with the Oakland keeper, but could not win the battle that would have gave UDM the go ahead goal and OU took advantage as Tinnion was left alone to put it the game winning goal, as the Grizzlies took the match 2-1 at OU Soccer.

The Titans will be back in action on Tuesday, Oct. 8 when they travel to Ohio for a non-conference match with Bowling Green. Match time is set for 7 p.m. ET.

UIC 1, Cleveland State 0

CHICAGO – The UIC men’s soccer team completed its sixth shutout of the season as it defeated Cleveland State, 1-0, in its first Horizon League match of the season Saturday afternoon.  Senior Bob Novak scored in the 19th minute with the lone goal of the game.

The Flames improve to 7-3-0 on the season, with a 1-0-0 record in the Horizon League, while the Vikings drop to 3-8-0, 0-2-0 HL.

The physicality of the game was evident, but UIC started to create chances early on with attempts by sophomore Kyle Lindberg and freshman Joel Leon.  After receiving a yellow card, Novak came back to score less than a minute later in the 19th minute off a setup by junior Jesus Torres.  The next shot for UIC came again from Novak, but just missed the net and hit the post.

The Flames fired off three additional shots in the second half by redshirt-sophomore Marcin Modzelewski, freshman Rodrigo Salgado and Torres, with Modzelewski’s shot being saved by several Vikings in front of the net and Salgado’s hitting the crossbar.  The Flames held a 7-5 shot advantage and went 3-3 with the Vikings in shots on goal, while the teams finished the game with a combined 33 fouls, 16 and 17, respectively.

Freshman goalkeeper Andrew Putna made three saves in the game, with two coming back-to-back at the start of the second half.  Putna recorded the shutout for his sixth of the season and improved his GAA to 0.80, while Cleveland State’s freshman goalkeeper Nick Ciraldo made just one save and dropped his record to 1-4-0.

Milwaukee 3, Wright State 0

The Wright State men's soccer team only trailed 1-0 at the half, only to see undefeated Milwaukee add two goals in the final 45 minutes for a 3-0 Horizon League decision Saturday night at Engelmann Stadium.

The first half was played in a steady downfall of rain and made for some tougher playing conditions overall. That did not affect the UWM offense early, with Boyd netting his third of the season at the 5:01 mark. He found the back of the net from close range, chipping it over the goalkeeper after a combination of passes from Bell and junior Luke Goodnetter.

Even though the Panthers scored an early goal just five minutes into the match, the Raider defense held Milwaukee in check the rest of the period, keeping the margin 1-0 at the halftime break.

It remained 1-0 until the Panthers tallied two goals in a 10-minute span midway in the second half.

Anderson made one of his three saves in the 59th minute and sent out a long kick down the field. It landed past the backline of WSU defenders and Younes finished nicely for his third of the year to give Anderson the assist.

Boyd almost had a pair of scores, but his diving header off a serve from Younes went just wide in the 63rd minute.

About five minutes later, Bell volleyed a cross from Younes to the near post. A diving save was made, but freshman Kostas Kotselas picked up the loose ball and found Boyd, who served it back to the near post where Bell beat the WSU keeper to score his seventh goal of the season at the 67:22 mark.

Milwaukee (9-0-1, 2-0 Horizon) held a 22-12 shot advantage, including a 10-3 edge in shots on goal.  Freshman goalkeeper Tyler Blackmer finished with seven saves for the Raiders.