Men's Soccer - Weekly Release #7

Oct. 10, 2005

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Horizon League Player of the Week

Grant Fernstrum
Freshman * Goalkeeper * Green Bay, Wis.
Fernstrum posted the first three shutouts of his collegiate career with 2-0 victories over Wisconsin, Wright State and #25 Butler. The freshman netminder stopped 12 shots in those three outings, running his scoreless streak to 302:44. He has a season GAA of 0.37 and has not allowed a goal other than two penalty kicks in his five starts.

Other Top Performances for the Week Ending October 9
Vahid Assadpour, Detroit
Junior * Midfielder * Richmond Hill, Ontario
Assadpour scored a pair of goals in Detroit's only action of the week, a 3-2 overtime victory at IPFW which extended UDM's winning streak to four consecutive matches. The junior opened the scoring and added the match-winner with a free kick from 19 yards out eight minutes into overtime.

Tonci Skroce, UIC
Junior * Forward * Zadar, Croatia
Skroce scored in both of the Flames' victories during the week. He knocked in the first goal of the match to pace UIC to a 2-1 victory over #23 Creighton on Wednesday, and netted the overtime match-winner to give the Flames a 2-1 triumph at Cleveland State on Sunday. Three of his four goals this season are match-winners.

Joshua Okoampa, UW-Green Bay
Junior * Forward * Brooklyn Park, Minn.
Okoampa scored his sixth goal of the season and second match-winner in Friday night's 3-2 victory over Wright State. The Phoenix junior shares the Horizon League lead with his six strikes, and ranks fourth on the League charts with 13 points. Friday's goal was the 18th of his career.

News From Around the League

Defense raises Panthers into tie for first place in League standings
UW-Milwaukee won all three of its matches last week, improving to 7-2-3 overall and 3-1-0 in League play with 2-0 shutouts of Wisconsin, Wright State and Butler. With 12 saves during the week, freshman Grant Fernstrum has not allowed a non-PK goal in 490 minutes this season.

Junior Craig Mallace recorded a goal and an assist at Butler, the sixth consecutive match in which he has scored a point. That marks the fourth-longest streak in school history. He has been held off the scoresheet just once in 12 matches in 2005. His goal was also the first allowed by Butler in the first half of any match this season.

UWM has had nine different players score at least one goal this season. Five others have notched one or more assists.

Titans continue flurry of goals in posting non-conference victory at IPFW
Detroit went scoreless through its first three matches of 2005. Those offensive woes seem ages ago as the team has now tallied nine goals in its last four outings, including three in a 3-2, overtime victory at IPFW on Sunday to lift the Titans to 6-2-3 overall.

That scoring burst has carried UDM to a four-match winning streak, with all of those triumphs coming by one goal each, and all on the road. Detroit is 5-2-0 away from Titan Field, after losing its only home match so far this season (1-0 to Wright State on Sept. 23).

The schedule will turn in the Titans' favor shortly, however. After Wednesday's contest at Valparaiso, UDM ends the regular season with a five-match homestand featuring a trio of Horizon League opponents.

Bulldogs lose match, goalkeeper
Butler had entered the Soccer America top 25 last week, but that stay might end following a 2-0 loss to UW-Milwaukee on Sunday. Butler split its two contests during the week, moving to 9-3-0 overall and 2-1-0 in League play.

BU's 1-0 victory over UW-Green Bay on Friday was the first collegiate soccer match in the renovated Butler Bowl. Tim Blake had the game-winner in that contest.

Butler played both matches without goalkeeper Frank Peabody. The national leader in save percentage (who also ranks second in goals-against average) injured his right elbow during team workouts prior to Friday's match and will be sidelined indefinitely. Junior Mike Sims logged Friday's shutout, the eighth for the Bulldogs this season.

This Sunday's match at UIC carries added significance for Roberto Gallo, Jason Kieffer and John DeVae. All three make their first appearance at Flames Field since transferring to Butler from UIC following the 2003 campaign.

Phoenix marks progress from last season
UW-Green Bay split its two road matches, falling 1-0 at Butler before Sunday's 3-2 triumph at Wright State behind Joshua Okoampa's sixth goal of the season. He tied Detroit's Andrew Ornoch for the League lead in that category.

The victory was also UWGB's sixth of the year, surpassing the team's total for all of 2004 when the Phoenix went 5-11-2. The 2005 group is now 6-4-0 overall with a 2-2-0 League ledger. One more League victory would give the team its best loop showing since 2000.

Sunday's victory also featured an unlikely hero at the offensive end. Senior David Chin hit the net for just the second time in his career (which includes 58 appearances) and his first since Sept. 8, 2002. His first-half marker evened the score and an own goal gave UWGB a lead it would not relinquish.

Ramblers continue to go extra minutes
Loyola played local rival Northern Illinois to a scoreless draw in its only action of the week. That 110-minute verdict keeps the Ramblers' season ledger even at 4-4-2. Half of those ten contests have gone to overtime, with LU going 1-2-2 in extra time.

After a midweek date at Northwestern, Loyola ends the regular season with six League matches beginning Sunday versus Butler.

Freshman goalkeeper Brad Sommer recorded his first career shutout with three saves against NIU. In the process, he lowered his season goals-against average to 1.71 and now has 36 saves in seven appearances.

Sophomore Keum Sung Kim continues to lead the Ramblers in goals (four), assists (four) and points (12). Seniors Joe Nierzwicki and Matt Marek each have three goals this season.

Raiders step outside League for series with IU-PU chain
Wright State's schedule features a pair of non-conference matches this week, with the Raiders taking a 5-7-0 record into Friday's contest at IPFW. Wright State wraps up the weekend Sunday hosting another member of the Indiana University-Purdue University partnership, as IUPUI comes to town.

The Raiders have lost their last three matches, snapping a 184:57 scoreless streak with Josh Zimmerlin's early strike versus UW-Green Bay on Sunday.

Zimmerlin became the sixth WSU player to hit the net this season, while junior Tony Labudovski and senior Dana York lead the team with three goals apiece. Freshman Josh Grossman also has two markers, with seniors Jason Tackis and Paul-Anthony Perez owning one each.

Flames continue streak versus Top-25 foes
UIC notched its second upset of a Top 25 team with Wednesday's 2-1 win at 23rd-ranked Creighton on Wednesday. Eric Cervantes' goal with nine minutes left in regulation proved to be the match-winner. UIC opened the season with a 2-0 triumph over (then-24th-ranked) Loyola Marymount on Sept. 3.

The Flames now boast a three-match winning streak after Sunday's 2-1 overtime win at Cleveland State. Tonci Skroce netted the deciding tally for his fourth goal of the year; three of those are match-winners.

UIC now stands at 6-3-1 overall (1-2-0 in League play), surpassing the team's 5-12-2 ledger of a year ago. The Flames can make a statement in the loop standings this week with contests versus UW-Milwaukee and Butler.

Vikings try to snap extended skid
Cleveland State steps outside the League on Tuesday to host IPFW, attempting to end a ten-match losing streak which has dropped the Vikings to 0-10-1 on the season. CSU nearly ended that slide on Sunday before falling 2-1 in overtime to UIC.

Freshman goalkeeper Anthony DeMarco continues to gain valuable experience in the Viking net. DeMarco has made eight or more saves in five of his last seven matches, including a career-high 13 versus UW-Milwaukee (Sept. 29). He leads the Horizon League in both total saves (77) and saves per game, with the latter number putting him among the national leaders.

With two starting defenders absent from the lineup serving one-match suspensions for multiple yellow cards, head coach Pete Curtis used goalkeeper Chris Black as a reserve on defense at Niagara. Black had seen action in only one match this year before Tuesday, starting and playing 78 minutes in goal against Marshall on Sept. 10.

Facts You Might Not Know About the Horizon League's Teams

Wednesday's contest between UW-Milwaukee and UIC will mark the halfway point of the 28-match Horizon League schedule, while the first round of the League Championship tournament is now less than a month away (quarterfinals are Nov. 5, with the League champion crowned Nov. 13).

With that timeline in mind, here are some points worth noting as they relate to the Horizon League's teams:

Butler:
Of the Bulldogs' 12 matches this season, 11 have been decided by shutout. The only time both teams hit the net came when BU defeated Valparaiso 2-1 on Sept. 9.

Cleveland State:
Vincent Rosati's goal with 5:29 left in regulation Sunday was the team's first second-half goal since Sept. 11. Nenad Stojkovic's tally Friday ended a 369-minute scoreless streak overall.

Detroit:
The Titans have outscored their opponents 11-5 after halftime this season, and own a 2-0-2 record in overtime matches. Detroit is also 4-0-0 when scoring first in 2005.

UIC:
UIC has yielded only three first-half goals so far in 2005. The Flames have trailed at halftime only twice in ten matches this season, and have also outscored opponents 12-8 after the break.

Loyola:
Sunday's scoreless draw was the first shutout suffered by the Ramblers this season, and also the first time Loyola has held an opponent off the scoreboard.

UW-Green Bay:
David Chin's goal Sunday was the first scored by a Phoenix player in more than 270 minutes. The team benefited from an own-goal to defeat Western Michigan (3-2) during that span.

UW-Milwaukee:
The Panthers are the only League team to score in every match this season, notching two or more in six of those contests. UWM has held opponents scoreless for the last 276:28.

Wright State:
Of the Raiders' 12 goals this season, 10 have come in the first 15 minutes or the last 15 minutes of a half. The road team has won six of the last seven matches involving Wright State.