Men's Soccer Weekly Release #2

Aug. 28, 2006

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Horizon League Player of the Week

Tonci Skroce, UIC
Senior * Forward * Zadar, Croatia
Skroce netted the match-winning goal in the 72nd minute to lead UIC to a 1-0 victory over 25th-ranked Saint Louis on Saturday. The senior headed in the deciding score on a rebound off the crossbar, giving UIC its third victory over a Top-25 foe---all on the road---in the past 12 months. It was the 13th goal of his career, with six of those strikes proving to be match-winners.

Other Top Performances for the Week Ending August 27

Eduardo Garcia, Butler
So. * F * Lima, Peru
Garcia was named the Offensive MVP of the Wright State adidas Cup after scoring two goals and setting up a third in Butler's 6-0 victory over IPFW. He leads the Bulldogs with five points this season.

Andrew Gutting, Cleveland State
Fr. * F * Erie, Pa.
Gutting posted a team-high five points (one goal, three assists) in leading the Vikings to two victories. He scored a goal and an assist in his collegiate debut versus Robert Morris and added two helpers in Sunday's win over Canisius.

Mark Djurovski, Detroit
Jr. * F * Shelby Township, Mich.
Djurovski scored the match-winning goal in Detroit's season-opening 1-0 victory over Eastern Illinois on Friday. The match was his first action in two years since transferring from East Carolina University.

Matt Marek, Loyola
Sr. * F * Fox River Grove, Ill.
Marek scored Loyola's only goal in a 2-1 loss to Marquette on Friday. The goal was the fifth of his career, coming on his only shot in the match.

David Znaty, UW-Green Bay
Fr. * M * Hadera, Israel
Znaty won all-tournament honors for his goal and two assists in two outings at the Kentucky Invitational. He set up both of UWGB's first-half goals versus IUPUI and added a PK conversion versus Kentucky for his first collegiate goal.

Braden Fleak, Wright State
Fr. * F * Sunbury, Ohio
Fleak made an auspicious debut, scoring twice (including the match-winner) in his first collegiate contest, and finishing with three goals in two contests at the WSU adidas Cup. His outburst drew all-tournament honors at the event.

News From Around the League

Vikings race to 2-0-0 mark in 2006
Cleveland State broke out of the gate quickly over the weekend, defeating Robert Morris (4-0) and Canisius (3-1) to open the season. After posting an 0-17-1 ledger in 2005, CSU now stands at 2-0-0 for the first time since 1995 and has posted consecutive wins for the first time since September, 2004, when the Vikings defeated Alabama A&M (3-2 on Sept. 5) and Duquesne (2-1 on Sept. 15).

Freshman forward Andrew Gutting posted a goal and a League-best three assists for the Vikings, hitting the net and setting up another strike in his collegiate debut versus Robert Morris. Newcomers accounted for five of the Vikings' seven goals during the week, with freshman midfielders Pete Wagner, Marco DiFranco, and Bryan Hanson notching markers along with first-year forward George Kephart. Freshman midfielder Mike Barton also joined the scoring with an assist.

Sophomore goalkeeper Kasey Gray posted a 0.50 goals-against mark in his first action since taking over the starting role. Gray played only 90 minutes a year ago, but logged 180 minutes with four saves over the weekend.

Cleveland State's seven goals over the weekend mark the program's most in back-to-back matches in nearly three years. CSU scored eight in contests versus UIC (a 5-4 victory) and Pittsburgh (a 3-2 triumph) in September 2003.

Flames continue road success vs. Top 25
UIC opened the 2006 campaign in impressive style, slipping past 25th-ranked Saint Louis for a 1-0 victory at SLU's Hermann Stadium. The Flames have now beaten three Top 25 foes on the road within the last 12 months, adding SLU to a list which also includes (then-No. 24) Loyola Marymount and (then-No. 25) Creighton. The Flames opened the 2005 schedule with a 2-0 victory over LMU on Sept. 3, and added a 2-1 triumph at Creighton on Oct. 5.

Saturday's victory was UIC's first-ever over SLU (after an 0-7-1 record in eight previous tries) and the Billikens' first season-opening loss in 11 years.

Senior forward Tonci Skroce netted the match-winner with a rebound header in the 72nd minute Saturday night. The marker was the 13th of his career and his sixth match-winning tally.

Redshirt freshman Jovan Bubonja made the most of his first collegiate start, stopping three Billiken shots for the shutout. He was one of six players making their Flame debuts Saturday night.

UIC opens a three-match homestand at Flames Field with Wednesday's date versus intra-city foe DePaul. That match will be the first home night contest in UIC history, with the Flames also using their newly-installed lights on Friday versus UMKC and Sunday against instate rival Bradley.

Bulldog offense breaks out
Butler captured the title of the Wright State adidas Cup over the weekend, tying St. Mary's (Calif.) 1-1 before exploding for a 6-0 victory over IPFW on Sunday. The six goals were the most by a Bulldog team since a 6-1 victory over Detroit on Oct. 11, 2002, and gave Kelly Findley his first victory as Bulldog coach.

Butler managed only three goals during an eight-match losing streak to end the 2005 season, but sophomore forwards Eduardo Garcia and Frank Patano each hit the net twice against the Mastodons. Sophomore midfielder Danny Akl had a goal and an assist, and freshman midfielder Lucas Carden also notched his first collegiate goal.

Garcia was named the tournament's Offensive Most Valuable Player, with Akl and Patano also earning All-Tournament recognition.

Senior goalkeeper Frank Peabody allowed only one goal in 200 minutes of action, a 0.45 goals-against rate. Peabody compiled a 0.73 mark and six shutouts last year.

The Bulldogs continue a long stretch away from home, traveling to Dayton and Evansville for road matches this week. BU doesn't open the home portion of the schedule until Sept. 18, when Western Kentucky visits Indianapolis. Butler will close the regular season with a four-match homestand, beginning October 13 against Detroit.

Newcomers helping Detroit
Detroit split a pair of matches in the first weekend of the season, defeating Eastern Illinois 1-0 on Friday before suffering a 2-0 loss to Western Illinois on Sunday.

Junior forward Mark Djurovski netted the match-winner against EIU, his first action since 2004 when he played for East Carolina University. Djurovski's shot in the 53rd minute was the difference, with junior goalkeeper Sasha Boskovic recording his 14th career shutout.

Two other newcomers have made in impact in the first week of the sason, with freshman Bobby Merritt and junior-college transfer Jordan Veit starting both matches over the weekend.

The injury bg has already hit the Titans hard this season, with two of UDM's top recruits out for the the season. JC transfer Renato Susnja suffered a knee injury in preseason practice, with freshman defender Ken Simon going down in the season-opener against Eastern Illinois.

Detroit has scored only one goal in two contests, but the Titans outshot its two opponents by a combined 28-13 margin at Bowling Green, Ohio. UDM registered a 15-7 edge in shots against WIU on Sunday, but only four of those shots were on goal in the 2-0 defeat.

The Titans head back on the road for two matches in Buffalo, N.Y., this week before making their home debut Sept. 15, opening the League schedule versus UW-Milwaukee.

Phoenix getting used to winning opener
UW-Green Bay outlasted IUPUI for a 3-2 victory in Friday's opener, improving to 3-0-0 in season debuts on head coach Tom Poitras' watch. The Phoenix fell short on Sunday, however, losing 2-1 to Kentucky.

Freshman midfielder David Znaty earned All-Tournament honors at the UK Invitational after an auspicious debut in his first week of action. The center midfielder from Hadera, Israel, recorded a pair of assists against IUPUI and netted his first collegiate goal with a penalty-kick conversion as the lone Phoenix strike against Kentucky.

Senior defender Drew Anderson's header with 3:17 to play proved to be the match-winner against IUPUI, with sophomore forward Tosaint Ricketts and senior forward Joshua Okoampa scoring first-half goals off Znaty passes to build a 2-0 lead. Okoampa shared the League lead with ten goals a year ago.

Okoampa and junior midfielder Dan O'Brien also were named to the All-Tournament Team. Sophomore goalkeeper Adam Stikl made a total of seven saves in the two matches over the weekend.

Fleak flashes to front for Raiders
Wright State took third place at its own adidas Cup over the weekend, defeating IPFW 4-0 on Friday before suffering a 2-1 loss to St. Mary's (Calif.) on Sunday.

Freshman forward Braden Fleak scored three of the Raiders' five goals over the weekend, hitting the match-winner in a two-goal outing versus the Mastodons and coming back with the lone WSU tally against St. Mary's. He landed on the All-Tournament Team for his efforts, joining senior defender Jonah Baskin and sophomore backliner Anthony Smerk on the tourney honor roll. Freshman forward Adam Harp and senior defender Jake Slemker netted the other Raider goals versus IPFW.

Junior goalkeeper Tebias Mason recorded his first career shutout Friday, stopping a pair of IPFW shots. He also made three saves in Sunday's contest. Mason joins the Raiders after transferring from Santa Rosa (Calif.) Junior College.

Wright State's four-goal victory against IPFW was the school's most lopsided triumph in an opener since 1983 when WSU defeated Malone College, 7-1.

Ramblers drop two one-goal decisions
Loyola begins the week at 0-2-0 after a pair of tough 2-1 losses to Marquette and DePaul. The one-goal setbacks continue a trend from last season, when six of LU's nine defeats came by one goal each.

Senior forward Matt Marek notched the fifth goal of his career in Friday's opener against Marquette. That loss snapped a six-match home-field winning streak for the Ramblers, who had not lost at Loyola Soccer Park since a 3-2 verdict against Gonzaga to open the 2005 campaign.

Freshman midfielder Alex Jones added his name to the scoresheet in Sunday's contest, staking the Ramblers to a 1-0 lead 8:40 into the match off a throw-in from Steven Graner. That lead didn't last, however, as DePaul answered two minutes later and scored the deciding goal midway through the second half. LU outshot its two opponents by a combined 19-14 margin but came up short in each match.

Loyola heads east this weekend for the Davidson University adidas Classic. LU meets UNC Charlotte on Friday afternoon before wrapping up the two-match trip Sunday against the host school.

Panthers scoreless in opening weekend
UW-Milwaukee dropped both of its matches at the NIKE Invitiational in Tulsa, Okla., falling 3-0 to host Tulsa on Friday night before playing second-ranked SMU in a 1-0 loss on Sunday. The lone goal in that match came with less than six minutes remaining in regulation.

Sophomore goalkeeper Grant Fernstrum kept the Mustangs off the scoreboard with several key saves, finishing that match with a career-best nine stops to offset SMU's 21-3 advantage in shots. Juniors Steve Bode and Zeke Dombrowski were named to the All-Tournament Team for their efforts.

UW-Milwaukee's 0-2-0 start is the program's first since 1998. The Panthers were shut out twice to open a season for the first time since 1990. In contrast, the team was blanked only twice all of last season, while scoring a League-high 38 goals in 2005.

UWM opens the home schedule with its Panther Invitational. The Panthers face IPFW on Friday in the first regular-season night contest at Engelmann Field, then take on Lipscomb on Sunday afternoon.

Valparaiso lights up the scoreboard
Valparaiso, which officially joins the Horizon League in 2007, is 2-0-0 for the first time since 1987 after defeating DePaul, 2-0, on Friday and outlasting Evansville in a 5-4 thriller on Sunday. The five goals versus UE was Valpo's highest output since defeating Triton College, 5-4, in 1998.

Sophomore midfielder Paul Leitelt leads the Mid-Continent Conference with ten points (four goals, two assists) after scoring three times and setting up another strike versus Evansville. The hat trick was the first by a Crusader in 11 years, and his four goals match his entire 2005 total. Senior defender Mark Wolka also got into the action with the first goal of his four-year career.

Freshman goalkeeper Ryan Schwarz posted a shutout in his collegiate debut, stopping four Blue Demon shots.

Note: Current Horizon League team and individual statistics can be found on pages 9-13 of the PDF version of this release.