Men's Soccer Weekly Release #5

Sept. 24, 2007

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Horizon League Player of the Week

Michael Ferguson, Loyola
Sophomore * Forward * Overland Park, Kan.
Ferguson scored the match-winner 44 seconds into the second overtime session on Friday night to defeat #25/24 UC Irvine 1-0 at the adidas San Diego Classic. The goal, his second match-winner of 2007, was his League-leading seventh of the season and gives him a loop-high 15 points for the season.

Other Top Performances for the Week Ending September 23

Boris Gatzky, Butler
So. * F * Reulingen, Germany
Gatzky notched a goal and an assist in the Bulldogs' 3-2 loss to Dayton on Wednesday. He has started all eight matches this season and ranks second on the team scoring charts with nine points (three goals and three assists).

Adam Stikl, Green Bay
Jr. * GK * Milwaukee, Wis.
Stikl anchored the Phoenix defense in a pair of shutouts last week. Green Bay played Wisconsin to a scoreless draw, and Stikl logged a career-high seven saves and an assist in Sunday's 4-0 victory over Western Michigan.

Charlie Trout, UIC
Fr. * M * Nottingham, England
Trout single-handedly brought the Flames back from a 2-0 deficit at Florida International on Friday, scoring two goals---his first in a Flame uniform---to help UIC salvage a 2-2 tie. Trout's second goal came with his team playing shorthanded.

Steve Shively, Valparaiso
So. * D * Indianapolis, Ind.
Shively netted the match-winner in the 58th minute to give Valpo a 2-1 victory over former Mid-Continent Conference foe Western Illinois on Friday. The goal was his second of the season, giving him the team scoring lead.

Previous Player-of-the-Week Honorees:
Sept. 3 -- Frank Patano, Butler
Sept. 10 -- Nick Harpel, Cleveland State
Sept. 17 -- Dan O'Brien, Green Bay

News From Around the League

Bulldogs breaks out in League opener
Butler split its two matches last week, moving to 4-2-2 overall. The Bulldogs dropped a 3-2 decision to Dayton on Wednesday but came back for a 4-1 triumph at Valparaiso to open the League schedule.

After missing the Dayton match due to a red-card suspension, junior forward Frank Patano needed only 7:53 to hit the net at Valparaiso. Patano leads the Bulldogs with five goals this season.

Freshman defender Connor Burt scored the eventual match-winner Sunday with a header 43 seconds after intermission for his second goal of the year. Freshman midfielder Michael Clayton and junior midfielder Ian Sweeney added insurance markers, with each hitting the net for the first time in 2007.

Sophomore goalkeeper Fabian Knopfler stopped six shots Sunday, giving him 39 saves for the season. Knopfler owns a 1.53 goals-against average.

Butler leads the League with 18 goals scored this season and has scored at least three goals in half of its eight contests so far in 2007. Ten different players have scored goals for the Bulldogs already this season, with four owning at least two markers.

BU meets a pair of in-state rivals this week, visiting #10/15 Indiana on Wednesday and hosting Evansville on Sunday.

Ramblers win twice in California trip
Loyola climbed to 4-2-2 on the season with a pair of victories in the adidas San Diego Classic. The Ramblers handed #25/24 UC Irvine its first loss of the year with a 1-0 overtime decision on Friday and added a 1-0 victory over host San Diego on Sunday.

Sophomore forward Michael Ferguson scored 44 seconds into the second extra session Friday for his seventh goal of the season. He leads the League in that department, and also with 15 points this year. Ferguson, who has scored 58 percent of the team's 12 goals in 2007, has already eclipsed his six-goal total for all of last year.

Junior goalkeeper Brian Byrne notched two shutouts over the weekend, tying Detroit's Bryan Kloss for the League lead with three clean sheets for the season. Byrne's 1.15 goals-against average ranks second on the League charts in that department.

Senior forward Markian Zyga provided all the scoring Sunday with his penalty-kick conversion late in the first half.

The Ramblers have allowed only one first-half goal in their last five outings and are the only League team to score in every match this fall.

Loyola faces a busy week with three road matches in five days. The run begins Wednesday at Northwestern prior to League dates at Detroit (Friday) and Cleveland State (Sunday).

Flames escape busy week unscathed
UIC posted two wins and a tie last week, moving to 3-1-2 on the season. The Flames defeated Western Illinois 2-0 on Tuesday in a rematch of the teams' 2006 NCAA Tournament contest, and then overcame a wave of adversity on its trip through Florida.

The Flames rallied from a 2-0 deficit, the team's largest in two years, for a 2-2 tie at Florida International on Friday. The start of the match was delayed more than three hours, and a power failure early in the second half forced another stoppage, but freshman midfielder Charlie Trout scored his first two goals of the year to salvage the draw.

The Flames wasted little time in dispatching Florida Gulf Coast 5-0 on Sunday, netting four goals in the first 26 minutes. Junior forward Dan Simek opened the scoring, with freshman forward Matt Spiess adding two goals in a two-minute span for a 3-0 cushion. Junior defender Mike Giffin also had a goal and an assist for UIC.

Sophmore goalkeeper Jovan Bubonja leads the League with a 0.84 goals-against average. Senior netminder Jeff Englebrecht saw his first action of 2007 with a scoreless second half on Sunday.

The Flames travel to Peoria, Ill., for the Bradley Homecoming Classic this weekend. UIC meets Missouri State on Friday prior to a Saturday showdown against the host Braves.

Phoenix keeps rolling
Green Bay extended its unbeaten streak to five matches (3-0-2), improving to 4-2-2 on the season. The Phoenix played Wisconsin to a scoreless draw Friday before running past Western Michigan 4-0 on Sunday.

Freshman midfielder JC Banks hit the net twice in an 84-second span during the second half of Sunday's triumph. Banks took over the team scoring lead with three goals for the season.

Junior forward Tosaint Ricketts had the match-winner against WMU. Both of Ricketts' strikes in 2007 have been the difference, as he also netted the deciding goal against Albany on Sept. 15.

Green Bay has allowed only one goal in its last four matches. The Phoenix attack has been a case of "feast or famine," as 13 of the team's 14 goals have come in four matches, while Green Bay has been shut out three times in eight contests.

Junior goalkeeper Adam Stikl ran his personal scoreless streak to over 243 minutes, making seven saves in 78 minutes Sunday following a 110-minute effort Friday. Stikl lowered his season goals-against average to 1.18.

Green Bay kicks off its Horizon League slate at Valparaiso on Wednesday. The Phoenix returns home Saturday to meet #19/23 Ohio State.

Titans wins one (shutout), loses one
Detroit remains at break-even (3-3-2) on the season after splitting two matches last week. The Titans fell 2-0 to #14/11Michigan on Friday but avenged that shutout with one of their own in a 1-0 victory over Buffalo on Sunday.

Senior forward Mark Djurovski scored the match-winner Sunday, his first goal of 2007. Djurovski shared the team lead with seven markers last year but had not hit the net in his first seven outings this year. Junior midfielder Renato Susnja set up Djurovski's goal and leads the team with nine points (four goals and that helper) this season. Freshman midfielder Ken Simon is next on the Titan charts with two goals this season.

Sophomore goalkeeper Bryan Kloss notched third shutout of the year with three saves Sunday. He is tied with Green Bay netminder Adam Stikl for the League lead in that category while owning a 1.47 goals-against average for the season.

The Titans allowed three first-half goals in their season-opener, but have given up only one before intermission in their last seven outings. Detroit yielded six goals in that debut versus Cal State Northridge but has outscored the opposition 9-6 in the seven contests since then.

Detroit hits the road Friday for a match at Xavier before returning home to meet Western Michigan on Sunday.

Raiders' offense runs dry
Wright State starts the week at 2-5-0 after falling at Cal Poly 3-0 on Tuesday and 2-0 to Bowling Green in the Raiders' home opener Sunday. WSU has managed only one goal during its current four-match losing streak.

Senior goalkeeper Tebias Mason registered seven saves at Cal Poly and six more on Sunday. He increased his Legue-leading total to 48 stops for the season---part of a stat line that also includes a 1.49 goals-against average.

Mason's play has been overshadowed by WSU's lack of scoring punch. The Raiders have been out-shot 58-31 in their last three outings and have yet to score in the first half of a match this season, being out-scored 8-0 before intermission.

Senior midfielder Tony Labudovski has both overtime golden goals for the Raiders. Junior midfielder Milovan Milosevic and sophomore midfielder Adam Harp have the only other markers for Wright State in 2007.

Sophomore forward Braden Fleak has now gone eight matches without a goal (dating back to the end of last season). Fleak ranked second in the League with 13 goals and 29 points in 2006 but is scoreless so far in 2007.

Wright State hosts cross-town rival Dayton on Friday in the Raiders' lone action of the week. WSU opens League play Oct. 5, hosting Green Bay.

Crusaders split versus old, new loop foes
Valparaiso moved to 2-5-1 on the season, defeating former Mid-Continent Conference foe Western Illinois 2-1 on Friday before falling 4-1 to Butler on Sunday. The latter outcome drops Valpo to 0-1-1 in League play.

Sophomore defender Steve Shively netted the match-winner against WIU, hitting the scoresheet in the 58th minute. Shively leads the team with two goals this season, and shares the top spot on the team scoring charts with freshman midfielder Adrian Ortiz (four assists) at four points apiece.

Freshman midfiender Zack Stivers set up that strike and then logged his first collegiate goal with a penalty-kick conversion against Butler. Junior forward Eniola Solomon also notched his first points as a Crusader with the team's first goal Friday.

Sophomore goalkeeper Ryan Schwarz carries a 2.08 goals-against average for the season. He had four saves in each match last week, giving him 38 this fall.

The Crusaders have outscored their opponents 5-3 in the first half this season but have struggled after the break, allowing 12 second-half tallies (including three to Butler) while scoring only three.

Valpo has three more League files in the next nine days, including Wednesday versus Green Bay and Saturday at Milwaukee.

Vikings' slide reaches four
Cleveland State fell to 2-5-1 on the season after losing 4-1 to Notre Dame College on Wednesday and 2-1 at Duquesne on Sunday. The Vikings have now lost four in a row since a 1-1 tie at Kentucky on Sept. 9.

Sophomore midfielder Josh Williams brought CSU back to within 2-1 Wednesday but Notre Dame College scored twice in the final 2:38 to put that match out of reach. NDC actually led 1-0 before the teams combined for four goals in the final 8:26.

The Vikings have struggled offensively, scoring only seven goals in eight matches with one of those being an own-goal. No player has more than one marker for the Vikings.

With junior forward Nenad Stojkovic sidelined for the season with a torn ACL, the Vikings are now without three of their double-digit scorers for last season. The fourth, sophomore forward George Kephart, has yet to record a point in 2007 after logging five goals and two assists last fall.

Freshman goalkeeper Nick Harpel owns a 1.29 goals-against average with two shutouts this season.

The Vikings take time off before returning to the field Sunday at Canisius. That contest is CSU's only action in the next ten days before opening the League schedule Oct. 5 against UIC.

Panthers continue to come up short
Milwaukee slipped to 0-8-0 on the season following two losses in New Hampshire over the weekend. The Panthers lost 1-0 to host Dartmouth on Friday and dropped a 3-1 decision to Yale on Sunday. The current eight-match slide is the longest in school history.

Despite the record, Milwaukee holds season advantages over its opponents in shots (96-86) and corner kicks (44-32). However, the Panthers have managed only five goals while allowing 15. Milwaukee has been outscored 6-1 after intermission.

Six of the eight losses have come by one goal apiece, continuing a trend for Milwaukee as 14 of the team's last 17 losses (since the start of the 2006 campaign) have come by one goal.

Junior defender Travis Phillips scored 55 seconds into Sunday's contest, recording the sixth-fastest goal from the start of a match in school history.

Senior defender Steve Bode sat out Friday's match due to a red-card suspension. It was only his second "DNP" in four years at the school. Bode has started 71 matches in his career.

Milwaukee's eight opponents own a combined 31-19-3 record this season.

The Panthers attempt to re-group before opening Horizon League play this Saturday. Valparaiso comes to Englemann Field for Milwaukee's first League match of the season.