Men's Soccer Weekly Release #6

Sept. 25, 2006

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Horizon League Player of the Week

Eric Cervantes, UIC
Senior * Forward * Hoffman Estates, Ill.
Cervantes wins the award for the second time his season after leading the UIC attack with five points (two goals and one assist) in the Flames' 3-0 victory at Detroit. The senior scored the first and last goal of the match while setting up Pavle Dundjer's insurance strike. Cervantes now has four goals while helping keep UIC undefeated (7-0-2) this season.

Other Top Performances for the Week Ending September 24

John DeVae, Butler
Sr. * F * Elmhurst, Ill.
DeVae scored his first two goals of the year, leading the Bulldogs to a 2-1 victory at Wright State in the League-opener for both schools on Sunday. The win ended the Raiders' four-match winning streak.

David Stewart, Cleveland State
Sr. * F * Ingleside, Texas
Stewart tallied his team-leading fourth goal of the season to even the score at Cincinnati on Wednesday. The strike was Stewart's fourth in three contests after being held scoreless for the first six matches of 2006.

Sasha Boskovic, Detroit
Jr. * GK * Oakville, Ontario
Boskovic recorded his fourth shutout of the year in the Titans' 2-0 victory over IPFW on Wednesday. He also recorded a season-high eight saves in Sunday afternoon's 3-0 loss to UIC.

Sean Bond, Loyola
Sr. * GK * Dallas, Texas
Bond registered his League-leading fifth shutout of the season in Loyola's 1-0 victory at Cleveland State. He had two saves in posting his fourth consecutive shutout and extending a personal scoreless streak to 384:59.

Josh Loyd, UW-Green Bay
Jr. * GK * Plymouth, Minn.
Loyd anchored the Phoenix defense that thwarted Ohio State on Friday, as he made five saves in UWGB's 2-1 victory. He faced 23 shots in the contest (compared to eight by the Phoenix), and lowered his season GAA to 1.54.

Zeke Dombrowski, UW-Milwaukee
Jr. * M * West Allis, Wis.
Dombrowski scored in the ninth minute to give UWM an early lead in a 2-2 tie at Wisconsin on Wednesday. He also played strong defense in both of the Panthers' matches last week, including a 1-0 loss at Florida International on Saturday.

Braden Fleak, Wright State
Fr. * F * Sunbury, Ohio
Fleak added to his League-leading goal count, hitting the net three times in two matches to give him ten for the year. He had both WSU strikes, including the OT match-winner, at IUPUI, and scored the Raiders' only goal versus Butler.

Previous Players of the Week:
Aug. 28 -- Tonci Skroce, UIC
Sept. 4 -- Grant Fernstrum, UW-Milwaukee
Sept. 11 -- Eric Cervantes, UIC
Sept. 18 -- Jason Massoglia, Detroit

News From Around the League

Flames defend Top-10 ranking at Detroit
UIC made its first-ever appearance in the national top ten last week, and made a case to continue its climb up the charts with a 3-0 victory at Detroit on Sunday. The Flames, ranked ninth last week by the NSCAA and tenth by Soccer America---start this week at 7-0-2.

UIC is also one of only six remaining unbeaten teams in Division I (see the list on page 9), giving that status a strong test Thursday when the Flames visit Wisconsin.

Senior forward Eric Cervantes recorded the first two-goal performance of his career at Detroit, hitting the Flames' first and third goals of the afternoon while also setting up senior midfielder Pavle Dundjer's insurance tally. Cervantes is now tied for the team lead with four goals, matching the totals of senior forward Tonci Skroce and junior midfielder Cesar Zambrano. Skroce had two assists Sunday, giving him 11 points for the year.

Freshman goalkeeper Jovan Bubonja extended his personal scoreless streak to 225 minutes while posting his fourth shutout of the year. He also has two shared whitewashes and boasts the League's best goals-against mark (0.34), having allowed only three goals in 784 minutes this year.

UIC has posted six shutouts already this year, the most since the 2002 team had six.

Only one stat (wins) matters for Phoenix
UW-Green Bay improved to 6-3-0 overall with a 2-1 victory at Ohio State on Friday night.

The Phoenix was outshot 23-8 in the match and had only one corner kick compared to ten by the Buckeyes, but goals by Tyler Rosenberg and freshman Brent Diggs stood up as UWGB defeated the Big Ten Conference representative. Junior goalkeeper Josh Loyd made five saves for the victory, lowering his season goals-against average to 1.54.

The six victories in nine matches mark the fastest UW-Green Bay has reached that level since 1992, when the Phoenix won six of its first eight. That group went on to post a 16-2-1 mark.

Diggs' goal was his second of the season, with both proving to be match-winners. He also had the deciding goal in UWGB's 3-1 victory at Cleveland State on Sept. 9.

The Phoenix attempts to end its longest drought against League foes when UW-Green Bay visits Detroit on Friday. UWGB has not defeated the Titans since a 5-0 victory in 1999, a span of seven matches.

Senior forward Joshua Okoampa leads the Phoenix with eight goals and 19 points, ranking second in the League in both categories. As a team, UW-Green Bay leads the League with 24 goals scored and its rate of 2.67 markers per outing. The Phoenix has outscored its opponents 11-5 in the first half this year.

Ramblers' zero-tolerance policy continuesLoyola has won five matches in a row, climbing to 6-3-0 with a 1-0 victory over Cleveland State to open the League schedule. The Ramblers started the year at 0-2-0 but have won six of their last seven contests.

The streak is tied for the second-longest in school history, matching a run in October, 1983. Two more W's would equal the mark set in 1984 (Sept. 29-Oct. 13).

Defense has been the key for Loyola, which has registered four consecutive shutouts (tying the school record set in 1984), and has not allowed a goal in the last 384:59 of play. LUC has not allowed a goal since the second half versus Buffalo on Sept. 8.

Senior goalkeeper Sean Bond is 6-1-0 with five shutouts and a stellar 0.56 goals-against average (second-best in the League) since taking over the starting role. Bond had one shutout in his first three seasons at Loyola but has anchored a defensive group which has yielded only eight goals in eight matches this year.

Senior midfielder Javier Lopez scored his first goal of 2006 at Cleveland State. Sophomore midfielder Matt Kilday earned his first career point with the assist.

Freshmen Alex Jones and Michael Ferguson share the team goals lead with senior Matt Marek. Each has hit the net three times this year.

Bulldogs pick right time to stop skid
Butler won two of three matches last week, including a 2-1 victory at Wright State on Sunday in the team's Horizon League-opener. BU is now 4-5-1 overall and shares the League lead with the three points from that triumph. The overall mark also includes a 1-0 victory over Western Kentucky plus a 2-0 loss to Ohio State.

Senior John DeVae netted his first two goals of the season versus WSU while freshman Dave Giarratana scored his first goal as a Bulldog with the winning tally against Western Kentucky. His header off a throw-in from fellow freshman Kyle VondenBenken with three minutes remaining in regulation ended a four-match losing streak for the Bulldogs.

Butler is off to a 1-0-0 start in League play for the fourth year in a row. The Bulldogs defeated Cleveland State 4-0 to open the 2005 loop slate, following victories over Detroit (2-1 in 2004) and UW-Green Bay (4-0 in 2003) to begin League play in the previous two seasons.

The WKU and OSU matches were played in the Butler Bowl. The Bulldogs will play one more contest on the field's artificial surface this season, when Butler hosts UIC on Oct. 15.

Sophomore forward Frank Patano continues the team with five goals and that one assist for 11 points. DeVae's two markers Sunday tie him for second place on the team charts, as sophomores Eduardo Garcia and Danny Akl also have two goals this season.

Titans experience both ends of shutouts
Detroit begins the week at 5-3-0 overall and 1-1-0 in League play. The Titans split their two matches last week, defeating IPFW 2-0 before falling 3-0 to UIC.

Junior Mark Djurovski and senior Jason Massoglia each had second-half goals versus IPFW, and continue to share the team scoring lead with five goals and 12 points apiece. The duo has combined for ten of the team's 12 goals this season. Massoglia now ranks eighth in school history with 21 career goals. Eight of those came last fall.

Freshman Robert Merritt helped set up both strikes, giving him a total of four assists on the season---one behind senior Vahid Assadpour for the top spot on the team charts in that category.

Junior netminder Sasha Boskovic posted his fourth shutout of the year (and 17th of his career) with three saves versus IPFW. He owns a 1.12 goals-against average in 2006.

The loss to UIC ended Detroit's seven-match League winning streak in regular-season play. That run began with a 3-2 victory over the Flames last season.

Fleak show continues at Wright State
Wright State carries a 6-3-0 overall record after dropping its League-opener to Butler (2-1) on Sunday. The Raiders had won four in a row prior to that contest, including a 2-1, overtime victory at IUPUI on Tuesday.

The Raiders have scored at least one goal in 18 consecutive matches, one short of the school record. The school's 1984 squad went 19 consecutive matches without being shut out.

Freshman Braden Fleak continues his frenetic scoring pace, adding three more goals to give him ten for the season. Only two other WSU players have reached double figures in an entire season since 1991. Ricky Strong had 12 goals in 2001 and 2004 plus ten in 2002, while Paul-Anthony Perez tallied a dozen markers in 2003.

Fleak isn't the only newcomer making an impact for the Raiders. Fellow freshman Adam Harp's three goals are second on the team scoring charts, with junior goalkeeper Tebias Mason sporting a 1.42 GAA and 46 saves.

As a team, WSU is three goals away from eclipsing its total for the entire 2005 campaign. The Raiders' 22 goals are second only to UW-Green Bay (24) among League teams this year.

Close not good enough for Panthers
UW-Milwaukee now stands at 3-6-1 overall after tying Wisconsin 2-2 and falling 1-0 at Florida International last week. The decisions continue several trends for the Panthers, who are off to their slowest start since beginning the 1988 campaign at 3-7-0.

The Panthers are now 0-5-6 in their last 11 overtime contests including the tie in Madison, while the 1-0 decision at FIU makes the team 0-6-1 away from its Engelmann Field home this season.

Five of the Panthers' six losses have come by one goal apiece, and the six setbacks have come against teams with a combined record of 34-14-5 (.689 pct.). That includes two of the last six unbeaten teams in Division I (SMU at 10-0-1 and Washington at 8-0-0).

Juniors Zeke Dombrowski and Chris Lins scored the Panther goals in Madison. Including those two players, 11 different Panthers have combined to score a total of 14 goals this season, with senior Steve Sperl, sophomore Colin Baker and junior Martin Castro owning two apiece.

Vikings taking act on the road
Cleveland State dropped to 3-6-1 overall and 0-2-0 in the League, losing 3-1 to Cincinnati on Wednesday and suffering a 1-0 shutout to Loyola on Sunday.

The Vikings face a pair of League foes this week, visiting Wright State and Butler. Those two contests begin a six-match road swing for CSU, which plays just one more home match (Oct. 18 versus Detroit) this season.

Cleveland State's loss to Loyola marked the team's seventh match decided by one goal or less this season. CSU, which has started at least seven freshmen in every contest this fall, is 1-5-1 in those outings, so the team's overall ledger could be misleading.

Forward David Stewart, the only senior to start a match for the Vikings this year, scored his team-high fourth goal of the season against Cincinnati. All four of those strikes have come in his last four outings after he was held off the scoresheet for the first six matches of the year.

Freshman Andrew Cutting continues to lead the League with six assists, sharing top spot on the team scoring charts with Stewart at eight points apiece.

Valpo prepares for month of travel
Valparaiso, which officially joins the Horizon League in 2007, lost its only match of the week, falling 4-2 at Centenary. The Crusaders dropped to 5-4-0 overall entering this Saturday's match-up at Oakland. After that date, Valpo has only two home games remaining: versus IUPUI (Oct. 14) and against Eastern Illinois (Oct. 25).

Senior forward D.J. Catrow netted his team-high fifth goal of the season to open the scoring, with sophomore midfielder Paul Leitelt earning an assist. Senior forward Jon Brighton had the other Valpo marker, his third of the season.

Catrow tops the Crusader charts with 13 points (five goals and three assists) this season, just ahead of Leitelt (four goals and three helpers for 11 points).

Freshman netminder Ryan Schwarz has three shutouts this season, compiling a 2.19 GAA in goal for the Crusaders.