Cleveland State’s men’s soccer team is now 6-2-6 overall and alone in first place in the Horizon League, with a 4-0-3 conference mark. The Vikings also carry an active 11-game unbeaten streak, with their last defeat coming against nationally-ranked Akron on September 1st.
Saturday night, however, brought arguably the most impressive result yet: a thorough 3-1 home victory over Purdue Fort Wayne, one of CSU’s two closest pursuers in the HL standings.
It’s hard to assemble a streak of such dominance without at least a little bit of good fortune. And, as the Krenzler Field scoreboard counted down the final minutes of the first half against the Mastodons, head coach Sinisa Ubiparipovic certainly found some.
With 2:48 remaining, Ubiparipovic threw freshman midfielder Uzman Ramees into the match, in place of Josip Rimac. Exactly 47 seconds later, Ramees scored his first of two goals, breaking a scoreless deadlock and putting his team on the front foot for the rest of the evening.
“It just so happened to be a little magic there,” the coach explained. “Maybe it’s an accident, but I think it’s a good move. I don’t know. Nonetheless, he entered, he made the run, he sealed the far post and he was where he was supposed to be.”
The play began when midfielder Tom Mertz helped force a PFW turnover inside the center circle. Forward Matteo Correia eventually recovered the ball, and found Peleg Armendariz motoring down the right side. Armendariz then returned the ball to Correia as the racing white uniforms approached the Mastodons’ goal.
Meanwhile, Ramees had begun a lengthy run towards the back post, and was well positioned to flip home Correia’s crossing effort for his first collegiate goal.
Just over six minutes beyond the break, most of those same players helped double the Vikings’ advantage. Correia took charge of a heavy Dons touch in the CSU end, and fired ahead to Ramees near the left touchline. The rookie then laced a spot-perfect through ball – a pass that survived an offside review – to a streaking Armendariz, who slotted home.
The defense-into-offense nature of those first two goals wasn’t lost on Ubiparipovic.
“We had a decent plan and the guys came out and executed pretty well,” he said. “I think our midfielders played a huge part in our game tonight and I think they were exceptional, all of ’em. Just creating those moments where they were able to slip guys in, our wingers and even sometimes forwards. So I think overall they were the driving force tonight.”
In the 57th minute, Armendariz drew a foul that resulted in a Correia free kick just outside of the Dons’ penalty area. Following an initial scramble at the opposite end of the sophomore’s ball towards the goal, a late-arriving Ramees unofficially slammed the match’s door shut.
Purdue Fort Wayne spoiled Ryan Poling’s clean sheet with three minutes left in an increasingly-chippy contest when Poling committed a back-pass violation, by collecting the ball with his hands after it had been passed to him. Iann Topete rifled home off of the resulting indirect free kick.
Nevertheless, the evening was a near-perfect shutdown effort of a Mastodons team that is typically strong offensively, but couldn’t muster much of an attack on Cleveland State’s senior night until the affair was well decided.
“The guys have been on the same page pretty much all year, and they just keep improving and wanting to improve, which is the huge piece, them wanting to get better,” Ubiparipovic said. “So it’s nice to work with that kind of group, and I think we’re just hoping that they continue being focused, disciplined, and hungry.”
The Vikings are now four points clear of both PFW and Robert Morris with two regular season matches remaining: at IU Indianapolis on Friday, followed by a home clash with Green Bay on November 4th. Though the Mastodons also have two contests remaining, RMU has three, meaning that CSU’s quest for a second Horizon League regular season title in the last four years remains tighter than it might appear at first glance.
“We’ve just got to continue,” Ubiparipovic said. “Continue working and continue being humble, that’s first and foremost. And staying hungry.”
