Something about playing Robert Morris brings big moments out of Cleveland State midfielder Tom Mertz.
Back on October 11th, his goal with one second remaining salvaged a 1-1 draw with the Colonials, keeping alive an unbeaten streak that would eventually reach 12 games.
Then, on Wednesday, Mertz did something even more significant: break a scoreless deadlock in a Horizon League semifinal match against RMU. His 69th-minute strike was enough for the Vikings to eventually roll to a 2-0 victory at Krenzler Field, securing advancement to the HL championship.
It’s CSU’s third trip to the final in the last five years, and the Vikings will seek a second title in that span (as well as a third overall), following the 2022 crown.
After a tightly-played opening half that saw little in the way of serious threats against either goal, Cleveland State increasingly began to possess most of the ball after the break.
The territorial advantage finally paid off with just over 20 minutes remaining in regulation.
Defender Uros Jevtic – named the conference’s best at his position last week – began the decisive sequence in earnest. From near the center circle, he played the ball towards the left side for Paolo Roditti. Roditti then chipped ahead for Uzman Ramees, before Ramees gave it back to Roditti in the penalty area.
Right before reaching the end line, the big midfielder spun and found a wide-open Mertz near the middle of the pitch, and the German’s left boot gave Cleveland State its crucial opening goal.
Six minutes later, insurance arrived.
After a clearance by Vikings goalkeeper Ryan Poling, a contested ball ended up at the feet of Djordje Petrovic, still in the home half of the pitch. A stretch pass down the left side hit Ramees in stride, and the star freshman did most of the work from there. After a long run, along with a brilliant touch that barely kept the play in bounds, he stopped near the edge of the 18-yard box – causing Robert Morris defender William Dodzi Afawubo to overpursue – then fired home the clincher.
On Saturday at 1:00 PM CSU, now 8-3-6 overall, will host Purdue Fort Wayne for the Horizon League title and the corresponding bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Vikings will certainly hope for a repeat of their 3-1 home victory over the Mastodons three weeks ago, a contest that involved a pair of goals by Ramees and one from Peleg Armendariz.
PFW secured its place in Saturday’s match with a stirring comeback in the opposite HL semifinal, rallying from a 2-0 halftime deficit against Green Bay to eventually level the score in the 83rd minute, before prevailing on penalty kicks.
