CLEVELAND, Ohio - The IUPUI men's soccer team will head to Cleveland State on Wednesday (Sept. 29) to face the Vikings in a pivotal Horizon League showdown at 7:00 p.m.. CSU sits alone atop the #HLMSOC standings at a perfect 3-0 while IUPUI is in amongst a logjam in the standings at 1-2 in league play. 

The Jaguars opened league play with a 1-0 win over Wright State, but has since dropped three straight, including league losses to UIC (1-0) and Detroit Mercy (2-0). The offense has been the biggest issue as IUPUI has been blanked in three straight matches and four of seven contests on the year. 

Rayan Choukri, Logan Finnegan and Cameron Haegele account for the team's three goals on the season. In goal, Lucas Morefield has been superb, authoring a 1.07 goals against average and two clean sheets in his six starts. He's stopping nearly 76 percent of the shots on frame he faces and has been part of three shutouts. 

In front of him, Tommy Patacca and Corey Goede continue to anchor the defensive third from their center back positions. Patacca is making a trip home as he attended nearby St. Ignatius High School. He's one of two Ohio-natives on the Jaguars' roster, alongside junior midfielder Chris Workman (Cincinnati).   

TOP 20
Barnett's squad was recently honored by the United Soccer Coaches with a Team Academic Award and ranked among the nation's D1 programs in team grade point average: Read More

PRESEASON POLLS
IUPUI was picked to finish 11th in the Horizon League according to the preseason poll released on Tuesday (Aug. 24): Read More

PROBABLE XI (based on the last outing)
GK- Lucas Morefield, Soph.
D- Gianni Catenacci, 5th
D- Ethan Diedel, Sr.
D- Corey Goede, Sr.
D- Tommy Patacca, 5th
MF- Logan Finnegan, Soph.
MF- Cameron Haegele, 5th
MF- Luke Liljegren, Jr. 
MF- Rayan Choukri, Soph.
MF- Chris Workman, Jr.
F- Riley Shives, Sr.

SCOUTING THE VIKINGS
Cleveland State is off to a hot start in Horizon League play, reeling off three straight wins over Green Bay (4-1), Detroit Mercy (2-0) and Milwaukee (3-1) to start league play. CSU is 2-1 at home this season. Bojan Kolevski leads the CSU offense with four goals and an assist and Jannis Schmidt has three goals and a team-high five assists. The Vikings have outscored opponents by a 13-11 margin, despite being outshot by more than five shots per game. Omeed Naeemy has started all seven matches in goal, posting a 1.57 goals against average and 33 saves overall. 

ALL-TIME SERIES
IUPUI is 3-2-2 all-time against Cleveland State, but winless in the last three meetings in the series. The Jaguars are 1-0-1 in the two meetings in Cleveland. (Series History)

UP NEXT
The Jaguars will return home to host Milwaukee on Saturday, Oct. 2 at 1:00 p.m. at Carroll Stadium.