INDIANAPOLIS -- After earning its first Horizon League win last weekend, the IU Indianapolis men's soccer team faces two big tests this week. First, Butler makes the short trip to Michael A. Carroll stadium, where the local rivals will battle on Tuesday (Oct. 8) night. Then, head coach Sid van Druenen's squad will hit the road, taking on Cleveland State on Saturday (Oct. 12). The match against Butler will be streamed on ESPN+, with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m.

With Friday (Oct. 4) night's win over Detroit Mercy, IU Indy now has four conference points, leaving them in a tie for seventh place with Milwaukee just under the halfway mark of the conference calendar. Outside of Cleveland State, who are currently bottom of the table and winless in league play, the remaining four opponents all have four points or more, with Green Bay and Purdue Fort Wayne sitting atop the standings with nine points apiece, making this weekend's match crucial to the team's playoff push. Only the top six teams at the end of conference play move onto the postseason. 

Cleveland State (2-5-3, 0-3-1) got off to a great start to the season, opening with a 1-1 draw against Ohio State who is undefeated and now ranked No. 4 and defeating St. Bonaventure and Chicago State in its next two matches before earning another draw against a good Akron team, but has since slowed down, losing five of its last six with its lone result coming in a 2-2 draw against Detroit Mercy.

Scoring has not been an issue for the Vikings, who are finding the back of the net just under one and a half times per outing, which ranks in the middle of the pack in the Horizon League. Five players have two or more goals up to this point in the season, led by Matteo Correia with three. Bojan Kolevski and Marko Rimac have each tallied two goals and two assists for six points that ties Correia for the most on the team. Defensively, however, the Vikings sit tied for eighth in the league with a 2.00 goals against average. Stephen Yerian is the Viking's No. 1 keeper and has played all but 90 minutes on the year, making 38 saves while allowing 17 goals (1.89 GAA). 

Like Cleveland State, Butler (3-6-2, 0-3 Big East) also got off to a solid start to its 2024 campaign, jumping out to a 3-1-2 record. Since that point, Butler has lost five straight, including its first three Big East matches. In that stretch the side has been outscored 12-6. 

IU Indy transfer, Josemir Gomez, leads the Bulldogs in scoring, tallying six goals and two assists for 14 total points. Fellow forward, Ryan Hannosh, also has 14 points by the way of five goals and four assists. The two make up for 11 of the team's 18 goals on the year. In goal, Caleb Norris has started all 11 matches, making 38 saves while allowing 20 goals (1.82 GAA).