Valparaiso (5-7-4, 1-4-1 Horizon)
Match #17: Friday, Oct. 22, 3 p.m. CDT
vs. Cleveland State (8-6-2, 4-2 Horizon)
Eastgate Field - Valparaiso, Ind.
Match #18: Sunday, Oct. 24, 1 p.m. CDT
vs. Youngstown State (3-12, 1-5 Horizon)
Eastgate Field - Valparaiso, Ind.

This Week in Crusader Soccer: Valparaiso closes out the 2010 regular season this weekend with a pair of home matches at Eastgate Field.  The Crusaders entertain Cleveland State on Friday afternoon before hosting Youngstown State Sunday afternoon on Senior Day. 

On the Air: Both Friday’s and Sunday’s matches will be broadcast live on WVUR (95.1-FM, Valparaiso) as well as online at www.valpoathletics.com.  Live stats will be available through www.valpoathletics.com for the match as well.

Head Coach John Marovich: John Marovich holds a 26-22-8 record both overall and with Valpo in his third season at the helm of the Brown and Gold.  Just the third head coach in program history, Marovich has the best winning percentage (.536) ever at Valpo, and ranks second in total victories.

Series Notes: Valparaiso is 6-0 all-time against Cleveland State dating back to 2004, including a 3-0 mark against the Vikings at Eastgate Field.  On October 18 of last season, the Brown and Gold posted a 2-0 shutout win against the Vikings in Cleveland, Ohio.  Valpo is 8-0-1 all-time against Youngstown State in a series that dates back to 1999.  The Crusaders won last year’s match 2-0 in Youngstown, Ohio on October 16, and are 4-0-1 against the Penguins at home.

Wrapping Up Last Week’s Action: Lauren Patterson scored the lone goal of the match on a header off of a corner kick on Sunday afternoon as Wright State defeated the Crusaders 1-0 at Eastgate Field.  Kristen Manski made five saves in goal for Valpo, as the Crusaders were outshot 13-11 for the contest.

Scouting Cleveland State: The Vikings have won three of their last four matches heading into the final weekend of the season following a 1-0 victory over Wright State at home last Friday.  Natalie Daniels leads Cleveland State in scoring with 20 total points, scoring eight times and assisting on four other goals.  Between the posts, Kelly Zinkiewich has posted a 1.19 goals against average and an .802 save percentage on the year.  She has also registered six shutouts.

Scouting Youngstown State: The Penguins have dropped four straight matches heading into Friday afternoon’s contest at Butler.  Youngstown State fell 1-0 at Loyola (Chicago) on October 10, and has been idle ever since.  Allison Ludwig leads the Penguins offensively with eight goals and 16 points on the year.  In goal, Nicole Kline has played a majority of the minutes, posting a 2.05 goals against average and a .758 save percentage.

Thanks Sarah: Valparaiso’s lone senior, Sarah Melhorn, will be honored Sunday for Senior Day prior to the match with Youngstown State.  Melhorn has played in 70 matches, making 58 starts during her career as a defender with three assists.  She has missed the last two weekends of matches though due to a knee injury.

An Uphill Battle for the Horizon League Tournament: Valpo’s hopes to make the Horizon League tournament, which begins October 31, are very simple.  The Crusaders need to defeat both Cleveland State and Youngstown State this weekend while also needing Wright State to lose to both Green Bay and Milwaukee on Friday and Sunday respectively.

Looking to Finish Over .500 at Home: With two victories this weekend, the Crusaders would finish the season over .500 at home for the sixth straight season.  Valpo last finished below .500 at home during the 2003 campaign.

Scoring Title on the Line: Both Casey Pedersen and Luisa Desario enter the final weekend of the regular season with three goals and eight points to lead the Crusaders. 

Fit to Be Tied: Valpo’s 0-0 draw at Green Bay on October 10 marked the Crusaders’ fourth tie of the year already, the most ever in a season by a Crusaders team in program history.  Valpo tied three contests in 2003, 2006 and 2009, and now have 24 total draws in program history.

110 Minutes and No Scoring: The scoreless draw against Green Bay also marked the second 0-0 deadlock by the Crusaders this year.  The only year Valpo had more scoreless draws was 2008, when all three ties came without goals being scored.  Valpo has now played 10 scoreless matches all-time in program history.

Scoring First a Key to Success: Valpo is 4-0-1 on the season when scoring the first goal of the match.  The Crusaders have also capitalized on halftime advantages, and are a perfect 4-0 on the year when leading at the break.

Converting Penalty Kicks: Casey Pedersen converted her second penalty kick of the season on October 3 at Butler.  The Crusaders have now converted five straight penalty kicks, with Valpo’s last failed attempt coming on October 8, 2006 when Liberty Ziegahn’s attempt was saved against Lewis.  Pedersen is also the first Crusader since 2005 to convert more than one penalty kick in a season, when Emily King made three attempts.

Nearing the All-Time Charts: Luisa Desario has nine career goals, just two shy of moving into the top-10 all-time at Valpo.  Rachel Hoaglin is one tally behind Desario with eight goals as both players move through their sophomore seasons.  Desario is also tied for ninth all-time with four career match-winning goals.  Her 23 career points also rank just three points outside of the top-10 in the all-time charts.

Roos Has Played Every Match of Her Career: Junior Tracy Roos has started all 56 matches during her career at Valpo. In addition to starting every match this season, she has also played all 1,533 minutes, the only Crusader not to have stepped off of the field.

Looking to Continue the Winning Tradition: Valparaiso entered the 2010 season having posted six consecutive winning seasons following last year’s 11-9-1 record overall.  The Crusaders need to win both matches this weekend to return to the .500 mark this season.

On the Shutout Charts: Freshman netminder Kristen Manski registered her fifth shutout of the season against Green Bay, and is now tied for fifth with Amy Cavanaugh (1999) and Erin Murray (2005) on the single season charts.  In fact, her five clean sheets also rank her in a tie with Rose Holtkamp (1998-2002) for fourth on the career shutout list.

Manski Moving Up Other Charts as Well: Kristin Manski already ranks ninth all-time in a Crusader goalkeeper uniform having appeared in 16 contests, matching Jennifer Argianas’ (1995) Valpo total.  She is now 13 appearances shy of tying for seventh place.  In addition, Manski’s 1488:08 played gives her the eighth most minutes played between the posts all-time.  She also is 10th on the single season minutes played chart.  Manski also now qualifies for the single season goals against average charts.  Her current 1.15 GAA ranks fourth on the single season list.

She Shoots, She Scores: Luisa Desario is tied for third in the Horizon League with 42 shot attempts this season.  The sophomore now has fired off 103 total shots since arriving on campus last season, and has moved into a tie for seventh on the career charts.  Desario has equalled Allison Swanson’s (2002-2005) career total, and now sits 19 shots behind Jackie Kondratko (2006-2009) for sixth on the career list.  Desario had nine shots at Evansville on Aug. 29, matching a season high this year for any Horizon League player.

Crusaders Picked Third in Preseason Poll: The head coaches selected Valparaiso to finish third in the Horizon League this season according to the preseason poll.  The Crusaders finished third in the regular season a year ago before advancing to the tournament championship match.

This and That: Luisa Desario needs 11 more shot attempts this season to move into the top-10 on the single season charts ... five shutouts on the season as a team are tied for fifth most in a year all-time at Valpo ... the 21 goals allowed as a team and 1.23 team goals against average currently rank fourth on the single season charts.