Men's Soccer Looks to Keep Win Streak Alive Saturday

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The IPFW Mastodons will put their two-match win streak on the line Saturday evening in the second match of a women's / men's doubleheader, as the squad faces off against league-leading Oakland University in an 8 p.m. kickoff.

Opponent: Oakland Golden Grizzlies (9-5-0, 4-0-0 Summit League)
When: Saturday, October 20 | 8 p.m.
Where: Fort Wayne, Ind. | Hefner Soccer Field
Series: Oakland leads 17-0
Live Stats: IPFW Live Stats

SCOUTING THE MASTODONS
The Mastodons come into the weekend's game within striking distance of making a second straight Summit League Tournament appearance, and have won two straight and have a 2-1-1 record in their last four matches.

Corey Tom leads the team with three goals scored, while Jackson Tooke and Jose Rodriguez have two apiece. Three others, Mitch Falkenstern, Nate Shipman, and Brent Helton, have one goal apiece.

Tooke has three assists to lead the team, as Falkenstern has two, and four 'Dons, Rodriguez, Shipman, Steven L'Esperence, and Kyle Ackerman, have one.

Sophomore goalkeeper Brandon Cloutier ranks eighth in the country with 75 saves, and has a 2.27 goals against average to go with a shutout win against Omaha.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GRIZZLIES
Oakland comes into the Saturday evening game with a perfect 4-0 record in Summit League play, and 9-5 overall.

Offensively, the squad has scored 34 goals on the year, ranked fourth in the country, and are led by Kyle Bethel who has six goals, with Miche'le Lipari and Joey Tinnion have scored five goals apiece. Three others - Matt Dudley, Johnny Dreshaj, and Jeff Cheslik - have three goals.

Bethel currently leads NCAA Division I with 10 assists, while his 22 points ranks him 12th. Dudley has added five assists, with 13 different players dishing out an assist on the year, and 16 having scored at least one point.

Defensively Scott Messer has played the majority of time in goal for the Grizzlies, starting in a dozen matches with 45 saves, a 1.29 goals against average, and four shutouts.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Oakland has swept the all-time series between the Mastodons and Golden Grizzlies, winning all 17 meetings, and holding the Mastodons to just two goals in the series.

The series began in 1982, a 4-0 Oakland win, and the teams played every year from 1982 until 1988. The series resumed in 1993 until 1996, and the teams met again in 2001. The last five meetings have come with both squads members of The Summit League, including a 1-0 Oakland win in Rochester a season ago.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
IPFW sophomore goalkeeper Brandon Cloutier has been named the Summit League Defensive Player of the Week announced by the league office on Monday afternoon.

The award was the second of Cloutier's career, as he helped the Mastodons to a 1-1 record on the week with 10 saves in the two matches.

Last Tuesday, Cloutier collected seven saves against Northern Kentucky in a 2-1 loss, before coming back with three stops in IPFW's 1-0 win over then-third place Omaha a week ago.

LAST MEETING WITH OAKLAND
In the hotly contested game, the teams battled for shots in the opening period, combining for five attempts in the first 20 minutes of play.

In the 30th minute, Oakland netted the would-be game-winning goal when Andrew Barrett scored off a floater from 30 yards out, moving the Grizzlies in front, 1-0. The home team took the one-score advantage into halftime.

IPFW came out aggressive in the second half, tagging two quick shots in the period's first four minutes. Alex Stronczek and Jason Mills each blasted an attempt that just missed wide of net.

The Mastodons continued to push the tempo throughout the half, and nearly tied up the contest in the 70th minute when Max Touloute fired an attempt that was saved by Oakland goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt.

Although the Mastodon frontline had chances to extend game into overtime with late shot attempts, Hildebrandt secured the Oakland shutout with three saves.

IPFW managed 12 shots on Saturday, while Oakland blasted 14. Touloute fired a game-high eight shots in the contest. Mastodon goalkeeper Brandon Cloutier came away with two saves.

Purdue University Fort Wayne Athletics

Men's Soccer Looks to Keep Win Streak Alive Saturday

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