Opening Whistle
The championship repeat continues for Cleveland State on Wednesday with the #HLMSOC Semifinals against regular season champion and top-overall seed Milwaukee at 2 p.m.
 
Setting the Bracket
Semifinals – Wednesday, November 11
No. 1 Milwaukee vs. No. 6 Cleveland State
No. 2 Purdue Fort Wayne vs. No. 5 Wright State
**Wright State defeated NIU in the quarterfinals 1-0
**Cleveland State defeated RMU in the quarterfinals 2-1
 
Championship Game – Saturday, November 14
Highest remaining site
 
A Win Would…
Put the Vikings in their fourth Horizon League Championship game under head coach Sinisa Ubiparipovic…Give Cleveland State a chance to win its fourth league and third under coach Ubiparipovic.
 
Tournament History
Cleveland State is 6-2-0 in the Horizon League tournament under coach Ubiparipovic and 3-0-0 in semifinal games. Overall, the program 18-21-3 in the tournament and 6-7-0 in the semifinals.
 
About Milwaukee
The Panthers claimed their first title since 2004 after putting up a 7-4-6 overall record and a 5-1-4 mark in league games. Milwaukee went 3-2-4 at home this season which included a 2-0-3 in the last five games.
 
Jack Wagner was named the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year, and Carson Pridie earned Goalkeeper of the Year recognition. Wagner and Pridie were joined on the First Team by Dominic Zuniga.
 
Seven players were tied with multiple goals with Zuniga having a team-best seven assists. Pridie had six shutouts to go along with 67 saves.
 
Previous Meeting This Season
These two teams met on September 26 in Milwaukee with the game ending in a scoreless draw. The Green and White held a 15-13 advantage in shots and finished with six shots on goal. Each team committed eleven fouls in a physical game.
 
Aleksandar Kolar came up big in goal for the Vikings with a career-high eight saves. Domenic Ruggiero led the game with five shots including three on frame. Uzman Ramees was close behind with four shots.
 
Series History
This will be the 58th meeting between these two teams with Milwaukee holding a 28-21-8 advantage. The last two games have ended in scoreless draws at Engelmann Stadium. The last ten meetings favor the Vikings, 5-1-4.
 
Horizon League Awards
The Vikings garnered two special awards and four all-league honors as announced by the league on Friday.
 
For the third straight year, a Cleveland State player earned Freshman of the Year honors as forward Domenic Ruggiero netted the award. Tom Mertz became the seventh player in program history to be named the Horizon League Player of the Year with the last honor coming in 2024.
 
Mertz, Ruggiero, and Lennart Heck were named to the first team and Uzman Ramees was recognized on the second team.