Despite regular season ending loss at Cleveland State, Robert Morris earns No. 2 seed in Horizon League men’s soccer tournament

Robert Morris University men’s soccer team concluded its regular season with a narrow 3-2 loss to Cleveland State on Tuesday.

With the loss, the Colonials post a 7-6-3 overall record and a 4-3-2 mark in Horizon League play. Despite the result coming in a match where the Colonials worked to battle back from a 2-0 and 3-1 deficits, but came up short, they secured the No. 2 seed in the Horizon League Championship bracket.

Exceeding expectations after being predicted to finish seventh in the Preseason Poll, RMU heads to the postseason as the No. 2 seed, earning a bye into the semifinals. They will face the highest-remaining seed from the quarterfinals on Thursday, November 14, at 4:00 PM at the Oakland Soccer Field in Rochester, Mich.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Cleveland State opened the scoring early, converting a deflected corner kick.

The Vikings doubled their lead in the 11th minute as Bojan Kolevski netted his sixth goal of the season.

Midway through the half, RMU’s Kai McLoughlin responded with a volleyed goal from outside the 18-yard box, assisted by Logan Gilley, marking McLoughlin’s second goal of the season.

Just before halftime, Cleveland State’s Uros Jevtic received a yellow card.

The Vikings struck early in the second half to restore their two-goal cushion.

In the 61st minute, RMU’s Victor Koah came close to scoring, hitting the woodwork.

Jevtic’s second yellow card in the 69th minute left CSU a man down for the remainder of the match.

A minute later, RMU’s Tim Koczulap was shown a yellow card.

With 11 minutes remaining, Kosi Udeh narrowed the gap to 3-2 by heading in a cross from Victor Thompson.

Thompson received a yellow before the match concluded. RMU tallied two more shots in pursuit of the equalizer but couldn’t find the net.

RMU MSOC MATCH NOTES  

• RMU outshot CSU 19-10, with seven shots on target to CSU’s four.
• The Colonials earned seven corner kicks, while the Vikings had two.
• Fabian Overkamp, Mats Bramer, Gabe Norris, and Kai McLoughlin each played the full 90 minutes, with McLoughlin leading the team with three shots.
• Goalkeeper Josh Lane made two saves
• Junior forward Kosi Udeh found the net for the fourth consecutive match. Udeh, from Birmingham, Ala., is now second on the team with five goals and third in points with 12, boasting a two-season total of seven goals and three assists for RMU.

Sounding Off on Soccer Podcast: Robert Morris Head Coach Jonathan Potter has the Colonials in 1st Place