The 3rd Man In

Must win in regular season finale

Saturday night will be an important game for the Milwaukee Panthers because not only will it be senior night, but also the Panthers (12-2-2, 4-2) need to win or tie to clinch a first round bye in the Horizon League tournament. It will not be an easy game, as they will square off against Cleveland State (7-11, 3-3) who is third in the conference standings.

The Panthers will honor seniors James Ashcroft, Aaron Cranfill, Andrew Stone, Robbie Boyd, Austin Toth, Kevin Ferron, Riley Weiner, and Lucas Davey before the game.

The Vikings will becoming into Milwaukee on a one game losing streak after losing to Valparaiso 1-0 last Saturday. Throughout the season, Cleveland State has had trouble scoring goals as they only average a little more than one goal a game, and in all but two of their loses have been held scoreless.

Leading the Vikings offense is senior forward Admir Suljevic who has six goals and three assists for 15 points this season. After Suljevic, Jordan Hart and Sergio Manesio both have four goals, and then there is seven players with one goal apiece.

Cleveland State has used three different goalies over the course of the season, but Nick Ciraldo has been their best option, while appearing in the most games for the Vikings. He has recorded a 1.11 goals against average and a .706 save percentage.

It should be an electric environment Saturday night with the eight seniors getting honored, and with this possibly being the Panthers final home game of the season. This will be a tough game for both teams, but the Panthers have had great success at home, and that advantage will be the difference in this final regular season game.

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