U.S. Army Men's Soccer Championship Semifinals

Nov. 14, 2008

LIVE BLOG FROM FRIDAY NIGHT

Semifinal 1 - No. 3 Cleveland State 1, No. 2 Butler 0
Box Score

CHICAGO - Cleveland State's Marco DiFranco scored in the 79th minute to give the No. 3 seed Vikings a 1-0 win over No. 2 Butler Friday night in the semifinal of the U.S. Army Horizon League Men's Soccer Championship. CSU (9-7-3) advances to Sunday's championship match, marking the program's second appearance in the conference championship.

DiFranco's goal came on the tail end of a play started by Slavisa Ubiparipovic, who dribbled to the top of the box and played a ball to DiFranco. The junior buried a shot in the lower left 90' past Butler goalkeeper Nick Harpel with just 1:44 remaining in regulation.

Butler frantically attacked in the final seconds, and the Bulldogs managed their best chance of the night as the final seconds wound down. Butler sent a shot just over the crossbar as time expired.

Butler, which falls to 13-3-4, outshout Cleveland State by an 11-6 margin. DiFranco's goal was CSU's only shot on goal. Nick Harpel made four saves for the Vikings.

Semifinal 2 - No. 5 Loyola 1, No. 1 UIC 0
Box Score

Loyola's Mark Halma scored the game-winner in the 22nd minute to lead No. 5 seed Loyola to a 1-0 win over No. 1 seed and tourney host UIC in the second semifinal Friday night. The Ramblers (11-6-3) advance to Sunday's championship match against No. 3 seed Cleveland State.

The goal was started when LU's Willie Koss dribbled toward the right side of the goal, beating two UIC defenders. He centered the ball to Halma in the box, who stopped it with his right foot. No UIC defender converged and Halma sent a shot into the net.

That was the match's only tally.

Loyola narrowly missed putting up an insurance goal in the 56th minute, as Kevin Harrigan sent a try on a corner kick that hit off the crossbar.

UIC, which falls to 12-3-4, never got on track offensively. Loyola played an aggressive, attacking defense that held UIC to six shots, two on goal.

Halma and Keum Sung Kim each had two shots for Loyola. Rambler goalkeeper Brian Byrne had two saves, registering his 10th shutout of the season.