CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland State men's soccer team grabbed its first home win of the season on Wednesday night, beating Cincinnati 3-1 behind three second half goals.
The Vikings improved to 3-4 overall while the Bearcats dropped to 4-4. CSU has won three of their last four games and knotted the all-time series with UC at 7-7-1.
In a quiet first half, it was Cincinnati that took a 1-0 lead to the break. On the first shot of the game, Stefan Bangsund sent a rocket from 24 yards out off the top right post and in, giving the Bearcats the early lead. Both teams mustered just four shots in the half as UC held a slight edge in shots on goal at 2-1. The Vikings threatened in the 22nd minute as both Hesham Hammouda and Kevin Blackwood rattled off two shots, one after the other, but neither fell through.
The second half was all Vikings. Like Cincinnati's first half start, the Vikings got out of the gates early in the second half and never looked back. Gianluca DiFranco opened the scoring for CSU, tallying his second goal of the season as he broke free and dribbled through the middle, beating UC goalkeeper Alex Gill to the back of the net. DiFranco's goal came just 1:44 into the second half.
Just over four minutes later, Dan Koniarczyk found the back of the net in the 51st minute for his first score of 2015. Jake Lagania was credited with the assist after his cross from the left side allowed Koniarczyk to find his groove after a quick touch.
Over the course of the next half hour of play, both teams battled and the score remained 2-1 until Lagania struck for his second score of the year in the 79th minute off an assist from Antonio Burgoa. Lagania took the pass and beat the keeper from 10 yards out, pushing the Viking lead to 3-1, the eventual final.
Aleksandar Drobac earned his first start in goal for CSU this season. He logged all 90 minutes and made three saves including a beauty off his leg in the final 10 minutes. The strong back line of Mustafa Raychouni, James Milli, Kareem Banton, Sergio Manesio and Alec Nagucki can also be credited with keeping the Bearcats off the board after the 7th minute goal by Bangsund.
CSU led total shots 13-12 and shots on goal 6-4. Both teams finished with three corner kicks.
Cheo Armstrong, Manesio, Blackwood, Lagania and Hammouda all recorded at least two shots apiece for Cleveland State.
The Vikings will play their next four against Horizon League opponents, beginning this Saturday (Sept. 26) when they travel to Valparaiso for an 8:00 p.m. EST contest. CSU will then come back to Krenzler Field for two against Detroit (Oct.3) and Northern Kentucky (Oct. 7).
