Aug. 31, 2006

Final Stats

Contact: Josh Rattray

Cleveland State kept its unbeaten streak alive, battling Pittsburgh to a 0-0 tie on Wednesday night (Aug. 30) at Founders Field in Pittsburgh. Freshman Dan Duric played all 110 minutes in goal in his CSU debut and recorded six saves. With the tie, the Vikings are now 2-0-1 on the season.

"Our defense was unbelievable," head coach Ali Kazemaini said. "We wanted to get Dan some experience and I think this is a big confidence-builder for him. Our defense helped him out a lot, but he played very well."

Cleveland State had a chance to win the match in the 109^th minute when freshman George Kephart crossed to fellow freshman Andrew Gutting, but the Vikings were called offside. After Pittsburgh's goal kick, freshman Josh Williams fired the ball in the air as time expired.

"We had our chances, but so did Pittsburgh," Kazemaini said. "It is just a very difficult match."

The first half ended scoreless as neither team could sustain anything on offense. The Vikings' best scoring opportunity came at near the 11-minute mark as Williams flew in from the backside on a corner kick from Gutting. CSU managed just two shots in the opening stanza, one of them on goal.

The defensive struggle continued in the second 45 minutes until a Pittsburgh foul gave freshman Mitch Boyer a direct kick from about 20 yards out. Pittsburgh's Andy Jorgensen made a diving save to keep the Vikings off the board at the 61:10 mark.

The Panthers would then threaten twice immediately with headers right in front of the goal, but both tries went wide. Pittsburgh recorded more shots than CSU, 15-8, including a 9-2 edge in the second half.

CSU's best chance to score in regulation took place at the 81:00 mark. After Pittsburgh's Matt Firster picked up a yellow card, Viking freshman Anthony Baraldi narrowly missed a header off a Tom Sadd free kick.

The Panthers answered with their best chance at the 84:30 mark when Matt Baker broke away and fired a shot off the right post. The ricocheted off several Panthers before the Vikings cleared the scoring threat.

"We gave a great effort and I think it's a favorable result," Kazemaini said. "This is another match for us to build upon."

The Vikings return to Krenzler Field on Sunday (Sept. 3) to take on Western Michigan. Kickoff is at 1:00 p.m.