Sept. 11, 2002
INDIANAPOLIS - Freshman Adrian Balc (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) blasted a shot into the left corner of the net on a penalty kick in the second overtime period to give visiting Cleveland State a 2-1 victory over Butler in a Horizon League match at Varsity Field on Wednesday afternoon. The victory lifted the Vikings to 3-2-0 on the season and 1-0-0 in league play, while Butler fell to 1-4-0 overall in 0-1-0 in conference action.
The victory was the first for CSU in 12 tries against the defending Horizon League Tournament champion (0-11-0 previously). In addition, the Vikings matched their win total from each of the previous two seasons after going 3-13-1 in 2000 and 3-15-0 last year.
Balc's game-winning goal (his third tally of the season) came after senior O.C. Haugen (Hornindal, Norway/Stryn) was taken down in the penalty area just over two minutes into the second overtime period. The two teams were knotted at 1-1 at the end of regulation and remained tied after the first 10-minute overtime period. Cleveland State out-shot Butler in the overtime sessions, 4-0.
The two league foes played to a 0-0 tie through the first 45 minutes of the match. Cleveland State pressed the action early in the contest, but the Bulldogs wound up with a 9-5 shot edge in the first half.
Haugen broke the scoreless deadlock just over 14 minutes into the second half with a shot from seven yards out in front of Butler goalkeeper Grant Barrie. The goal was Haugen's first of the season, while senior Joachim Walker (Bay Village, Ohio/Bay) picked up his second assist of the year on the score.
Butler tied the game at the 76:05 mark when senior Michael Mariscalco fed a long pass to a senior Nick Pantazi, who charged up the middle of the field and powered a shot past Cleveland State senior goalkeeper Josip Novkovic (Euclid, Ohio/Lake Catholic). It was Pantazi's first goal of the season and the 32nd of his Butler career. The assist was the first this year by Mariscalco.
The Bulldogs appeared to take the lead with just over three minutes remaining, when junior Chance Ernst took a pass from freshman Scott Olsen and slipped a shot into the back of the net. But the Bulldogs were ruled offsides and the goal was nullified.
Butler finished with a 24-15 edge in shots and a 15-3 advantage in corner kicks. Barrie posted five saves in the match, while Novkovic wound up with six.
Cleveland State is in action again on Saturday, Sept. 14 when it hosts IPFW at 4:00 p.m.
