Sept. 29, 2004
Contact: David Barry
MENTOR, OH - The Cleveland State men's soccer team played through two overtimes to a scoreless tie against Niagara Wednesday night at Mentor High School. The draw keeps the Vikings unbeaten in the last three matches, and is Cleveland State's second straight tie.
"We are disappointed right now," coach Curtis said after the match. "We're not putting enough pressure on our opponents in their defensive third, and we're waiting for the perfect opportunity all the time instead of seizing half-chances offensively. It's costing us wins."
The Vikings appeared to have taken the lead with less than ten minutes left in the second half when David Prentice challenged for a ball in the box and headed it to the back of the net. The goal was called back as Prentice was whistled for interfering with the goalie. The Prentice header was one of a handful of chances the Vikings had to score. Cleveland State was outshot, 17-11 in the contest.
"It was a very scrappy game," coach Curtis said. "They packed it in, not leaving a lot of space for us to work with. But we made it easy for them to do that because of our lack of movement and imagination in the attack."
Amir Kettani registered eight saves in goal for the Vikings, who managed to put three of their 11 shots on target.
Four yellow cards were issued in the match, one going to Spencer Lappin in the first half when he banged knees with Niagara goalie Eric Sullivan. Lappin, the Vikings' leading goalscorer with six, continued to play through the stiffness through much of the first half, but was removed early in the second and did not return. He has some swelling and is listed as day-to-day.
"With or without Spencer, this team did not show much imagination tonight," Curtis said. "We've got to stay sharp mentally to execute at this level."
The Vikings will next travel to Wright State for a 2:00 match on Sunday, October. 3rd. It will be Cleveland State's second conference match of the year, as the Vikings tied UIC last Sunday to open up the Horizon League season.
"We have to raise our game several notches on Sunday," Curtis said. "We can't go in there with tonight's level of play. If we raise our game, we'll be ok."
