Oct. 11, 2005
Contact: Brian McCann
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Piero Caprille scored the game-winning goal with 5:29 left in the second overtime as IPFW rallied from a 1-0 first half deficit to upend Cleveland State, 2-1 in men's soccer action on Tuesday night at Krenzler Field.
The Vikings played the majority of the contest without starters Mark Zambra, Cormac Finn and Nenad Stojkovic, who were each injured in the first half and were unable to return the contest.
"To lose those three players in the first half certainly didn't help us tonight," head coach Pete Curtis said. "We were in an injury crisis situation to begin with and to lose players who play such key roles in our game plan hurt.
"We showed tonight that regardless of who is on the field, that we'll continue to fight and refuse to quit. Every player came in tonight and gave everything they had."
Cleveland State took a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute when Stojkovic fielded a short corner kick from Steve Trapp on the left side and blasted home a shot from just outside the corner of the penalty box. It was Stojkovic's team-leading third goal of the year.
The Vikings would carry the lead into the halftime break but the Mastodons evened the match at the 50:19 mark when Trent Miller got his foot on a loose ball in front of the goal and nudged it past Viking goaltender Anthony DeMarco.
"We gave ourselves the opportunity to win the match tonight," Curtis said. "We went in at half up 1-0 and were hoping to come out and consolidate things by scoring another goal so we could keep it tight in the back.
"Unfortunately, we didn't play a corner kick very well and we gave them an opportunity that the shouldn't have had and they tied the match up."
DeMarco was strong in goal all night, making eight saves, including several in the final minutes of regulation.
The match was decided at the 104:31 mark when a deflection of a Viking defender found its way to Caprille. Caprille gathered the ball and slid a shot past DeMarco.
"It is no use to feel sorry for ourselves because we have to play the hand we have been dealt. Our injury situation has created the opportunity for some of our reserves to see considerable playing time and show us when they are capable of doing."
The loss marked the second time in three days that the Vikings fell in double overtime. CSU dropped a 2-1 decision at home against UIC on Sunday (Oct. 9).
Cleveland State resumes Horizon League play this weekend when it travels to Detroit for a Sunday afternoon (Oct. 16) match-up with the Titans.
