Oct. 14, 2011
Contact: Tim Ertle
Follow CSU on TWITTER
Follow Men's Soccer on TWITTER
CSU Athletics on YouTube
CHICAGO, Ill. - Goals from the guys who have been providing them all year - Aaron Adkins and Admir Suljevic - helped Cleveland State get the better of UIC, 2-1, in a pivotal Horizon League contest in Chicago on Friday (Oct. 14) night.
The Vikings entered Friday night's game tied with Valparaiso and Milwaukee for first place. UIC, playing just their third league game of the year, trailed the trio on top by three points and missed an opportunity to cause a four-way tie.
At least for the moment, the Vikings pull into first place with a 3-1-1 record in league play. Milwaukee hosts Wright State tomorrow night while Valparaiso has a non-league game with Ohio State on Sunday.
Adkins scored his team-best sixth goal in the 15th minute to put the Vikings ahead 1-0 when the Horizon Leauge `Player of the Week' took the ball off a pass from Aslinn Rodas at midfield and dribbled in to beat goalkeeper Piotr Kikolski.
In the 49th minute, Admir Suljevic scored his sixth goal of the season t o pull even with Adkins, but more importantly put Cleveland State ahead 2-0. Suljevic, who scored on the second assist of the game from Rodas, joined Adkins and two other players - one of them being UIC's Eric Frazier - for second in the league in goals scored behind UIC's Ivan Stanisavljevic.
The Flames got a goal from Zach Kaleta in the 61st minute to cut the deficit in half, but Brad Stuver and the defense held on over the last 29 minutes to earn an important road win. The junior goalkeeper was fantastic in net, making a career-high 11 stops.
Stanisavljevic and Frazier combined for eight shots - four of them on goal - to no avail.
By earning the win, the Vikings also fought their way back to the .500 mark after a tough early season schedule.
UIC fell to 6-3-3 and 1-1-1 in the Horizon League.
The Vikings take a quick break from Horizon Leauge play and will battle IUPUI on Wednesday (Oct. 19) at 4 p.m. inside the friendly confines of Krenzler Field.
