Oct. 18, 2009
Contact: Renee Adam
Cleveland, Ohio - Admir Suljevic recorded the first two goals of the match for the Vikings, and had the assist on Josh Williams' game-winning goal in overtime, giving Cleveland State the 4-3 victory over Detroit. The Vikings improve to 5-6-3 on the season and 2-1-2 in the Horizon League.
"Everyone really showed some heart and character out on the field today through all 105 minutes," head coach Ali Kazemaini said. "We played great through the whole match, besides the few errors that we had on defense with the Detroit goals."
Suljevic put the Vikings on the scoreboard in the 27th minute when he found the back of the net from 30 yards out off an assist by Josh Williams, giving CSU the 1-0 lead. The goal marked the first of his career.
The Titans evened the score in the 56th minute when Chris Kobayashi took a shot from 35 yards out that sailed just above Nick Harpel's reach in the goal.
"It was very uncharacteristic of Nick to allow those few goals that gave life back to the Detroit team," Kazemaini said. "It seemed like he had some mental lapses in the net, and could never fight back and get in the match."
Suljevic would strike again to give the Vikings a 2-1 lead in the 60th minute when he beat two defenders in the box, giving him an open look at the net from five yards out. Aaron Adkins recorded the assist on the play, while Suljevic marked his second goal of the season.
Adkins would stay in the game as he tallied the assist on Slavisa Ubiparipovic's goal in the 75th minute. Ubiparipovic had an open net from the top of the box, when Brandon Waterstradt was pulled out of the goal to defend his shot.
The goal gave the Vikings a 3-1 lead, but the lead would not last long as the Titans came back to even the score with two goals ten minutes apart. Ken Simon and Otieno Victor each recorded goals in the 78th and 88th minute respectively, tying the match at 3-3.
The tie would eventually force the match into double overtime, with CSU's game-winning goal coming in the 105th minute for the Vikings.
Williams' game-winning goal came in the 105th minute, when he headed the ball into the right corner of the net off a pass from Suljevic. Suljevic found Williams with a pass that crossed the box, giving Williams time to beat the Titans goalie into the net.
"I'm happy we got the win today, it gives the team a lot of confidence going into the end of the regular season," Kazemaini said. "I give credit to the whole team for hanging tough through the whole match, because we really won the contest three different times, and then won it for real in the second overtime with the play by Williams and Suljevic, recording the fourth goal of the contest."
Harpel played the first 90 minutes in the net for CSU, while Brad Stuver came into the match for both overtime periods.
The Vikings had the major advantage in shots on goal during the contest 14-3, with DiFranco and Suljevic each recording three, Ubiparipovic and Anthony Baraldi adding two each, and Williams and Audric Kilroy each tallying one.
Cleveland State returns to action on Wednesday (Oct. 21) when they travel to Pennsylvania to take on the Pittsburgh Panthers in their final non-conference match of the season. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
