Oct. 17, 2010
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The Vikings fought back from a 1-0 deficit to force overtime late in the match, but a turnover in front of the CSU goal allowed IUPUI to score, giving the Jaguars a 2-1 victory over Cleveland State on Sunday (Oct. 17).
The Vikings dropped to 6-9 on the season, while IUPUI improved to 7-6.
Cameron Eisses scored his first career goal as a Viking in the 88th minute to force the overtime period. Due to injuries to a number of starters, Eisses had been moved to the front line in hopes of giving the team an offensive spark. It worked, as John Wargo found Eisses near the goal post for a game-tying score.
"Eisses' goal was definitely a positive," head coach Ali Kazemaini said. "We've been it hard with injuries over the past week, and moving Eisses into an attacking position gave us a bit of a spark, which kept us alive in the game. The way we lost in overtime, however, was not a positive."
As has been the case for most of the season, a turnover in front of the CSU net played a big role in the Vikings' loss. IUPUI's Nate Ohmer stole the ball from a Viking defender and fired a shot past goalkeeper Brad Stuver into the back corner of the net.
"That was basically an own-goal," Kazemaini said of the play. "We shot ourselves in the foot, just like we have in most of our losses. Six of our nine losses have come from us making a mistake in front of our goal. You can't make mistakes like that and expect to win."
Injuries also caught up with the Vikings, as more than half of CSU's starters either missed the match or played hurt. The loss to IUPUI ended a week in which the Vikings played three matches in seven days, and Kazemaini acknowledged that the match would have been different had his team been healthier and more rested.
"The kids who came off the bench, they did a nice job," Kazemaini said. "The team fought to force the overtime, and I can take some positives from the way we played towards the end of regulation."
After facing the busiest week of the season, the Vikings will have several days off the prepare for their next match, a conference game against Wright State on Saturday (Oct. 23) at 7:00 p.m.
"We'll give the team a few days off, let everyone rest and recover," Kazemaini said. "The Wright State match will be important to secure a playoff spot, but once we get some bodies back from injury I think we'll be alright."
