Oct. 22, 2008
Contact: Brian McCann
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Patrick Roan scored his first goal of the season off a free kick midway through the second half as 17th-ranked Ohio State snapped Cleveland State's five-match win streak with a 1-0 decision on Wednesday night in Owens Stadium.
The Vikings slip to 6-7-2 overall while Ohio State improves to 9-4-2.
"We left a win out there tonight," CSU head coach Ali Kazemaini said. "We had a couple of good opportunities to score in the first half but came away empty. They (OSU) picked up their play in the second half and took our chances away.
"Even though I thought we played well, I don't think we came into the match with the thought of winning, otherwise the result would have been different. It is a mental thing because if you think you can win, they you will."
The first half played to a scoreless tie with Ohio State holding a 7-2 advantage in shots.
Both of the Viking shots in the first half were by Marco DiFranco, who forced Buckeye netminder Drew Czekanski to make nice saves on both attempts in the first 10 minutes.
Ohio State opened the scoring at the 64:30 mark when Geoff Marsh quickly started play following a Viking foul in the corner of the field, sending his free kick into the middle where Roan gathered it in and then stuffed a shot into the left corner of the goal.
"We weren't on our toes on the play and it cost us," Kazemaini said. "It was one of the only balls all night that we didn't defend properly."
Ohio State would go on the own a 21-6 shot advantage, including a 14-4 edge in the second half, but each of CSU's shots were on goal and challenged the Buckeye defense.
"We didn't take a lot of shots tonight, but the ones we did get were pretty good opportunities. The statistic is a little deceptive because our chances were better than theirs but they had more of them."
Viking goalkeeper Nick Harpel was outstanding, making a season-high 11 saves to continually keep the Ohio State offense at bay.
"Nick is developing into a solid keeper," Kazemaini said. "He played well off his line tonight and organized the defense well."
The loss ended Cleveland State's longest win streak since the 1979 campaign at five matches in a row, four of which had come at home.
The match also served as the final non-conference contest of the season for the Vikings. CSU, which is in second place in the Horizon League with a 4-2 record, returns home for the final time during the regular season when the Vikings host Wright State on Saturday, Oct. 25 beginning at 7:00 p.m. at Krenzler Field.
