Oct. 26, 2011
Contact: Tim Ertle
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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Second half goals from Jordan Hart and Aaron Adkins helped Cleveland State pull out a crucial 2-1 come-from-behind victory host Butler on Wednesday night to remain at the top of the Horizon League standings. With the win, the Vikings guarantee themselves a top-six finish in the league and have secured a spot in the Horizon League Championships.
Cleveland State improved to 7-8-1 overall and 4-2-1 in league play. Butler, the preseason pick to win the league, slid to 1-3-1 in the Horizon League.
"We needed that win, and I was proud of the way the guys fought in the second half," head coach Ali Kazemaini said. "We didn't play our best soccer in the opening half, but we went in at halftime and talked about what we needed to do. After talking, we came out and executed and earned a huge road victory that guaranteed us of finishing in the top six."
With their 1-0 win over Loyola on Wednesday night, Valparaiso maintained the pace and equaled CSU's 13 points to force a tie at the top. Wright State entered the night tied with CSU and Valparaiso with 10 points but fell to UIC, 2-0. Cleveland State and Valparaiso tied 0-0 earlier this season.
In a series that had been even at 3-3-2 since head coach Ali Kazemaini took over before the 2006 season and had all eight matches decided by one goal, the latest installment in this rivalry lived up to the billing.
The Bulldogs struck first when Adekunle Oluyedun scored his fourth goal of the season, putting Butler up 1-0. Oluyedun took a ball from Zach Steinberger left of the box and beat Cleveland State goalkeeper Brad Stuver in the upper right corner.
That goal stood up until the 54th minute when CSU's Jordan Hart notched his fourth goal of the season and evened the score at 1-1. The sophomore from Erie, Pennsylvania - who scored in the Vikings loss to Green Bay last Saturday - faked right and cut to his left and knocked the ball in the lower left corner of the goal from 12 yards out.
"Jordan Hart is a kid who works his tail off," Kazemaini said. "We've had guys go down with injuries and so people need to step up and help with the scoring. Jordan has been good for us all season, but he's really come on as of late. He made that play, and I'm happy to see his hard work pay off in a big spot when our team needed the help."
In the 65th minute, Aaron Adkins notched his team-best seventh goal - and third game-winner - of the season when he headed a Brian Donnelly corner kick home.
"That was a beautiful ball that Brian Donnelly struck," Kazemaini said. "We've been on the other end of those this year, but Aaron Adkins ran free up the middle and timed it perfectly. That came in a great spot for us, and that's something Aaron has been doing all year in terms of making the big play."
The Viking defense held on over the final 25 minutes, but not for lack of Bulldog effort.
Butler took just eight shots in the entire match, but five came in the last 2:11 of the match. Stuver had to make three saves to earn his seventh victory of the year, but two of those saves came in the last two minutes.
"Butler really pushed everyone forward in the last few minutes and we did a nice job of handling the attack," Kazemaini said. "We dropped everyone back and just kept clearing it. I was happy with how the guys handled it, and it felt great to get out of there with a victory."
As a team, Cleveland State fired 17 shots in the match with 14 of them coming in the second half. Seven Viking shots were on goal with Butler goalkeeper Jon Dawson making five saves in defeat.
Kazemaini's club will take a break from league play this weekend when they host Canisius on Sunday (Oct. 30) at 1:00 p.m. The Vikings return to league play in the regular season finale when Detroit visits Krenzler Field on Friday, November 4th at 7:00 p.m.
