Oct. 30, 2005
Contact: Brian McCann
Chicago, Ill. -- Cleveland State controlled the offensive play for almost 90 minutes but it was not enough as Loyola scored in the 71st minute to claim a 2-1 victory over the Vikings on Sunday afternoon at Loyola Soccer Park.
"We totally controlled the second half," head coach Pete Curtis said. We played the last 45 minutes in their defensive end but we came away with a loss. It is very, very frustrating."
The Vikings opened the scoring at the 11:40 mark when Mark Zambra scored off a penalty kick. The goal was made possible because of a long run made by freshman Jim Stannard. Stannard had beaten one defender and was prepared to shoot on goal before being brought down from behind by a Loyola defender, resulting in the foul.
"Jimmy Stannard had an exceptional first half. He worked very hard and gave the Loyola defense problems every time he had the ball," Curtis said.
Loyola came right back, scoring at the 13:14 mark when Javier Lopez flicked in a shot from five yards off a long throw-in from Steven Graner.
"We needed to show a little more composure and close things down (defensively) after we took the lead," Curtis said. "The goal showed our inexperience."
The match settled into a defensive battle the rest of the way with CSU out-shooting the Ramblers, 14-11 in the match, including an 11-7 edge in the second stanza.
"Our midfielders worked hard in the second half to not allow Loyola any space. We just didn't take advantage of it and turn our chances in goals. The more that happened, the more likely it was that we could be hurt by a counter attack, and that's what ultimately hurt us. They ran a play that we should have been ready for
Loyola scored the game-winner at the 70:36 mark when Tony DeLuca headed home a free kick from the left wing by Dino Melitas.
CSU challenged during the final 20 minutes but could not come away with the equalizer as Loyola closed down defensively and limited the scoring opportunities.
The loss marked the fourth time in seven league contests this year, and seventh time over the last two seasons that Cleveland State lost by one goal.
"If we have learned anything this year it's that there isn't a team in this conference that we aren't capable of beating. If we can carry the work ethic that we showed today over to (the Horizon League first round game) next Saturday, and get a couple of more players back, then anything is possible."
The loss sends the Vikings into next week's Horizon League Championships as the No. 8 seed, playing at regular season champion Detroit in an opening round match on Saturday (Nov. 5).
