Nov. 9, 2002
CLEVELAND - Trailing 1-0 with just over 10 minutes left to play, No. 2 Cleveland State (9-10-0) scored two goals in an 18-second span to pull out a 2-1 victory over seventh-seeded UW-Green Bay (3-14-0) Saturday afternoon in front of 211 fans at Krenzler Field. Hosting a conference tournament match for the first time in school history, CSU advances to the semifinal round next weekend at UW-Milwaukee.
After a scoreless first half, the Phoenix took a 1-0 lead at the 55:09 mark when the Vikings misplayed the ball at the top of their own penalty box. UWGB freshman Jake Lenington collected the loose ball and slotted it in the back of the net for his first career goal.
The score remained the same until 79:52 when CSU sophomore Stephen Ademolu (Windsor, Ontario/Herman) was taken down in the penalty box. Freshman Adrian Balc (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) calmly converted the penalty kick for his ninth goal of the season.
Just 18 seconds after the restart, freshman Harveer Maan (Windsor, Ontario/St. Anne) sent the ball down the left wing to a streaking Ademolu. Ademolu carried the ball into the penalty area where he back-heeled a pass to senior Joachim Walker (Bay Village, Ohio/Bay). Walker took two dribbles to his right and fired a shot that took a slight deflection off a Phoenix defender and found the back of the net. The goal was Walker's sixth of the season and his third game-winner on the year.
"As a team we never stopped," said Walker. "In our minds we knew if we got one goal the other would come."
"We kept doing the right things and never panicked," pointed CSU Head Coach Pete Curtis. "Our guys continued to work hard and kept the possession in their half of the field."
CSU dominated the stat sheet, out-shooting UWGB 21-6 while holding an 8-3 advantage in corner kicks. Freshman Pat Czuprynski made five stops in net for the Phoenix, while Viking senior keeper Josip Novkovic (Euclid, Ohio/Lake Catholic) was forced to make only two saves. CSU's nine victories are the most in a season since the 1993 campaign.
"It was a hard-fought game --" noted UWGB Head Coach Simon Boddison, "one we didn't deserve to lose."
Cleveland State will face third-seeded Illinois-Chicago (10-7-2) in a Horizon League semifinal match on Friday, Nov. 15 at 11:00 a.m. CST in Milwaukee, Wis. The Flames won the regular season meeting, 5-2, in Chicago. The Vikings have advanced to the semifinal round twice before, losing to Butler in both 1996 & 1997.
