Nov. 9, 2010
Contact: Dan Carr
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CLEVELAND, Ohio - Entering Tuesday's (Nov. 9) first round playoff match against Detroit, Audric Kilroy had not scored a goal in 2010.
By the end of the contest, he had scored two and CSU was headed to the Horizon League Championship semifinals, as the Vikings defeated the Titans, 2-1.
"Audric had a great game, and that came from us playing with a little more intensity," head coach Ali Kazemaini said. "We played a very good first half, and then did enough to get through the second half."
Both of Kilroy's goals came in the first half of the contest. The first came on a corner kick at 25:12, with Manuel Conde serving the ball in and Kilroy finishing with a shot sent past Detroit's goalkeeper, Brandon Waterstradt.
On the second, Kilroy took a pass from John Wargo in the 40th minute on CSU's side of midfield and raced downfield, beating Detroit's lone defender and sending a shot into the back left side of the net.
Cleveland State took the 2-0 lead into halftime, but the Titans still had some life. Detroit's Nate Robinson fired a shot in the 57th minute that CSU goalkeeper Brad Stuver was able to block but not catch, and Ya Ya Toure scored on the rebound, cutting the Vikings' lead to one.
"We knew that we had to push to get a third goal," Kazemaini said. "When Detroit started to come back, we pushed the panic button and stopped playing with the focus we had in the first half for a little bit. One thing I'll be talking to the guys about before our next match is maintaining composure."
Cleveland State had a very good opportunity at a third goal late in the second half, when Kilroy found Rodas open in front of the Detroit net, but Rodas was unable to control the ball before it was grabbed by Waterstradt.
The Vikings were able to contain Detroit defensively in the last 20 minutes, and Cleveland State held on to ensure a trip to Indianapolis for the conference semifinals.
Stuver recorded six saves in the win. The total shots were fairly even, with Detroit holding a slight 10-9 lead, but CSU finished with a 10-4 advantage on corner kicks.
The Vikings (9-9-1) will now face Butler, the conference's top seed, on Friday (Nov. 12) at 2:30 p.m. CSU played Butler in Indianapolis last Friday (Nov. 5), leaving with a 0-0 tie. A win over Butler would put Cleveland State in the Horizon Leage Championship match, which will be be played on Sunday (Nov. 14) at 1:00 p.m.
