Oct. 18, 2000
From The Desk Of Pete Curtis -- On a beautiful fall afternoon in Columbus, the Vikings took on nationally ranked Ohio State and produced one of their more creditable performances of the season. Showing little respect for the Buckeyes, CSU took the game to the home side and, with barely ten minutes gone, were very unfortunate not to take the lead. Meeting a crossed ball about 12 yards out at the far post, Matteo Zappa (Fr., Cleveland, OH) slid in and cracked a shot on goal that, after beating the OSU keeper, was hacked off the goal line by a desperate Buckeye defender. With Adam Campellone, Ryan Sgro, and Misha Levkov also going close to breaking the deadlock, the first half-hour had been a promising one for the Vikings. Then, disaster struck! An innocuous looking ball was clipped toward goal by OSU and struck defender, Dan Garel, in the shoulder area. The referee, somewhat harshly, called a handball and, as Garel was just inside the Viking penalty area, the Buckeyes were given an attempt on goal that they had never looked like creating from the free flow of play. Unfortunately, the kick was converted and CSU went into halftime cursing their misfortune and failure to convert their opportunities into goals.
With the Vikings now chasing the game in the second half, OSU was finding more space and creating opportunities that they had been completely denied in the first period. A second Buckeye goal, midway through the second half, made things even tougher for CSU and, despite working extremely hard, they were unable to reduce the deficit. Nevertheless, the Vikings had certainly acquitted themselves well and given the Buckeyes plenty of problems, especially in the first half. If this level of play could be maintained, then a positive MCC result at Butler on Sunday was a definite possibility.
If Ohio State represented Dr. Jekyll, then Butler was Mr. Hyde! The difference between these two performances could not be described in any other way. Yet, it could all have been so different. Less than five minutes into the game, Mark Royer (Jr., Scarborough, Canada) was released on goal and handed a gilt-edged opportunity to put the Vikings ahead. Barely eight yards from goal, four yards clear of the nearest Butler defender, with the entire goal to aim for, Royer's shot was struck straight at the Butler goalie, who was happy to see the ball bounce away to safety. That lost opportunity was to prove costly as, within five minutes, a Butler striker found acres of space to stride through unopposed on the CSU goal. Despite a valiant effort by keeper, Josep Novkowic (So., Euclid, OH), the chance was finished and, again the Vikings found themselves down when they should have been ahead. After failing to capitalize on any of their final third possession during the remainder of the half, CSU entered the half-time break under familiar circumstances, chasing the game.
Despite facing a team much less potent than their previous opponent, the Vikings created little in the way of goal scoring opportunities and, as they pushed in search of an equalizer, the inevitable happened. A Butler free kick was met about six yards out and headed past Novkowic for the second goal. With nothing left to lose, more Viking players were pushed forward and, with just two-and-a-half minutes remaining, they suddenly found themselves back in the game. A Viking cross was only partially cleared by Butler and was met on the edge of the area by Benny Eck (Fr., Ottendorf, Germany), who struck a tremendous rising drive into the Butler net, 2-1! Incredibly, straight from the kick-off, the Viking defense was caught sleeping as Butler stole a third goal, putting the game beyond CSU. The same defensive frailty that has plagued the Vikings all season once again proved their undoing. This combination of poor defending and missed opportunities at the other end has been a recurring theme for the 2000 Vikings and, with only four regular-season games remaining, the team is quickly running out of time to redeem itself.
