LORETTO, Pa. - Cleveland State scored three second half goals to rally for a 3-2 victory at St. Francis (Pa.) in the Vikings' exhibition finale on Saturday afternoon.
CSU finished the exhibition season with a 1-0-1 record following a 0-0 draw with Buffalo at Krenzler Field on Tuesday afternoon.
"I thought we started slow today and our defensive shape was very flat which allowed them to possess the ball much more," head coach Sonia Curvelo said. "The goal scoring opportunities they had were from our mistakes and we will work to fix those.
"The second half was the best performance from the team since I have been here and the players executed everything we needed them to do on both ends of the field. Our defensive shape was organized and we pressured well to win back the ball.
"The entire team stepped up when we faced adversity. It was great for the team to overcome a 2-0 deficit away from home and on a grass field. We now need to show more consistency in a 90 minute game. We showed how strong we are when we work together and our belief continues to get stronger every day."
St. Francis took a 1-0 lead with a goal in the 32nd minute and extended the lead to 2-0 on Jordan Toohey's goal with just two seconds left in the first half.
Senior Kelcey Fischer pulled CSU within 2-1 with CSU's first tally of the exhibition season. Fischer took a shot from 20 yards out that sailed over the SFU goalkeeper's head with 59:32 on the clock.
The equalizer came with 17 minutes left when freshman Katie Bainbridge slipped a through ball to Vickie Havas who beat the goalkeeper on the first touch, evening the match at 2-2.
Junior Allie Sieradzki scored the game-winner with just under seven minutes to play, heading in a corner kick to help CSU complete the comeback.
Both teams finished with eight shots.
Sierra Davis started in goal for the Vikings and played the first half, making two saves. Jamie Daniels relieved Davis at the half and produced one save over the final 45 minutes.
The Vikings open the regular season on Friday (Aug. 22) when CSU plays at UC Santa Barbara at 10:00 p.m. EST.
