Aug. 18, 2006
Contact: Brian McCann
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Saginaw Valley State scored four straight goals over a five minute stretch in the second half to defeat Cleveland State, 4-3, in exhibition play on Friday at Krenzler Field.
The Vikings, in their first action of the year, struck first at the 12:38 mark when junior Abbie Kakias fired a free kick into the back of the net. They would extend their lead to 2-0 early in the second half after freshman Nina Scheidegger scored off a nice cross from junior Shayna Back.
"We did some nice things offensively and it shows that we're vastly improved at that end of the field," head coach Derrek Falor said. "Our first two goals were on plays that we practice and they both turned out like they should have."
The Cardinals would get on the board at the 66:11 mark when Kim Oberski scored from the left side, and Oberski would tie the score at two off a corner kick two minutes later. SVSU's Tammie Edmunds went on to add two goals of her own to give the Cardinals a 4-2 lead.
"We need to shore up our central defense," Falor said. "We played well at times there. We allowed several good scoring opportunities and that can't happen. Fortunately, we still have a week to figure that out."
The Vikings cut the lead in half at the 79:48 mark when Back scored from 10 yards out on the left side but wouldn't find the net again. The Vikings did make a late offensive run as sophomore Lisa Conway fired a shot on goal with 25 seconds left, but it flew right into the arms of SVSU's Stacy Lalond.
"It's a good sign that when we fell behind, we were able to come back," Falor said. "That's something we weren't able to do last year. It's just unfortunate we couldn't score that equalizer."
The Vikings begin their third regular season on Sunday, Aug. 27 when
