Aug. 18, 2009
Contact: Brian McCann
The Cleveland State women's soccer team finished up its exhibition season with a 4-1 win over the Mercyhurst Lakers at Krenzler Field on August 18.
Cleveland State poured on the pressure offensively in the first half, with seven shots and five corners early and the strategy paid off as sophomore Natalie Daniels found junior Sylvia Olsby on a breakaway for a smooth goal on the left side of the net to give the Vikings the early 1-0 lead in the 33rd minute.
Soon after, Cleveland State was unable to set their defense and Baedyn Ordway scored for Mercyhurst on a header in the 35th minute to tie it up. Cleveland State was able to settle down for the rest of the half behind good play from senior Jess McCloy and sophomore Marina Taylor. The Vikings then continued their aggressive play with some crafty moves from Daniels, but were unable to score again before the half.
The Vikings struck quickly in the second half off a quick goal by Daniels in the 48th minute from senior Jessica Keefer. Just four minutes later, Cleveland State scored again as freshman Jaime Avona fed Nicole Howard who quickly kicked it to Daniels who put it in the goal. Daniels finishes the exhibition season with three assists and two goals after leading the team in assists last season.
"Natalie [Daniels] continues to show why she is one of the best mids in the conference," Head Coach Derrek Falor said. "She guided the offense like she was a senior and knew exactly when to make a finesse play. She put perfect touch on both her goals."
Mercyhurst was not given any time to breathe, as Avona made a nice touch pass to Keefer, who slipped it right past the goalie for a score, putting Cleveland State up 4-1 with 33 minutes remaining. Senior Jocelyn Keefer soon switched over to keeper, replacing Shannon Saunders who had three saves on the day.
"This was a good experience for us playing two matches in three days like we would in season," Falor said. "I thought we came out and did a nice job possessing the ball especially at midfield, but we were slow to take advantage of our opportunities until the second half when we wore them down. That's when we started to find the net."
After the fourth goal, the game was all but put away and the Vikings played possession ball. The remaining time gave Coach Falor the opportunity to open up his bench and give the reserves valuable minutes before the start of the season.
"We were able to play everybody tonight, which was good and gets us ready for Marshall on Sunday," Falor said. "We have such better depth this year than we've ever had and it is evident because our number two unit really controlled play as well tonight."
Cleveland State finishes the preseason undefeated for the first time in school history. The team was previously 1-7-1 all time in exhibition matches. The Vikings will try to use that momentum when they enter the regular season on Sunday as they travel to Marshall to take on the Thundering Herd.
