Aug. 27, 2010
Contact: Brian McCann
CLEVELAND, OH-- The 2010 edition of Cleveland State women's soccer continues to raise the bar of achievements and excellence as they beat Gannon 3-0 to start the year with two consecutive wins at Krenzler Field.
The win, combined with the win against Marshall earlier in the week, marks the first ever time that the Vikings won their first two games to begin a season. Head coach Derrek Falor was please with the all-around performance.
"We just wanted to keep the ball and get a good workout," Falor said of the win.
The Vikings began the scoring when red-shirted senior Jessica McCloy notched her second goal of the year. The defender found herself in the right place at the right time as she headed home the cross from Nicole Howard at the 22:36 mark of the first half. Howard put in the crossing ball into the box from the right side and McCloy dove low to give the Vikings the lead.
"I couldn't believe it," Jessica said of her second headed goal on the year. "It was awesome."
After missing all of last season with a knee injury, The outside back has now scored two goals in as many matches and has doubled her career total already this season.
Cleveland State continued their momentum and scored just three minutes later. Taylor Vidovic gave a pass to Natalie Daniels who chipped in a beautiful shot from 15 yards out, into the left corner of the net. Daniels leads the team with three goals in two games.
For the second match in a row, the Vikings held a 2-0 lead going into the half and outshot Gannon 10-3.
The Vikings did not let the break stop them as they were rewarded with their third goal of the night. Only a minute and a half passed into the second half when Jamie Avona played a perfect ball to Natalie Daniels, who beat the Gannon goalie on the breakaway.
With that goal, Daniels now has as many goals (3) as least year's team leader at the end of the year, Marley Greiner.
The Vikings have scored six goals in their first two matches which is half the amount of goals the team scored the entire 2009 season.
With the goal, nine different Vikings players have at least a point on the score sheet. Last year, the team finished with eleven.
The defense stepped up when needed as Viking goalie Kelly Zinkiewich finished with just two saves, but none was bigger than her last.
With Gannon's Amanda Sharbaugh slipping through the Viking defense in the 55th minute, Zinkiewich came off her line to knock away the ball away and keep the shutout intact. Her first shutout on the year is the ninth of her career.
All together, the Vikings outshot Gannon 24-5. Daniels led the team with six shots, Valerie Stahl and Marina Taylor had three each, Nicole Howard, Jessica McCloy, Marley Greiner, and Carla Ragone added a pair each, and Taylor Miller and Allie Rizco had one of their own.
Cleveland State now puts their two game winning streak on the line when they host Kent State Sunday (Aug 29) afternoon with a 1 p.m. kickoff.
