Aug. 28, 2005
Contact: Brian McCann
KENT, Ohio -- An early first half goal by freshman Ashley Walchack was not enough as Kent State rallied to claim a 2-1 victory over Cleveland State on Sunday afternoon in the Vikings' season opener.
Walchack headed home a corner kick from Abbie Kakias just 9:33 into the match to give Cleveland State a 1-0 lead. The goal marked the first time in the 21-match history of the program that the Vikings led a match.
"It was our goal to come out this afternoon and take the attack right at Kent State and try to put a goal on the scoreboard in the first 15 minutes," head coach Derrek Falor said. "We hadn't played well early in either of our two exhibition matches and our players knew that those slow starts meant the difference in winning and losing.
"We accomplished our goal by maintaining possession of the ball, applying offensive pressure and generally taking the action to Kent State. That is something that we did not do very well last year."
Kent State knotted the match at 1-1 when Ashley Bohinc headed a loose ball past Viking goalkeeper Erin Withrow in the 20th minutes.
The match remained tied until Kent State's Kimberly Dimitroff's found the net from the left side at the 72:43 mark.
Cleveland State had several opportunities to tie the match down the stretch, but Golden Flash goalkeep Alicia Fernandez made several stops down in the closing minutes, finishing with five saves. Withrow made four stops in her Viking debut.
CSU was outshot, 19-7 in the match but six of the Vikings shots were on goal
Walchack's goal in the 10th minute was an example of the improved play of the Vikings. Last year, the CSU did not score until the two minutes remained in the 10th match of the year, a 898-minute scoreless span to open the season.
"Ashley has played well since preseason practice started and her goal this afternoon is an example of it. She is especially effective playing in front of the goal," Falor said.
Perhaps the biggest example of the improvements that the Vikings have made since last season can be found in the post-game comments of Falor.
As the losses mounted a year ago, Falor continually stressed the strides that the Vikings were making on the field, knowing that it would take awhile for CSU to be at the same competitive level of the more established programs it was playing.
The "moral victory" approach has definitely come to an end.
"We let a victory get away from us today," Falor said. "We struggled defensively a little bit during the first 20 minutes of the second half and allowed Kent State to take control. That was the turning point.
"We need to stay composed for 90 minutes, especially on defense. They played very physical and we didn't respond to it very well."
Despite the loss, Falor remained enthusiastic about the play of the Vikings.
"We are light years ahead of last season," Falor said. "There isn't an area of play that we haven't improved upon since last season. We were out there pressuring and fighting for 90 minutes, refusing to give up.
"Kent State has won two straight league titles and are picked to win a third this year. We stayed with them toe-to-toe for 90 minutes and had a play or two gone the other way, the outcome of the match would have been different."
The Vikings, 0-1, will continue their non-conference schedule with road matches at St. Francis (PA) on Friday (Sept. 2) and Ohio University on Sunday (Sept. 4). CSU does not play at home until Sunday, Sept. 11 when it hosts Valparaiso beginning at 1:00 p.m. on the recently renovated Krenzler Field.
