Aug. 29, 2010
Contact: Brian McCann
Video has no source Url in width="480" height="385">
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Natalie Daniels scored her team-leading fourth goal of the season in the 56th minute to help Cleveland State come from behind to tie Kent State, 2-2 in two overtimes, on Sunday at Krenzler Field.
The tie improved the Vikings to 2-0-1 on the season, extending to three matches the school record streak for opening the season without a loss. Kent State slipped to 0-1-1.
"This was a tough and very physical match today," CSU head coach Derrek Falor said. "I was a little worried going into the contest that since we played on Friday night and Kent State didn't, that conditioning might be an issue today.
"I thought we played through our tired legs and battled fatigue all afternoon. It really hot out there and to make matters worse, we had to play an extra 20 minutes, which didn't help. Still, it showed how much of a difference in mental toughness that we have from last year to this.
"We are starting to come together nicely as a unit. We have some good depth, the players are learning to play together well and I have seen noticeable improvement at both ends of the field," Falor said.
The Vikings jumped out to a 1-0 lead at the 3:33 mark when junior Jessica Bound played a corner kick into the box. KSU defender Megan Johnson was just inside the near post marking a defender and could not get out of the way of the ball, inadvertently deflecting the cross into the net. The own goal was the first in the seven-year history of the Viking women's soccer program.
"I know that they knocked the shot in, but our pressure was a key," Falor said. "Jessica did a nice job of putting the ball high and into an area where we could get to it. What happened after that was because we had several players going for the cross and Kent State made a mistake."
The Golden Flashes came right back, evening the contest at the 19:17 mark when Kelly Heaton took a pass from Jessacca Gironda and blasted a shot from 15 yards out that beat Viking goalkeeper Kelly Zinkiewich to the far side and kissed off the post and into the net.
"There was nothing Kelly could do on that shot," Falor said. "That was a nice play and a perfect shot."
Kent State took a 2-1 lead just 1:39 into the second half when Kellyn Flanagan finished a nice run by feeding Gironda in front of the goal. Gironda turned and found the back of the net from about 10 yards out.
The Vikings, who had just one shot in the first 45 minutes and seven for the match, picked up the tempo and applied more pressure. The attack worked as Marley Greiner ran onto a ball down the left side, beat a defender towards the goal and launched a cross through the box that found Daniels open on the right side. Daniels collected the ball and blasted a shot that beat Kent State netminder Kelly Sherwood to the near side at the 55:40 mark to even the contest.
"Natalie has picked up her offensive pressure this season and she is doing a nice job converting her scoring opportunities," Falor said.
The goal was the fourth of the year for Daniels, giving her the fourth-highest single season total in school history. She now has 11 career goals, leaving her one goal shy of the school career record of 12 held by both Shayna Back and Jennifer Wieand.
The two teams battled through the final 34 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of the two overtime periods to finish in a tie.
Both teams had good opportunities to take the lead, CSU's best coming in the 81st minute when the Vikings held the possession in the KSU defensive zone. A pass was played ahead to an open Allie Riczo, who was in the middle of the field and just inside the penalty area, but the Golden Flash defender sent Riczo to the turn with a two-handed push that was ignored by the lead official.
Kent State controlled play down the stretch, but the Viking defense turned it back time-after-time. Zinkiewich recorded a season high 10 saves to preserve the tie. Zinkiewich raised her school-record career save total to 313, moving past Youngstown State's Caitlin Bozioney and into seventh place on the Horizon League career chart.
"We are 2-0-1 right now primarily because Kelly has been playing lights out in the goal," Falor said. "She took charge today in the defensive area and made several spectacular saves that she might not have gotten last year."
The Vikings had a 7-6 edge in corner kicks in the contest but were out-shot, 25-9, with KSU launching 13 shots on goal while CSU could manage just three.
The Vikings will remain at home this week to complete the school-record five-match home swing when CSU hosts Missouri-Kansas City on Friday (Sept. 3) at 7:00 p.m. and Canisius on Sunday (Sept. 5) at 12:00 noon at Krenzler Field.
