Oct. 19, 2008
Contact: Brian McCann
VALPARAISO, Ind. -- Mikki Nuccio scored her first two goals of the season to break open a tied match and give Valparaiso a 2-0 win over visiting Cleveland State on Sunday at Eastgate Field.
The loss drops CSU to 6-9-1 overall and 1-4-1 in league play, good for seventh place. Valparaiso improves to 10-5-1 overall and moves past CSU and into sixth place in the league standings with a 2-4 mark.
"We did not play very well at all today," CSU head coach Derrek Falor said. "Coming off an emotional road win on Friday, I would have thought that we would come out today and turn in a better performance.
"The wind had a big affect today and we didn't play very well when we had it at our back in the first half, but when we changed ends at the intermission, Valparaiso clearly took control.
"This was a big step back for us defensively. After playing so well over the last couple of matches, we went back to allowing our opponents to make long runs down the middle and we left players unmarked in the box. That was our downfall today," Falor added.
After a scoreless first half which featured both teams taking five shots, the Crusaders opened the scoring just 72 seconds into the second half when Lori Johnson cross a ball from the left side that Nuccio gathered in and then beat Viking goalkeeper Kelly Zinkiewich from 10 yards out.
Valpo made it 2-0 in the 61st minute when Nuccio against scored off a cross from the left side with Kendall Brown and Jessie White each being given assists.
Cleveland State could not muster much offense in the second half, being out-shot 9-3 in the final stanza and 14-8 for the contest.
Zinkiewich made three saves in goal for CSU while Mele Cabral registered four stops in recording the shutout.
The Vikings enter the final week of the regular season needing a win over Youngstown State to avoid playing a first round match in the Horizon League Championship. A win would give CSU at least the No. seven seed while a loss would most likely force the Vikings to host Green Bay in a first round match on Oct. 29.
CSU hosts Youngstown State on Friday, Oct. 24 at 7:00 p.m. before closing the regular season on Sunday, Oct. 26 with a 1:00 p.m. match at Butler.
