Oct. 26, 2008
Contact: Brian McCann
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Natalie Daniels scored a first half goal and Kelly Zinkiewich withstood a 21-shot barrage from Butler as the Vikings upset the Bulldogs, 2-0 on Sunday afternoon in the Butler Bowl.
The win allowed the Vikings to extend their school-record for wins in a season to eight as CSU improved to 8-9-1 overall and moved into sixth place in the Horizon League with a 3-4-1 mark. Butler dropped to 10-10 overall and fell into fourth place in the final standings with a 4-4 league record.
"This win feels real good," CSU head coach Derrek Falor said. "It wasn't very pretty, but it was won with the hard work, determination and effort that we have given all season long.
"Butler controlled the tempo of play for most of the match so we were forced to counter punch a lot. We are used to playing with the ball at our feet and Butler kept the play in the air a lot. I have to give a great deal of credit to our defense because they threw themselves around in order to get a touch or make a clear in order to slow and stop the Butler runs.
The Vikings opened the scoring at the 12:19 mark when freshman Rachel Strongoli stole a Butler attempt to clear a ball just inside midfield and started a run down the right side. When pressured by the defense, she served a long ball into the box from 30 yards out that Daniels put her head on just inside the box and sent it just inside the back post for the goal.
The goal was the team-leading fifth of the year by Daniels while Strongoli's assist was her second of the year.
"That was a beautiful goal," Falor said. "We made the steal near midfield and caught Butler going the other way a little bit. Rachel's cross was nice and high and Natalie was able to run on to it as the defense attempted to regroup."
The goal would stand up until the 86th minute when the Vikings took advantage of Butler pressing every available player into the attack and started a scoring run the other way. Jennifer Wieand carried the ball down the right side and beat a couple of defenders to turn the corner. As the defense slid over to cover her, she sent a cross to the left edge of the box that Sylvia Olsby one-timed low into the right corner of the goal.
The goal was Olsby's fourth of the season and she moved into second place on the team in goals and points (9). Wieand's assist allowed the senior to tie Lisa Conway's school record with the 10th of her career.
The star of the game proved to be Zinkiewich, who made eight saves in recording her school-record fourth shutout of the season.
"Kelly came up big on so many balls today that her save total really doesn't do her justice," Falor said. "Butler had 12 cornerkicks in the match and she came off her line and had to bring the cross in a number of times. She was outstanding."
The sixth place finish in the Horizon League, the best in the five-year history of the program, means that the Vikings will travel to Fairborn, Ohio to take on third-seeded Wright State on Sunday, Nov. 2. CSU and Wright State played through two overtimes to a scoreless tie in Cleveland on Sept. 26.
