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Vikings Open 2010 Season At Home vs. Marshall

Vikings Open 2010 Season At Home vs. Marshall
Posted: Aug 20, 2010

Aug. 20, 2010

Contact: Brian McCann

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Match 1
Marshall (12-7 in 2009) at Cleveland State (3-14-1)
Date: Sunday, Aug. 22, 2010
Time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Krenzler Field (200), Cleveland, Ohio
Series: Marshall leads, 2-0
Last Meeting: @Marshall 2, CSU 0 (8/23/09)

SETTING THE SCENE: After a little over two weeks of preseason practice and a pair of exhibition contests, the Cleveland State women's soccer team will open the 2010 season at home when the Vikings host Marshall on Sunday, Aug. 22 beginning at 1:00 p.m. at Krenzler Field on the CSU campus. The Vikings return eight starters and 14 letterwinners from the 2009 squad that went 3-14-1 and finished seventh in the Horizon League. Marshall was 12-7 a year ago, including a 2-0 home win over CSU in the season opener for both teams.

REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings played a pair of exhibition contests in preparation for the season opener. Here is a synopsis of those matches:

Match 1: Pittsburgh 1, CSU 0 (Aug. 14, Pittsburgh, Pa.) Pittsburgh scored the lone goal in the 16th minute and the Vikings couldn't convert any of their scoring chances as CSU dropped the first exhibition match of the preseason. Senior Jess McCloy's header that glanced off the cross bar almost provided the equalizer in the 80th minute. Kelly Zinkiewich made eight saves for CSU.

Match 2: CSU 0, Niagara 0 (Aug. 18, Niagara, N.Y.) The Viking offense had several great scoring chances, but a pair of shots hit off the cross bar and a third glanced off the post as CSU played a scoreless tie with Niagara. The Viking defense was steller, allowing just six shots, with senior Kelly Zinkiewich making two saves to record the shutout.

2010 SEASON PREVIEW: The Vikings head into their secventh season of competition ready to continue the climb up the Horizon League standings. Despite an unhappy finish to the 2009 campaign, CSU had a strong showing during the spring season which has carried over to the fall, leading head coach Derrek Falor to once again raise his expectations for an upper division league finish. The strength of the Vikings will be on the back line where four veterans will form the nucleus of the unit. Senior Jessica McCloy returns after sitting out all but two matches last year following knee surgery and she will be joined by junior Marina Taylor, who started 26 matches during her first two seasons, and the sophomore duo of Valerie Stahl and Carla Ragone. Stahl started all 18 matches a year ago while Ragone came on late in the year to earn five starts. Senior Allie Riczo and junior Natalie Daniels return to lead the midfield unit while senior Marley Greiner and junior Samantha Salamon are expected to claim the other two spots. Senior Sylvia Olsby and sophomore Jaime Avona are expected to claim the starting spots up front with freshman Taylor Vidovic and sophomore Nikki Bevilacqua also expected to see action. Senior Kelly Zinkiewich, a three-year starter who holds the CSU record with 294 career saves, is the incumbent in goal with freshman Parisa Sadrnia competing for playing time as well.

LET THE STREAMING BEGIN: Sunday's match against Marshall will be the first of at least eight matches that will be video streamed live by the CSU athletic department on the Horizon League Network. A total of 26 men's and women's soccer and volleyball events will be streamed online this fall for free, including every home women's soccer contest except the Sept. 24 meeting with Green Bay and the Oct. 15 Wright State game. Veteran Cleveland broadcaster Matt Loede will provide the play-by-play.

BACK AGAIN: The Viking defense will be helped this year by the return of senior Jess McCloy, who was granted a rare sixth season of eligibility by the NCAA after suffering a season-ending knee injury in the second match of the 2009 season. McCloy had also missed a season earlier in her career when she suffered a knee injury to her other leg. One of two team captains this year, McCloy also serves as the president of both the CSU Student-Athlete Advisory Council and the Horizon League SAAC as well.

ZINKIEWICH TO EXTEND SAVES RECORD: Senior goalkeeper Kelly Zinkiewich begins her final campaign with school career marks for saves (294) and shutouts (8). She is ninth in Horizon League history in career saves and she is closing in on eighth place Heather Friedman of Green Bay (295 saves) and seventh place Caitlin Bozioney of YSU (308). Zinkiewich has three of the top seven single season save totals in CSU history.

GOING HOME: With five Viking regulars hailing from the Pacific Northwest, including four from the State of Washington, CSU head coach Derrek Falor has elected to make the longest road trip in program history this year when the Vikings make the 2,400 mile trek to Seattle to play matches at Washington (Sept. 17) and Seattle (Sept. 19).

CAPTAINS: Jess McCloy and Sylvia Olsby have been selected by head coach Derrek Falor to serve as team captains this season. It will be the second straight year for McCloy, who missed most of last season with a knee injury.

HOME SWEET HOME: The Vikings open the 2010 reguler season with six of their first seven matches at home, including the first five. It is part of a 10-match home slate that will tie the school record for home games in a season (2007). It is the first time that CSU will play more home matches than on the road during the regular season.

NEXT UP: The Vikings continue their season-opening five match home stand when they host Gannon on Friday (Aug. 27) and Kent State on Sunday (Aug. 29).