Aug. 23, 2006
Contact: Brian McCann
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Match 1
Delaware State (0-14-1 in 2005) at Cleveland State (0-18-1)
Date: Sunday, August 27, 2006
Time: 12:00 noon EDT
Site: Krenzler Field (1,680), Cleveland, Ohio
Series: First Meeting
Match 2
Cleveland State at Kent State (9-8-5 in 2005)
Date: Monday, August 28, 2007
Time: 4:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Kent State Soccer Field (200), Kent, Ohio
Series: KSU leads, 2-0
Last Meeting: KSU 2, CSU 1 (8/27/05 at KSU)
SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State begins its third season of intercollegiate women's soccer competition when the Vikings play a pair of matches in a 28-hour period over the weekend. CSU opens the 2006 campaign on Sunday, Aug. 27 with a 12:00 noon contest against Delaware State at Krenzler Field. The Vikings head to Kent, Ohio on Monday (Aug. 28) for a 4:00 p.m. match at Kent State.
REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings began preseason practice on August 11th, playing one preseason match to get ready for the 2006 season. Here is a synopsis of that contest:
Exhibition 1: Saginaw Valley State 4, CSU 3 (Aug. 18, Krenzler Field) Abbie Kakias and Nina Scheidegger gave CSU a 2-0 early second half advantage before Saginaw Valley State scored four goals in a 14-minute span to take control of the match. Shayna Bäck, who had earlier assisted on Scheidegger's goal, scored in the 80th minute to bring CSU to within 4-3, but the Vikings could not even the match in the final 10 minutes. Sophomore Erin Withrow made two saves in shutting SVSU out during her 45 minutes of action and sophomore Lisa Conway added a pair of assists.
PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: The third season of Viking women's soccer should prove to be a lot more successful as the Vikings return nine starters and 13 letterwinners from last year's squad. CSU is still young, owning a 24-player roster that includes 11 freshmen, seven sophomores, five juniors and just one senior. Sophomore Erin Withrow, who led the Horizon League with 122 saves last year, emerged from preseason as the starter in goal, edging out 2004 starter Ashley Kidwell. The four starting defenders may be the least experienced unit on the field. Sophomore Abbie Kakias, who spent most of last season playing up top, anchors the unit and is joined in the starting lineup by sophomore Maggie Pugliese, who was one of CSU's top defenders in 2004 but missed all but one game last year following knee surgery. Freshmen Allie Riczo and Danielle Ultican grabbed starting assignments during preseason but will need a little time to adjust to collegiate soccer. The area of the field that has shown the most improvement since last year is at the midfield where five starters return. The unit is led by junior Heather Clapacs, a two-time second team All-Horizon League choice, while juniors Amber Rasmussen and Shayna Back have combined to start 72 games over the last two years. Rounding out the midfielders are sophomores Ashley Walchack and Lisa Conway, who finished third and fifth on the team in scoring last year. The Viking offense was dealt a big blow just before preseason practice when junior Jennifer Wieand, who holds the school records for goals (3) and assists (3), tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee and will be sidelined for the season. The injury created the opportunity for freshman Heather Wagner, who scored 29 goals with 29 assists during her prep career.
ANOTHER SEASON, ANOTHER ACL: When junior forward Jennifer Wieand went down for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee, it marked the third straight season that the Vikings lost the services of an expected starter to an ACL tear. Abbie Kakias was the first to go down, missing all of the 2004 season after being injured early in the summer. Last year, sophomore Maggie Pugliese injured her right knee during the season opener at Kent State.
BATTLE OF THE SAVES LEADERS: Head coach Derrek Falor had an interesting decision to make during preseason. He had to decide if he should start Ashley Kidwell or Erin Withrow in goal, the players who led the Horizon League in saves in each of the last two years with 134 and 122, respectively. Withrow, who started all 19 games in goal last year, emerged as the starter with Kidwell claiming the backup spot.
BACK TO THE MIDFIELD: After playing most of her first two seasons on defense, Shayna Bäck has moved to the midfield for her junior campaign and the results to date have been positive. Bäck assisted on Nina Scheidegger's second half goal in the exhibition match against Saginaw Valley State and later scored her first career goal in the final minutes of the match. Prior to that contest, Bäck had not scored in 34 career games.
FRESHMEN ORIENTATION: The Viking roster is again dominated by the freshman class, but unlike the last two seasons, the freshmen have not made a huge impact in the starting lineup. The 23-player roster includes 11 freshmen, three of which are expected to be in the starting lineup this weekend. Last year, CSU had 10 freshmen that combined to start 113 times during the year (an average of almost six starts per match). Fourteen of the 21 players in 2004 were freshmen.
. . . SENIOR DAY RETURNS: The match against Youngstown State on Oct. 25 takes on additional significance this year because it will be the final home contest for CSU senior Andrea Loejos. The Vikings had no seniors on the team last year and only three (Katie Burke, Jessica Larsen and Ivana Milovic) in 2004, each of whom was a walk-on.
CAPTAINS: Senior Andrea Loejos and juniors Heather Clapacs and Jennifer Wieand will serve as the Viking team captains this year.
NEXT UP: The Vikings make their first true road trip of the season when they start a stretch of four straight contests away from home with contests at future Horizon League member Valparaiso on Sept. 1 and IUPUI on Sept. 3.
