Aug. 29, 2005

Contact: Brian McCann

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Match 2
Cleveland State (0-1) at St. Francis (Pa.) (1-0-1)
Date: Friday, September 2, 2005
Time: 3:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Stokes Athletic Complex (1,500), Loretto, Pa.
Series: First Meeting

Match 3 Cleveland State (0-1) at Ohio University (1-1)
Date: Sunday, September 4, 2005
Time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Chessa Field (500), Athens, Ohio
Series: First Meeting

SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State continues its season-opening four match road swing with a pair of contests against regional opponents. The Vikings open the week with a 3:00 p.m. match at St. Francis (PA) on Friday (Sept. 2) in Loretto, Pa. CSU finishes the week with a 1:00 p.m. contest at Ohio University on Sunday (Sept. 4). The Vikings showed that they have matured on the field since their inaugural season a year ago, opening the 2005 campaign last week with a 2-1 loss at Kent State, a team that is predicted to win its third straight Mid-American Conference title. St. Francis opened the season with a strong showing at the Akron Invitational, tying host Akron, 0-0, on Friday before outlasting Canisius, 1-0 on Sunday. Ohio is 1-1 after defeating Wright State, 1-0, on Friday and falling to Dayton, 1-0, on Sunday.

REVIEWING LAST WEEK: After two weeks of preseason practice, the Vikings opened the 2005 season with the first of four consecutive matches on the road. Here is a synopsis of last week's match:

Match 1: Kent State 2, CSU 1 (Aug. 28, Kent, Ohio)
Ashley Walchack scored 9:33 into the match but it was not enough as the Golden Flashes tied the game 10 minutes later and then scored the game-winner in the 73rd minute. Erin Withrow made four saves in her CSU debut.

PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: Including the two exhibition matches, Cleveland State has showed considerable improvement since last year. The Vikings scored four goals in their three matches to date, equalling their total from the entire 2004 campaign. The strength of the squad is at midfield where sophomores Heather Clapacs and Amber Rasmussen return. Clapacs earned honorable mention All-Ohio honors last year after leading the team with 43 shots while Rasmussen, who had a hand in every Viking goal a year ago, was named to the Horizon League All-Newcomer squad. The defense will benefit from the return of sophomores Shayna Bäck and Maggie Pugliese, who combined to start 33 matches, and the move of goalie-turned-defender Allie Zajaros. Jennifer Wieand, who scored a pair of goals last year and had a goal and an assist during the preseason, leads the offensive attack. She is joined up front by Abbie Kakias, who sat out last season following knee surgery. Five first-year freshmen started the season opener, including goalkeeper Erin Withrow, defenders Natalie Wilson and Missy Boehm, midfielder Lisa Conway and forward Ashley Walchack. Walchack has scored two goals with an assist so far this year, including the lone marker against Kent State.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: A great example of the improvement that the Vikings have made since last season came just 9:33 into the Kent State match when freshmen Ashley Walchack scored off a pass from redshirt freshman Abbie Kakias to put the Vikings ahead, 1-0. The goal marked the first time in 21 regular season matches that CSU led. Further proof came in the expediency of the goal. Last year, the Vikings did not score a goal until the 88th minute of the 10th match of the year, a scoreless stretch of 898 minutes.

KAKIAS CELEBRATES RETURN: The Kent State match marked the return to the field for Abbie Kakias and the freshman celebrated it in fine fashion, assisting on the first half goal that gave CSU its first-ever lead. Kakias was slated to be one of the squad's top defenders last season until she tore the ACL in her left knee during club soccer early in the summer, forcing her to sit out the entire 2004 season following surgery.

FRESHMEN ORIENTATION: For the second straight season, youth is being served on the Viking roster as CSU opened the season at Kent State with 11 freshmen (out of 22 players) on the squad. Six freshman were in the starting lineup for the opener with three more seeing action off the bench. Things have improved since last year when 14 of the 21 players on the roster were freshmen.

. . . AND THE VIKINGS FEATURE A TWO-CLASS SYSTEM: One byproduct of the short history of women's soccer at CSU can be found on the roster where 21 of the 22 Vikings have played one year or less of collegiate soccer. In fact, the 2005 Vikings have no seniors and just one junior (Melissa Wood) on the roster. The Vikings roster features 10 sophomores and 11 freshmen.

THE FRESHMEN HAVE IT: The Vikings have now scored five regular season goals during their short existance with the only players to score points being the various members of the freshmen class. Last year, then-freshmen Amber Rasmussen (1-3-5), Jennifer Wieand (2-0-4), Heather Clapacs (1-0-2) and Samantha Casey (0-1-1) were the only players to score points. In the opener at Kent State on Sunday, true-freshman Ashley Walchack scored the lone marker with redshirt freshman Abbie Kakias adding the assist.

KRENZLER REDEDICATION SET FOR OCT. 2: After undergoing nearly $3 million in renovations since last year, Krenzler Field will be officially rededicated during the home doubleheader on Sunday, Oct. 2. The improvements to Krenzler Field, which has served as the home for Cleveland State soccer since 1985, include the addition of an all-purpose FieldTurf playing surface and a removable air-supported dome that will cover it during the winter months. The dome, a product of Yeadon Domes, will cover the entire length of Krenzler Field, approximately 94,000 square feet, with a 60-foot ceiling. It will be made of a heavy-duty vinyl coated flame-resistant polyester architectural fabric.

AMBER ALERT: After having a hand in all four Viking goals last year, sophomore Amber Rasmussen has been moved from forward to midfield for the 2005 campaign in order to create better offensive flow and ball control at the midfield. Rasmussen, who started all 19 matches she played in last year, led the team in scoring with one goal and three assists.

NEXT UP: The Vikings close their season-opening four match road trip at Akron on Friday, Sept. 9 before returning home to host Valparaiso on Sunday, Sept. 11 at Krenzler Field.