Sept. 24, 2006
Contact: Brian McCann
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Match 10
Cleveland State (1-8, 0-0) at Robert Morris (3-5)
Date: Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2006
Time: 4:00 p.m. EDT
Site: North Athletic Complex (500), Moon Township, Pa.
Series: First Meeting
Match 11
Cleveland State at Detroit (2-6, 0-0)
Date: Friday, Sept. 29, 2006
Time: 2:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Titan Field (500), Detroit, Mich.
Series: Detroit Leads, 2-0
Last Meeting: UDM 2, CSU 1 (10/7/06 at CSU)
Match 12
Cleveland State at Butler (3-6, 0-0)
Date: Sunday, Oct. 1, 2006
Time: 12:00 Noon EDT
Site: Varsity Field (1,000), Indianapolis, Ind.
Series: Butler Leads, 2-0
Last Meeting: BU 2, CSU 1 (OT) (10/0/06 at Butler)
SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State starts its busiest stretch of the season when the Vikings play three road contests this week to begin a six-match in a 13-day period. CSU begins the week with a 4:00 p.m. match at Robert Morris on Tuesday, Sept. 26 in Moon Township, Pa. The Vikings then begin their third season of Horizon League competition with a 2:00 p.m. contest at Detroit on Friday, Sept. 29 at Titan Field in Detroit, Mich. CSU ends the road swing on Sunday, Oct. 1 with a 12:00 noon match at Butler in Indianapolis, Ind.
REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings played just one match last week, dropping a 2-1 decision to Indiana State. Here is a synopsis of that match:
Match 9: Indiana State 2, CSU 1 (Sept. 22, Krenzler Field)
Amber Rasmussen scored just 13 seconds into the contest but the Vikings could not make the lead last. Playing under windy and wet conditions, Indiana State evened the match in the 29th minute and then took the lead for good at the 65:01 mark. Viking goalie Erin Withrow made a season-high nine saves.
PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: The Vikings have shown significant improvement on the field in 2006, but the record doesn't adequately show the improvement that they have made since last year. With nine starters and 13 letterwinners returning, head coach Derrek Falor has the deepest and most-experienced roster available since he came to CSU. 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, has lowered her goals against average by almost two goals a game (to 1.81). The defensive unit, which consists of senior Andrea Loejos, sophomores Maggie Pugliese and Natalie Wilson and freshman Danielle Ultican, has been strong. The area of the field that has shown the most improvement since last year is at the midfield as the three returning starters -- juniors Heather Clapacs (3 assists) and Amber Rasmussen (1 goal) and sophomore Lisa Conway (1 goal, 3 assists) -- have helped to control play and create offensive opportunities. Junior Shayna Bäck (4 goals, 2 assists), who played almost exclusively on defense during her first two seasons, leads the forward unit while sophomore Ashley Walchack (3 goals, 1 assist) and Allie Riczo have each made steady contributions.
KNEE INJURY SIDELINES KAKIAS: Junior Abbie Kakias, the anchor of the Viking defense this year, is sidelined indefinitely by a knee injury suffered during the South Alabama contest on Sept. 10. Knee injuries are nothing new to Kakias, who missed the entire 2004 season with a torn ACL in her left knee.
MISSING IT BY THIS MUCH: The 1-8 record that the Vikings take into the week is a little deceiving, especially when you consider that CSU has lost six of its eight matches by just one goal. The Vikings have lost 1-0 four times and three times by a 2-1 score.
. . . BUT THE IMPROVEMENT SHOWS: Although it may be hard to look at a team with a 1-8 record and consider how much it has improved, that is truly the case with the Vikings this year as CSU has significantly improved their performance in every statistical category. Here is a comparison between the two seasons:
Category
Goals Per Match: 0.52 in 2005, 1.09 this year
Goals Allowed Per Match: 3.53 in 2005, 1.75 this year
Shots Per Match: 7.6 in 2005, 12.0 this year
Shots Allowed Per Match: 18.2 in 2005, 15.4 this year
Saves Per Match: 7.8 in 2005, 5.4 this year
Corner Kicks Per Match: 2.0 in 2005, 3.4 this year
A QUICK MARKER: The Vikings didn't wait long to end a scoreless drought that extended back to the IUPUI match on Sept. 3, scoring just 13 seconds into Friday night's contest with Indiana State. The goal, the fastest in a match in Viking soccer history, came on a precision play off the opening kick when Heather Clapacs played the ball ahead down the left side to Shayna Back, who quickly found Amber Rasmussen open to the right of the goal. Rasmussen collected the pass and promptly drilled a shot past Indiana State netminder Rachel Rudzis for the goal. The marker ended a stretch that had seen CSU go without a goal for 397:53, the third-longest stretch in program history.
VIKINGS EQUAL 2005 SCORING TOTAL: Amber Rasmussen's goal against Indiana State brought the Viking scoring total for the season to 10 (in nine matches), equaling their entire scoring output (in 19 matches) during the entire 2005 season.
BACK TO THE FRONT: After playing most of her first two seasons on defense, junior Shayna Bäck has thrived since moving to the outside forward slot during preseason. Bäck ranks among the Horizon League leaders in goals (4) and points (10), despite entering the season having never scored a point in 34 career games prior to this season. Bäck had at least one point in each of the first four matches this year, including a two-goal effort in the season-opening win over Delaware State. With more than half of the regular season schedule to play, Bäck has already set school records for goals (4) and points (10) this season.
NEXT UP: The Vikings return home to close the regular season by playing six of their final seven matches, starting with a Wednesday (Oct. 4) match with Notre Dame College.
