Sept. 27, 2004

Contact: Brian McCann

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Match 11
Bowling Green (1-8-1) at Cleveland State (0-10)
Date: Friday, October 1, 2004
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Foltz Field (1,000), Strongsville, Ohio

Match 12
UW-Milwaukee (3-5-2, 1-0) at Cleveland State (0-10, 0-0)
Date: Sunday, October 3, 2004
Time: 12:00 noon EDT
Site: Foltz Field (1,000), Strongsville, Ohio

SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State returns home after playing four straight road contests to begin a stretch which will see the Vikings play four of the next five contests at home. CSU opens the homestand against Bowling Green on Friday, Oct. 1 beginning at 7:00 p.m. EDT. The Vikings then open their inaugural Horizon League schedule against UW-Milwaukee on Sunday, Oct. 3 beginning at 12 noon EDT. Both matches will be played at Foltz Field in Strongsville. Bowling Green has managed just a 1-8-1 record while UW-Milwaukee is 3-5-2, including a 2-1 win over UW-Green Bay in its Horizon League opener last week.

REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings saw their record drop to 0-10 following a pair of shutout losses last week in the state of Indiana. Here is a synopsis of those matches:

Match 9: IPFW 5, CSU 0 (Sept. 24, Ft. Wayne, Ind.) IPFW scored just three minutes into the match and added a pair of goals in the final minute to pull away for a 5-0 win. CSU played well offensively, recording a season-best 11 shots, but could not manage to score a goal.

Match 10: Valparaiso 6, CSU 1 (Sept. 26, Valparaiso, Ind.) The Crusaders scored three goals in each half, three of which came in the final minutes. CSU ended a season-long scoring drought when Jennifer Wieand scored with 1:16 left. The Vikings were outshot, 34-5

ONE SEASON ENDS & ANOTHER BEGINS: The schedule for the Vikings during their inaugural season was deliberately put together, giving CSU 11 non-conference games -- the last of which comes Friday (Oct. 1) against Bowling Green -- before opening up the eight-match Horizon League slate against UW-Milwaukee on Sunday (Oct. 3). Cleveland State is the last of the eight Horizon League schools to start conference play. In fact, by the time that the Vikings begin their first league game, every other school except Detroit will have played two conference games (Detroit will have played only one), with Youngstown State already being halfway through its schedule (four games).

THE SCORING DROUGHT COMES TO AN END: When Jennifer Wieand took a pass from Amber Rasmussen and scored with just 1:16 left in the match against Valparaiso on Sunday, it marked the end to a scoreless streak for the Vikings that had lasted. . . well, for the entire history of the program. Officially, it took CSU just under 15 hours of play (14:58:46 exactly) before it scored for the first time.

VIKINGS PICKED SEVENTH: Cleveland State has been picked to finish tied for seventh in the Horizon League this year in a preseason poll of the league coaches. Defending champion UW-Milwaukee was tabbed as the preseason favorite, garnering five of the eight first place votes (coaches did not predict the finish of their own team) and 47 total points. Butler, which finished in a second place tie with UW-Green Bay last year, was a close second in the voting, earning one first place vote and 41 points. Detroit was picked to finish in third place with 35 points, earned two first place votes and Cleveland State and Youngstown State finishing tied for seventh with 10 points each.

2004 Horizon League Pre-Season Women's Soccer Poll
(Balloting by the Horizon League Coaches)

1. UW-Milwaukee (5 first place votes), 47 points
2. Butler (1), 41 points
3. Detroit (2), 35 points
4. Loyola, 28 points
UW-Green Bay, 28 points
6. Wright State, 25 points
7. Cleveland State, 10 points
Youngstown State, 10 points

FRESHMEN ORIENTATION: With 14 of the 21 players on the CSU roster being classified as freshmen, the Vikings never find themselves without an abundance of rookies on the field. In fact, in the 10 matches this year, CSU freshmen have combined to start 86 times. CSU started 10 freshmen against Duquesne on Sept. 5, with senior Katie Burke the lone non-freshmen in the lineup.

A KRENZLER FACELIFT: Krenzler Field, which has served as the home for Cleveland State soccer since 1985, will undergo renovations over the course of the next six months to convert it to a facility capable of hosting events year round. Planned improvements include the addition of an all-purpose FieldTurf playing surface and a removable air-supported dome that will cover it during the winter months. Work on the $2.2 million project will begin immediately. The playing surface is expected to be completed in early October with the dome being completed by December. FieldTurf, a revolutionary playing surface that combines the properties of natural grass with the durability of artificial turf, has been installed on almost 1,000 playing surfaces in 20 countries around the world. The removable 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.

. . . WITH THE GOOD, COMES THE BAD: Delays in the improvements to Krenzler Field have necessitated moving the remainder of the women's soccer matches off campus with all but one being played at Foltz Field in Strongsville. The only match that won't be played in Strongsville is the Saturday, Oct. 17 meeting with Youngstown State. The YSU match will be played at Mentor High School as part of a doubleheader with the men's team. The men take on Loyola at 12:00 noon followed by the women's match at 3:00 p.m.

NEXT UP: The Vikings continue Horizon League play next week with a pair of games, hosting Wright State on Wednesday (Oct. 6) at Foltz Field before travelling to Detroit on Saturday (Oct. 9).