Women's Soccer Plays Three Home Matches This Week Athletics

Posted: Oct 02, 2006

Oct. 2, 2006

Match 13
Notre Dame (OH) (6-4) at Cleveland State (1-11, 0-2)
Date: Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2006
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Krenzler Field (1,680), Cleveland, Ohio
Series: First Meeting

Match 14
Loyola (7-4-2, 2-0-1) at Cleveland State
Date: Friday, Oct. 6, 2006
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Krenzler Field (1,680), Cleveland, Ohio
Series: Loyola Leads, 2-0
Last Meeting: LUC 5, CSU 0 (10/28/05 at LUC)

Match 15
UW-Milwaukee (8-2-1, 1-0) at Cleveland State
Date: Sunday, Oct. 8, 2006
Time: 12:00 Noon EDT
Site: Krenzler Field (1,680), Cleveland, Ohio
Series: UW-Milwaukee Leads, 4-0
Last Meeting: UWM 8, CSU 0 (11/6/05 at UWM)

SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State returns home to start a stretch that will have the Vikings play six of their final seven regular season matches at home when CSU hosts three contests at Krenzler Field this week. The Vikings will host Notre Dame College on Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 7:00 p.m. before resuming Horizon League play on Friday (Oct. 6) against Loyola at 7:00 p.m. Cleveland State closes the week against UW-Milwaukee on Sunday, Oct. 8 beginning at 12:00 noon.

REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings played three matches on the road to start a stretch of six contests in 13 days. Here is a synopsis of those matches:

Match 10: Robert Morris 2, CSU 0 (Sept. 26, Moon Township, Pa.)
Robert Morris scored a pair of goals late in the first half and then played solid defense in shutting out the Vikings. The Colonials had a 17-10 edge in shots with Erin Withrow making a season-high 10 saves.

Match 11: Detroit 7, CSU 0 (Sept. 29, Detroit, Mich.)
Detroit's Mary Parker scored four goals and added an assist as the Titans ran away with the Horizon League opener. CSU managed just three shots.

Match 12: Butler 7, CSU 1 (Oct. 1, Indianapolis, Ind.)
Six different Butler players scored goals and the Bulldogs had a 32-8 edge in shots. Lisa Conway scored the lone goal for the Vikings on a breakaway in the 87th minute.

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, ranks second this year with 70 stops. 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 (2 goals, 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.

KAKIAS RETURNS: Once thought to be out for the season with a knee injury, junior Abbie Kakias returned to the lineup last week at Robert Morris after missing three matches. Kakias, who started on defense in the first six matches, has moved to forward following the injury. She assisted on the only CSU goal of the week.

. . . BUT WALCHACK IS OUT: The Viking offense took another hit last week when sophomore Ashley Walchack broke her leg in the Robert Morris match, sidelining her for the remainder of the season. Walchack finishes the year ranked second on the team with three goals, seven points and 22 shots this year.

WELCOME HOME: The hardest part of the Vikings' 1-11 start is that most of it has happened away from home as CSU has played just three of its 11 matches at home. The table turns this week when Cleveland State plays three matches at home to as part of a stretch that has the Vikings closing the regular season by playing six of their final seven contests at home. The three matches this week are part of a school-record four straight home contests, matching the record four-match stretch set last year.

WITHROW MOVES UP SAVES LIST: Sophomore goalie Erin Withrow had a busy week in goal last week, making 24 saves in the three contests to move into second place in the Horizon League in both saves (70) and saves per match (5.9). Withrow, who made 10 saves against Robert Morris for her sixth career match with double figure saves, enters the week with 192 saves in her career.

STEPPING DOWN A LEVEL: Wednesday's match against Notre Dame College marks the first time in three seasons that the Vikings will play a non-Division I team. The Falcons are 6-4 heading into Monday's contest with Geneva College, scoring 26 goals in winning five straight matches.

VIKINGS SURPASS 2005 SCORING TOTAL: Lisa Conway's goal against Butler on Sunday brought the Viking scoring total for the season to 11 (in 12 matches), surpassing the 10 goals that CSU scored (in 19 matches) during the 2005 season.

CSU IS JUST ONE GOAL SHY: The 1-11 record that the Vikings take into the week is a little deceiving, especially when you consider that CSU has lost six times this season by just one goal. The Vikings have lost 1-0 and 2-1 three times each this fall.

CONWAY MOVES UP SHOT CHART: Sophomore midfielder Lisa Conway leads the team with 25 shots this year, the third highest season total in CSU history. Conway's three shots at Butler on Sunday raised her career total to 47, moving her past Jennifer Wieand and into second place on the CSU career list. Heather Clapacs holds the school record with 62 shots.

NEXT UP: The Vikings slow the schedule down a bit, playing just one match next week, a Friday night (Oct. 13) meeting with Wright State that will begin at 7:00 p.m. at Krenzler Field.