Oct. 4, 2004
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Match 13
Wright State (6-4-1, 2-0-1 HL) at Cleveland State (0-12, 0-1)
Date: Wednesday, October 6, 2004
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Foltz Field (1,000), Strongsville, Ohio
Match 14
Cleveland State (0-12, 0-1) at Detroit (6-4-1, 2-0)
Date: Friday, October 8, 2004
Time: 3:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Titan Field (500), Detroit, Mich.
SETTING THE SCENE: The Horizon League schedule will not get any tougher than this week when the Vikings play a pair of matches against teams at the top of the league standings. Cleveland State opens play by hosting third-place Wright State (6-4-1, 2-0-1) beginning at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday (Oct. 6) at Foltz Field in Strongsville before travelling to second-place Detroit (6-4-1, 2-0) for a 3:00 p.m. EDT match on Friday (Oct. 8). CSU dropped to 0-12 on the year and 0-1 in league play despite a pair of strong showings last week.
REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings dropped a pair of home matches last week, falling to both Bowling Green (5-1) and UW-Milwaukee. Here is a synopsis of those matches:
Match 10: Bowling Green 5, CSU 1 (Oct. 1, Foltz Field) Bowling Green used a 28-5 shot advantage to pull away for a 5-1 win over the Vikings. CSU added its second goal of the year when Jennifer Wieand scored on a breakaway off a pass from Amber Rasmussen early in the second half. Allie Zajaros set a school record with 18 saves.
Match 11: UW-Milwaukee 1, CSU 0 (Oct. 3, Foltz Field) Playing their best match of the season, the Vikings limited four-time league champion UW-Milwaukee to just one goal but could manage just four shots in a 1-0 loss. Ashley Kidwell made a career-high 13 saves in goal.
FROM SCORING DROUGHT TO SCORING STREAK: When Jennifer Wieand took a pass from Amber Rasmussen and scored with just 1:16 left in the match against Valparaiso on Sept. 26, it marked the end to a scoreless streak for the Vikings that had lasted. . . well, for the entire history of the program. The second goal came much quicker as Wieand and Rasmussen teamed up on Friday night for a second goal at the 60:57 mark. Officially, it took CSU just under 15 hours of play (14:58:46 exactly) before it scored for the first time and another 62:11 for to add the second goal. Including the lone marker in the exhibition game at Mercyhurst, Wieand has scored all three goals for the Vikings this year.
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 12 matches this year, CSU freshmen have combined to start 104 times. CSU started 10 freshmen against Duquesne on Sept. 5, with senior Katie Burke the lone non-freshmen in the lineup.
DUELING GOALIES: Head coach Derrek Falor said going into the season that freshmen Allie Zajaros and Ashley Kidwell would split the playing time in goal this year with each offering different strengths. The skill level of both was evident last week as Zajaros set a school record with 18 saves against Bowling Green on Friday and Kidwell added a career-high 13 saves in limiting four-time defending regular season league champion UW-Milwaukee to just one goal on Sunday. The 18 saves by Zajaros, who leads the league with 95 saves this year, was the second-highest single match total in league history and the most by a Horizon League player this year.
. . . ZAJAROS ADDS ANOTHER FIRST: Allie Zajaros recorded another first for the Vikings on Friday night against Bowling Green when she stopped Julie Trundle's penalty kick in the 53rd minute. Zajaros started to go right on the kick but Trundle sent the shot just to the left of center and Zajaros was able to recover to stop the shot. It was the second penalty kick by a CSU opponent this year with Kent State scoring a goal in the season opener.
THE INJURIES CONTINUE: The health of the Vikings continues to limit the options available to head coach Derrek Falor. With three starters sitting out Sunday's match against UW-Milwaukee, Falor used just two players as substitutes in the match. Goalie Allie Zajaros sat out with a knee injury while midfielder Jessica Larsen (foot) and defender Shayna Back (tonsillitis) each missed both games over the weekend.
THE BEST LAID PLANS. . . : The Robert Burns quote in To A Mouse is accurate when describing the Viking defense this year as all four defenders that CSU head coach Derrek Falor anticipated starting this fall have missed games because of injury. The biggest blow came late in the spring when Abbie Kakias tore the ACL in her right knee, necessitating season-ending surgery. Freshman Rachel Johnson has missed four games completely and has been limited in several other with a leg injury while Shayna Back has missed three games for various reasons. The other starter, Maggie Pugliese, has missed just one game, sitting out the Duquesne match with a mild concussion suffered in practice. It is no coincidence that the two most lopsided contests this year came in games (Marshall & South Alabama) in which just one of the four anticipated starters played.
REMAINING HOME MATCHES MOVED OFF CAMPUS: 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 will have a much needed break from play, having nine days to get ready for a Oct. 17 home match against Youngstown State. The contest will be played beginning at 3:00 p.m. at Mentor High School.
