Oct. 11, 2004

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Match 15 Youngstown State (0-13-1, 0-6) at Cleveland State (0-14, 0-3)
Date: Sunday, October 17, 2004
Time: 3:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Mentor High School (2,000), Mentor, Ohio

SETTING THE SCENE: The Vikings get a much-needed break from the schedule this week, having all week to prepare for Sunday afternoon's (Oct. 17) showdown with Youngstown State, which will be played beginning at 3:00 p.m. at Mentor High School. The contest will be a battle between the bottom two teams in the Horizon League this year. Cleveland State enters the week with an 0-14 record including losses in all three league contests. Youngstown State is 0-13-1 on the year with losses in all six of its league matches.

REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings suffered through their worst week of the year to date, dropping a pair of matches by a combined 19-0 score. Here is a synopsis of those matches:

Match 13: Wright State 6, CSU 0 (Oct. 6, Foltz Field)
Wright State scored three goals in a four-minute span early in the second half to break open a close match. CSU, which was outshot 24-3, struggled to maintain any offensive control in the contest. Ashley Kidwell stopped 13 shots.

Match 14: Detroit 13, CSU 0 (Oct. 8, Detroit, Mich.)
Host Detroit scored four goals in the first nine minutes and Mary Parker tallied five goals and two assists as the Titans upended Cleveland State, 13-0. The Vikings were on the short end of a 40-6 shot disadvantage. Ashley Kidwell made a career-high 15 saves

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 14 matches this year, CSU's non-freshmen have combined to start just 31 times (out of a possible 154). CSU has started 10 freshmen in two different matches this year, the Sept. 5 Duquesne contest and last week's meeting with Wright State. Senior Katie Burke the lone non-freshmen in the lineup in both matches.

THE INJURIES CONTINUE: The health of the Vikings continues to limit the options available to head coach Derrek Falor and CSU will use a nine-day break to hopefully get healthy for the league stretch drive. The Vikings have been without three starters for the last two weeks, leaving Falor with a shallow bench to call on. Starting goalie Allie Zajaros is sidelined for the remainder of the year with a knee sprain suffered against Bowling Green (Oct. 1). Senior midfielder Jessica Larsen has missed the last five matches with an ankle injury while tonsillitis has kept freshman defender Shayna Back off the field for the last four contests. The injury situation has gotten so bad that Falor has jokingly referred to his Viking squad as "Team Ice Bag."

SHOTS & SAVES: On by-product of the Viking offensive struggles this year has been an increasingly larger number of shots by CSU opponents and consequently, saves by Viking netminders. Cleveland State has been outshot, 401-69 for the year with CSU goalies combining to make 163 saves in the 14 games (11.64 spg). Allie Zajaros has made 76 saves in 10 games in goal, including a school-record 18 against Bowling Green on Oct. 1. It was the most saves by a goalie in the Horizon League this year and the third-highest total in league history. Ashley Kidwell leads the team with 87 saves in 10 games, including double figure save totals in three straight matches. She made a career-high 15 stops at Detroit last week.

CAPTAINS: Seniors Katie Burke and Jessica Larsen are serving as captains of the inaugural Viking squad, being selected for the honor because of their effort and attitudes last year during walk-on practices. "I couldn't ask for a better pair of captains this year," head coach Derrek Falor said. "They both worked incredibly hard last year, have previous collegiate soccer experience to rely on and exhibit the leadership skills that you would expect from fourth-year players." Burke played at Slippery Rock in both 2000 and 2001 before transferring to CSU while Larsen played at Mount Union in both 2001 and 2002.

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.

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 open a three match roadswing with contests at DePaul (Oct. 22) and Butler (Oct. 24) next week.