Oct. 22, 2007
Contact: Brian McCann
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Match 17
Detroit (3-10-3, 1-3-2) at Cleveland State (4-12, 1-5)
Date: Friday, Oct. 26, 2007
Time: 5:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Krenzler Field (1,680), Cleveland, Ohio
Series: Detroit leads, 3-0
Last Meeting: @UDM 7, CSU 0 (9/29/06)
Match 18
Butler (6-8-1, 3-3) at Cleveland State
Date: Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007
Time: 12:00 noon EDT
Site: Krenzler Field (1,680), Cleveland, Ohio
Series: Butler leads, 3-0
Last Meeting: @Butler 7, CSU 1 (10/1/06)
SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State remains at home for the final two regular season contests, hosting Detroit on Friday, Oct. 26 beginning at 5:00 p.m. The Vikings then will pay honor to their four seniors when CSU closes the regular season on Sunday, Oct. 28 with a 12:00 noon match against Butler. Both matches will be played at Krenzler Field.
REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings dropped a pair of Horizon League matches last week. Here is a synopsis of those contests:
Match 15: Milwaukee 6, CSU 0 (Oct. 19, Milwaukee, Wis.)
Six different Panthers scored goals and Milwaukee owned a 42-4 edge in shots as the Vikings fell to 0-6 all-time against UWM. CSU trailed just 1-0 at half before Milwaukee scored five second half goals, the first coming 37 seconds into the period.
Match 16: Valparaiso 2, CSU 0 (Oct. 21, Krenzler Field)
Kendall Brown scored in the 52nd minute to break open a scoreless match and Valpo outshot the Vikings 9-1 in the second half as CSU fell to 1-5 in league play. Abbie Kakias and Jennifer Wieand each had two shots for CSU.
PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: As the fourth season of Viking women's soccer winds down, CSU has shown much improvement from the 3-17 season of a year ago. With eight starters and 15 leterwinners back from last year's team that won a school-record three matches, head coach Derrek Falor has the most depth and experience in program history. The strength of the squad is on offense where the tandem of senior Shayna Back (5 goals, 3 assists, 13 points), junior Jennifer Wieand (7-2-16) and freshman Sylvia Olsby (2-3-7) have helped the Vikings to significantly increase their scoring. Heather Clapacs (1-1-3) leads the midfielders, being joined by newcomers Nicole Howard and Marley Greiner to give CSU a solid group of playmakers. Depth on defense has been a problem in each of the last three seasons, but Falor has as many as eight skilled defenders to call upon this year. Led by returning starters Amber Rasmussen , Maggie Pugliese and Abbie Kakias and transfer Emily Arpidone (Virginia Commonwealth), the defense has good experience to build on. CSU has a new face in goal as freshman Kelly Zinkiewich (93 saves) has started every contest.
SENIOR DAY SET FOR SUNDAY: Sunday's match vs. Butler will serve as the final home contest for Viking seniors Shayna Back, Samantha Casey, Heather Clapacs and Amber Rasmussen. The quartet, who will be honored in a pre-match ceremony, each joined the program as part of the initial recruiting class for the 2004 season and have been mainstays in the Viking lineup the last four seasons.
Shayna Back: Career record holder for goals (11) and points (24). Has started 69 of her 70 career games.
Samantha Casey: Played in 51 games with 33 starts during her first three years but has been sidelined with a leg injury this year.
Heather Clapacs: Two-time All-Horizon League choice. Has started all 72 matches she has played in owning one goal and six assists in her career.
Amber Rasmussen: Started 71 times in 73 career games. Has scored three goals with five assists (11 pts) in her career.
. . . BUT IT MIGHT NOT BE THEIR LAST HOME MATCH: The Vikings enter the final week of the regular season having the inside track of hosting the only first round match in the Horizon League Championship. With a 1-5 league record, CSU would need to win one match and at least tie the other this week to climb past Green Bay (2-6) and into seventh place. In addition, two CSU losses combined with two Youngstown State wins would allow the Penguins to move past CSU and into eighth place and take over as the host of the contest, which will be played on Tuesday, Oct. 30.
THEN THERE WERE SEVEN: The Viking roster this season includes seven players who were part of the initial recruiting class that served as the backbone of the program's first team in 2004. In addition to the four seniors who will be honored this week, the list includes juniors Abbie Kakias, Maggie Pugliese and Jennifer Wieand, each of whom missed a season because of a major knee injury.
WIEAND NEARS SHOT MARK: With three shots in the two matches last week, junior forward Jennifer Wieand has raised her season shot total to 57, leaving her four short of the school record 51 taken by Lisa Conway last year. Wieand already owns the school record for goals (7) and points (16) in a season, which was originally set last year by Shayna Back, who had six goals and 14 points.
ZINKIEWICH APPROACHES SAVE MILESTONE: With 93 saves in the first 16 matches this season, freshman goalkeeper Kelly Zinkiewich ranks third in school history in saves in a season. Her five saves vs. Valparaiso on Sunday allowed her to move past Allie Zajaros and into third place. She needs just seven saves to become the third CSU keeper to register 100 saves in a season, joining Ashley Kidwell (134 in 2004) and Erin Withrow (122 in 2005).
NEXT UP: Cleveland State begins play in the Horizon League Championships, most likely hosting No. 9 seed Youngstown State in the first round match on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at Krenzler Field.
