Oct. 31, 2005
Contact: Brian McCann
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Match 19
UW-Milwaukee (10-4-3, 6-0-1) vs. Cleveland State (0-17-1, 0-6-1)
Date: Thursday, November 3, 2005
Time: 11:00 a.m. CST
Site: Phoenix Field (3,500), Green Bay, Wis.
Series: UWM leads, 3-0
Last Meeting: UWM 3, CSU 0, 9/30/05, Milwaukee, Wis.
Other First Round Pairings
No. 4 Wright State vs. No. 5 Butler, 1:30 p.m. CST
No. 2 Detroit vs. No. 7 Youngstown State, 4:00 p.m.
No. 3 UW-Green Bay vs. No. 6 Loyola, 6:30 p.m.
SETTING THE SCENE: The Vikings make their second appearance in the Horizon League Championship this week when CSU travels to Green Bay, Wis. for a first round game on Thursday (Nov. 3). The Vikings (0-17-1, 0-6-1) enter the tournament as the No. 8 seed and will play regular season champion UW-Milwaukee (10-4-3, 6-0-1) beginning at 11:00 a.m. CST at UW-Green Bay's Phoenix Field. If CSU advances in the tourney, they would play the winner of No. 4 Wright State vs. No. 5 Butler on Friday (Nov. 4). The championship match will be played on Sunday (Nov. 5) at 11:00 a.m. CST.
REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings went 0-1-1 in a pair of Horizon League matches that ended the regular season schedule. Here are a synopsis of those contests:
Match 17: Loyola 5, CSU 0 (Oct. 28, Chicago, Ill.)
Cleveland State could manage just one shot as Loyola built a 2-0 halftime lead en route to the win. Five different players scored for the Ramblers. Erin Withrow made two saves in goal.
Match 18: CSU 0, Youngstown State 0 (Oct. 30, Youngstown, Ohio)
CSU snapped a 36-game losing streak with a 0-0 double overtime tie. Withrow made nine saves, including three during the first overtime period, to record her first career shutout. Abbie Kakias had two good scoring opportunities during the second overtime, part of a 3-1 shot advantage by CSU in the last 10 minutes.
PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: As Cleveland State heads to the Horizon League Championship, the Vikings are still looking for the first win in program history. Still, CSU bears little resemblance to the inaugural Viking squad that went 0-20 a year ago, and the improvement has become more and more visible every match. The Vikings are coming off a scoreless tie at Youngstown State on Sunday, a match that snapped CSU's 36-game losing streak that dated back to the origin of the program in 2004. The improvement has come at the midfield where sophomores Heather Clapacs, an honorable mention All-Ohio choice last year, and Amber Rasmussen and freshman Lisa Conway have helped to control play and create offense. Although battered by injuries this year, the defense has been aided recently by a pair of walkons, sophomores Ashley Spahn and Andrea Loejos, who have stepped into the starting lineup and provided stability. Offensively, Spahn leads the team with three goals while Jennifer Wieand and redshirt freshman Abbie Kakias have tallied five points each.
DEJA VU AT TOURNEY TIME: The Vikings will be playing this week in the Horizon League Championships for only the second time in school history and in both of those tournaments, CSU will open play against UW-Milwaukee. The Panthers claimed the regular season title with a 6-0-1 league mark, one game better than second place Detroit (5-1-1). Last year, UW-Milwaukee went undefeated in league action, going on to defeat the Vikings, 4-1, in the opening round of the tourney.
WITHROW PASSES THE CENTURY MARK: A nine-save performance by Erin Withrow at Youngstown State on Sunday allowed the freshman to raise her season save total to 118, the second-highest total in Viking history. Withrow, who has started all 18 matches this fall, has set a school mark for minutes played (1477:56). She leads the Horizon League in saves and saves per game (6.6). Youngstown State keeper Jessica Yarter is second in the league with 87 saves.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: Despite going winless in league play this year, the improvement that the Vikings have made since last year is obvious by looking at their performance in several matches this fall. The Vikings lost to Youngstown State, 3-1 last fall but the two teams battled to a scoreless tie on Sunday. Earlier this month, CSU dropped a 2-1 decision to Butler in overtime to improve on last year's 6-0 loss. The improvement is even more dramatic against Detroit, a team that CSU lost 13-0 to last year. In that game, Titan Mary Parker, who went on to earn Horizon League Player of the Year honors, racked up five goals and two assists. In the rematch on Oct. 7, a 2-1 Titan win, Parker took five shots but was held scoreless. The Vikings were outscored, 39-1, the seven league games last year and 22-3 this season.
FIVE ELIGIBLE FOR ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA HONORS: The emphasis that Cleveland State places on performing academically as well as athletically is apparent this year as five Vikings were eligible to be nominated for ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors. The quartet consisted of junior Melissa Wood and sophomores Samantha Casey, Heather Clapacs, Amber Rasmussen and Jennifer Wieand. All five qualify because they have cumulative grade point averages of 3.20 or higher, are starters or important reserves and are sophomores. The Academic All-America team is selected by the membership of the College Sports Information Directors of America.
CONWAY MAKES THE ASSIST: Freshman midfielder Lisa Conway continues have an impact on the Viking offense as she handed out her team-leading third assist of the year in the loss at Wright State on Oct. 21. She enters the league tournament ranking ninth in the conference in assists. Conway, a starter in 12 of the 14 matches that she has played in, has been more aggressive offensively, taking 13 shots over the last six matches to move into second place on the squad with 22 shots this season.
