Cleveland State vs. Akron
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Cleveland, Ohio | Krenzler Field
SETTING THE STAGE: The Cleveland State women's soccer team will open the home portion of its 2019 schedule as it hosts Akron on Sunday (Aug. 25) at 1 p.m. on Krenzler Field.
HOME OPENERS: Cleveland State is 5-9-1 overall in home openers...The Vikings defeated Howard 2-1 in overtime last season in their home opener...Cleveland State head coach Dallas Boyer has a 1-1 record in home openers...The Vikings, under Boyer, lost to Binghamton in his first season and defeated Howard last year...This will mark the first time that Cleveland State will be facing Akron in its home opener.
VERSUS AKRON: This will mark the 11th all-time meeting between Cleveland State and Akron with the Zips owning a 7-3 advantage in the series...Dallas Boyer is 1-0 versus Akron...In the last meeting between the two teams, Cleveland State defeated Akron 2-1 in 2017...The Vikings lare 1-4 versus Akron in Cleveland with their victory coming in 2014...Akron holds a slim 3-2 advantage in matches played in Akron.
LAST TIME OUT: Cleveland State opened the 2019 season at Kent State and played the Golden Flashes to a 0-0 draw in double overtime...Keeper Stevie Holbrook made a career-high 11 saves to lead the Vikings...Kent State owned a 21-6 advantage in shots, including 8-1 combined in the two overtime periods...Elena Gutlove had three shots to lead the Vikings...Essence Canady added two shots for Cleveland State...Grace Grant also notched a shot for CSU...Both teams had five corner kicks in the match...Canady and Gutlove narrowly missed on scoring chances in the final minutes of regulation.
IN THE PRESEASON: Cleveland State played a pair of exhibition matches in the run up to the season opener...The Vikings tied Buffalo 1-1 at Buffalo on Aug. 12...Cleveland State dropped a 2-0 decision to Duquesne at Krenzler Field on Aug. 16...Freshman McKenna Donahue scored the Vikings goal against Buffalo.
HORIZON LEAGUE POLL: Cleveland State was selected to finish third in the Horizon League Preseason Poll as selected by the league head coaches...The Vikings received two first-place votes and finished with 73 points...Defending Horizon League champion Milwaukee was tabbed as the league favorite, while Northern Kentucky was chosen to finish second in the poll.
ABOUT CLEVELAND STATE: The Vikings, who finished last year with an 11-7-1 overall record and a 6-2-1 Horizon League mark, return 17 letterwinners from last season and six starters...Cleveland State, which set school records for overall wins and Horizon League wins, advanced to the Horizon League Tournament title match for the first time in school history last year.
ABOUT AKRON: Akron opened the 2019 season with a 1-0 loss versus Charlotte...Charlotte owned an 8-0 advantage in shots in the first period including a goal in the fourth minute of play...The Zips outshot Charlotte 5-4 in the second period...Aislinn Meany led the Zips with two shots...Akron was picked to finish ninth in the Mid-American Conference Preseason Poll...The Zips posted an 8-10-2 overall record and a 5-5-1 mark in the MAC last season.
THE COACHES: Cleveland State head coach Dallas Boyer is in his third season at the helm of the Vikings and has compiled a 20-16-3 overall record...Noreen Herlihy is in her fifth season at the helm of the Akron program and has a 20-48-12 overall record.
LIVE STREAM: The Cleveland State-Akron match will be streamed live on ESPN3.
