Niagara at Cleveland State
Thursday, September 12, 2019
7 p.m.
Cleveland, Ohio | Krenzler Field
SETTING THE STAGE: The Cleveland State women's soccer team returns to Krenzler Field to open a two-match homestand beginning with a match against Niagara on Thursday (Sept. 12) at 7 p.m.
LAST OF THE NON-CONFERENCE: The Vikings will be playing their final two non-conference matches of the season beginning with the match against Niagara on Thursday...Cleveland State will conclude non-conference play on Sunday (Sept. 15) versus Canisius at 1 p.m.
VERSUS NIAGARA: This will mark the eighth all-time meeting between Cleveland State and Niagara with the Purple Eagles holding a 4-2-1 advantage in the series...Niagara defeated Cleveland State 2-0 last season in Niagara...The Vikings last win in the series came in 2017 when Cleveland State prevailed 3-0...Niagara leads the series in Cleveland 2-1...The Purple Eagles also own a 2-1-1 advantage in matches played in Niagara.
ALL-TOURNAMENT VIKINGS: Cleveland State's Elena Gutlove and Kailah Ransom were each named to the all-tournament team at the UTSA Tournament last weekend.
LAST TIME OUT: Cleveland State dropped both of its matches at the UTSA Tournament in San Antonio, Texas...The Vikings opened tournament play with a 3-0 loss to UTSA...In its final match of the tournament, Cleveland State lost to Rice 2-0...Freshman McKenna Donahue led the Vikings with three shots versus UTSA...Grace Krosky, Elena Gutlove, Bianca Sarti and Cassidy Lewis each had one shot for Cleveland State against UTSA...Stevie Holbrook made three saves against the Roadrunners...Cleveland State manufactured nine shots versus Rice...Grace Grant, Briana Niedermeier and Elena Gutlove each had two shots to lead the Vikings versus the Owls...McKenna Donahue, Bianca Sarti and Toni Dickson also had shots versus Rice...Stevie Holbrook made four saves in goal for the Vikings.
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, currently have a 2-3-1 overall record...The Vikings are 1-0 at home, 1-2-1 on the road and 0-1 in neutral site matches...Junior Elena Gutlove leads the Vikings with two goals and five points...Essence Canady has one goal and two points for Cleveland State...Bianca Sarti has an assist for CSU...Elena Gutlove leads Cleveland State with 14 shots, while Essence Canady has eight shots...Freshman McKenna Donahue is third on the team with seven shots...Stevie Holbrook has started all six matches in goal and has a 1.23 goals against average and a .800 save percentage...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 NIAGARA: Niagara enters the contest with a 4-1-0 overall record...The Purple Eagles have reeled off three consecutive victories over Robert Morris, St. Francis (Pa.) and Houston Baptist...The Purple Eagles defeated Houston Baptist 1-0 in their most recent match on Sept. 8...Annie Ibey leads Niagara with four goals and nine points on the year...Kelsey Araujo has scored two goals and has three assists and seven points.
THE COACHES: Cleveland State head coach Dallas Boyer is in his third season at the helm of the Vikings and has compiled a 22-19-3 overall record...Peter Veltri is in his 21st season as the head coach at Niagara and has an overall record of 186-164-33.
