The  Cleveland State women's soccer team (3-3-0) looks to bounce back from its first home loss of the season against Milwaukee as it battles Northern Kentucky on the road on Wednesday. In the setback, the Vikes fell behind early before Maddie Young converted a penalty kick in the 54th minute for a 1-1 tie. The league-leading Panthers pulled back ahead on a set piece play in the 69th minute and held on for a 2-1 decision. In her second career start, senior goalkeeper Miranda Thomas made four saves, including three in the first half. The Vikings sit at 3-3-0 on the year, good for sixth in the #HLWSOC standings.

 

...mark the Vikings' fourth straight win over the Norse. It would also maintain head coach Dallas Boyer's perfect record against Northern Kentucky since taking over ahead of the 2017-18 season and give the Vikes four victories in five road matches against Northern Kentucky since the head-to-head series began in 2015, including a 3-0 win in 2019.

 

Northern Kentucky (3-1-1, 3-0-1) enters the match with an unbeaten record, tying with IUPUI for third in the Horizon League. The Norse took down Youngstown State 1-0 on the road last week thanks to Kailey Ivins' eighth-minute marker and have also recorded #HLWSOC wins over Robert Morris and Green Bay. Ivins is Northern Kentucky's leading scorer with three tallies while goalkeeper Mimi Stines is one of the top goalies in the conference, posting an .833 save percentage while logging a pair of shutouts.

 

Maddie Young, who carries a four-game point streak into Wednesday's match, is tied for the Horizon League lead in scoring with 11 points on the year while Elena Gutlove ranks fourth with eight points on three goals and a pair of assists. Young and Kathryn Ramicone are tied for fourth in assists with three each. Young is the conference's top goal-scorer with four tallies and Gutlove is tied for second with three. 

 

Young and Gutlove rank first and second, respectively, in shots in #HLWSOC. Young has rattled off 26 attempts, averaging a conference-high 4.33 per match.  Young fired nine shots against Purdue Fort Wayne on Feb. 25, the second-highest single game shot total by a Viking in team history. Gutlove also accomplished the feat on Feb. 10 against Wright State. The Vikings own four of the five highest indidivual single-game shot toals in the Horizon League in 2021 and each of the two highest team totals (28 and 25).

 

The Vikings will play two of their final three matches at home against teams currently below them in the #HLWSOC standings. At sixth in the conference, Cleveland State will need a strong finish as it hopes to qualify for the Horizon League Championships for the first time since a run to the conference finals in 2018.

 

Cleveland State is first in the Horizon League in shots (94) and shots on goal (50). The Vikes also lead the conference in corners (37), rank tied for third in goals (11) and tied for fourth in assists (11). As a team, Cleveland State is outshooting the opposition  46-33 after the opening half, including 5-1 in overtime periods. Overall, the Vikings average 15.7 shots per match compared to 10.8 by the opposition.

 

Multiple freshmen have emerged as key contributors in the earlygoings with Ramicone and Bella Ceepo being tabbed as starters over the Vikings' opening six matches and Maia Ransom making an appearance in every game while logging her first start on Feb. 10. Additionally, Maria Bashardoust started the first four matches at outside back. Ramicone is tied for fourth in the #HLWSOC with three assists while Bashardoust picked up her first point with the helper on the Vikings' game-winning goal against Wright State on Feb. 10.

 

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