Aug. 18, 2005

Contact: Brian Wolff

ASHLAND, Ohio - Junior college transfer Ismail Ismail scored on a penalty shot in the first half of Thursday night's pre-season opener, but the Cleveland State Vikings ended with a 1-1 tie against Ashland University.

The Vikings would hold the lead until the 79th minute when the Eagles put a shot past Cleveland State sophomore goalkeeper Chris Black. Head coach Pete Curtis held his first practice yesterday and had the Vikings playing in an exhibition game the following day.

"We got some good excercise and our guys worked very hard," Curtis said. "We got to play some outside competition and the obvious difference, and it showed, was that our opponents have been in camp for a considerable amout of time."

Ismail was one of many Viking newcomers to make an impression on Curtis and his staff. Cleveland State had nine first-year players in their starting lineup.

"During the first 45 minutes we really controlled the ball and saw some exciting flashes by our new players, which bodes well for us during the regular season," Curtis said. "During the last 30 minutes, fatigue showed on our guys."

The Vikings will return to practice and work on the things they took away from their first competition of the season.

Cleveland State will have their final exhibition on Tuesday, Aug. 23 against the University of Pittsburgh. The game will be at Lost Nation Park in Mentor at 2:00 p.m.

The regular season will begin on Friday, Sep. 2 in Buffalo, N.Y. against Canisius College.