Sept. 1, 2008

Final Stats

Contact: Brian McCann

IRVINE, Calif. - Spencer Thompson's goal in the 85th minute ended a Cleveland State come back and gave UC Irvine a 2-1 win over the visiting Vikings on Monday afternoon in a second round matchup in the UCI College Classic.

The loss drops the Vikings to 0-2 while UC Irvine improves to 2-0.

"We played well enough to win today, but in the end, we fell short," CSU head coach Ali Kazemaini said.

"We were out-played badly during the first half, but were able to regroup and really play well in the second half."

UC Irvine scored the only goal of the first half when Matt Murphy converted a penalty kick after CSU's Josh Williams was called for a penalty while trying to stop an Anteater breakaway.

"That was good, hard defensive play by Josh, but the official elected to call a foul," Kazemaini said. "He really battled for the ball for almost 30 yards before the foul was called."

The score held until the 80:16 mark when Bryan Henson fed a ball ahead to a streaking Jeff Baker for a breakaway and Baker beat Anteater goaltender Pat Barton as he came off his line to attack.

With the game appearing to be headed to overtime, UC Irvine caught a break when Thompson played a ball ahead to himself down the left side of the box and was able to gather it in and nudge the ball past Viking goalie Nick Harpel for the game-winning goal.

"It was like we were two different teams today. We played hard and aggressive in the second half and even after Baker scored, we pressed hard to get the win. They (UC Irvine) were able to catch a break and get an advantage situation that they were able to convert. It was unfortunate," Kazemaini said.

"We played pretty well in both matches this weekend against some pretty good competition. I think we'll be able to learn from it and make some adjustments in the matches to come."

The loss spoiled a strong showing in net by Harpel, who recorded eight saves. CSU was out-shot 21-9 in the contest, including 10-2 in the first half.

The Vikings will remain on the road this week, traveling to Springfield, Mo. to face host Missouri State and Drake in the Missouri State Tournament from Sept. 5-6.