Final Stats

Sept. 5, 2007

Contact: Brian McCann

KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Cleveland State sophomore Bryan Henson scored his first goal of the season and freshman goalkeeper Nick Harpel extended his streak of not being scored upon to 225 consecutive minutes as the Vikings defeated Western Michigan, 1-0, on Wednesday afternoon at WMU Soccer Complex.

"We played extremely hard today and to earn back-to-back shutouts on the road is a big confidence booster for us," CSU assistant coach T.J. Kolba said. "It's great that we are keeping our opponents off the scoreboard and our young team is learning how to win close games."

For the Vikings, it was the first time since blanking Ohio State (Nov. 3) and Northern Illinois (Nov. 8) by identical 1-0 scores during the 1996 season that CSU has recorded back-to-back shutouts.

The lone goal of today's match was scored at the 34:01 mark. Sophomore Mitch Boyer started the play when he chipped a ball forward to Henson who played it to sophomore Josh Williams. Williams one-timed the ball right back to Henson who blasted home his fourth career goal from 18 yards out.

For Williams, it was the first assist of his career.

"Those are the kind of goals we need to score this year," Kolba said. "Last year, we wouldn't take those shots or we'd lose possession of the ball before getting a shot off."

That was all the offense that Harpel and the CSU defense needed as they recorded their second straight shutout on the road. Harpel, who made eight saves, remains the lone goalkeeper in the league to not allow a goal this season as he has yet to allow a goal in 225 minutes between the pipes.

The Vikings (2-1) will return to action on Sunday afternoon with a 2:30 pm match at Kentucky.