Sept. 12, 2008

Final Stats

Contact: Brian McCann

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Jeff Baker's goal with just 5:11 left completed a Cleveland State comeback from two goals down to force overtime as the Vikings tied Niagara, 3-3, in CSU's home opener on Friday night at Krenzler Field.

Niagara took a 2-0 lead on a pair of goals in the first 17 minutes before the Vikings stormed back to tie the match at 2-2 at half. CSU fell behind again just three minutes into the second half but dominated play during the remainder of regulation and overtime.

The Vikings improve to 1-3-1 while Niagara drops to 3-1-1.

"We let a great opportunity slip away tonight," CSU head coach Ali Kazemaini said. "We didn't come out ready to play and we spotted them two goals.

"To make matters worse, we gave up another simple goal at the start of the half and even though we controlled play the rest of the way, we just couldn't ever get the lead.

"We played well tonight offensively, but we had to work hard for every goal we got. At the other end of the field, defensive lapses made things simple for Niagara."

Niagara jumped out quickly, taking a 1-0 lead just 7:11 into the contest when Mathew Durand took a nice lead pass from Joe Skinner for a breakaway, beat one defender and blasted a shot into the right corner of the goal.

Durand scored the second marker at 16:23 when he one-timed a cross from the left corner by Levi Tesch past Viking netminder Nick Harpel and into the far corner.

CSU made it 2-1 at the 21:04 mark when the Vikings took advantage of a Purple Eagle just outside of the box. On the free kick, Slava Ubiparipovic lightly touched the indirect kick and Mitch Boyer followed with a blast from 20 yards out that deflected off a defender and into the left corner of the goal.

The Vikings evened the contest in the 38th minute when Nenad Stojkovic and Josh Williams teamed up on a give-and-go at the top of the circle on the left side and Stojkovic blasted it into the left corner from 15 yards out.

The goal was the first for Stojkovic, who led the team in scoring in 2006 but was forced out of the lineup last year after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee during preseason.

"We've worked on plays like the ones we scored our first two goals on and it has only been a matter of playing more together that has been the difference in converting them from chances into goals," Kazemaini said.

The tie didn't last long following the intermission as Niagara's Billy Gustafson scored his first goal of the season when he tracked down a loose ball in the box following a corner ick and his shot found the back of the net at the 47:51 mark.

"We didn't do a very good job of marking up on the corner and when the ball was deflected loose, an open man grabbed a hold of it," Kazemaini said.

CSU, which had an 18-10 edge in shots for the match, really poured it on after the break, out-shooting Niagara, 9-3 in the second half. But each time the Vikings challenged, Purple Eagle goalie John Fiutowski responded as he finished with 11 saves.

The Vikings finally broke through in the 85th minute when Justin Mancini found Jeff Baker open in the box and Baker finished off the pass to even the contest at 3-3.

Cleveland State controlled play in the overtime as well, out-shooting Niagara, 3-1, but the Vikings could not convert several good scoring opportunities.

"That has been our season so far," Kazemaini said. "We have to work very hard to score our goals but our opponents seem to get them on simple plays."

Cleveland State will now have a week to prepare for its next match, a 5:00 p.m. contest at St. Bonaventure on Friday, Sept. 19. It will be the first of four consecutive road games for CSU, ending a streak that has seen them open the season by playing eight of their first nine matches away from home.