Oct. 6, 2007

Contact: Stefan Scheibelhoffer

Cleveland, OhioThe Vikings 3-5-3, 0-0-1 opened Horizon League play as they battled to a 1-1 draw in their Horizon League opener against UIC 4-3-3, 0-0-1. The games appeared to be bleak but in the 83rd minute The Flames were called for a penalty and Mitch Boyer scored on the kick to force overtime.

Viking goalkeeper Nick Harpel continued to shine as he allowed only one goal in the 17th minute when Payle Dudjer rifled a shot that was defected off a Viking Defender. Harpel dropped his goals against average to 1.07. His record now stands at 3-2-2 with 3 shutouts.

The game was intense as many disputed fouls were called. The UIC bench disputed several calls and their bench was whistled for a yellow card in overtime. UIC was whistled for 19 fouls, while the Vikings were whistled for 13.

The game was also played with a bit of class by The Flames, as Payle Dundier kicked the ball out of bounds with his team on a 3-1 breakaway in overtime as a the Vikings Marco DiFranco was injured and Dundier instead of going for the goal, gave the Viking player time to recover. The officials after the game advised that they were going to write an accommodation to the league office.

The Vikings return to action on Sunday when they host Loyola 4-3-3, 0-0-2 at Krenzler Field.