Aug. 31, 2009
Contact: Brian McCann
Complete Release in PDF Format
Match 4 Match 5 SETTING THE SCENE: The CSU women's soccer team heads back out on the road, playing a pair of matches this week in two different states. The Vikings play a 5:00 p.m. match at Eastern Kentucky on Friday, Sept. 4 before traveling to Athens, Ohio to face Ohio University at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 6. CSU is 1-2 on the year after splitting a pair of matches last week, defeating Kent State, 2-1 in overtime, on Friday (Aug. 28) before returning home to drop a 2-1 decision to Eastern Illinois on Sunday (Aug. 30). REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings continued the 2009 regular season with a pair of contests. Here are a synopsis of those matches: Match 2: CSU 2, KSU 1 (OT) (Aug. 28, Kent, OH) Natalie Daniels scored off a loose ball in the box with 14 seconds left in overtime to give Cleveland State a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Kent State. KSU scored off a cornerkick at the 6:00 mark but CSU picked up its play after that. The Vikings tied the match at 1-1 at the 71:32 mark when freshman Valerie Stahl converted a penalty kick after freshman Jaime Avona was dragged down in the box. Kelly Zinkiewich made eight saves. Match 3: Eastern Illinois 2, CSU 1 (Aug. 30, Krenzler Field) Eastern Illinois scored a pair of goals in the final 12 minutes to rally from a 1-0 deficit and defeat CSU, 2-1 at Krenzler Field. Marley Greiner gave CSU a 1-0 lead with her first goal of the year in the 57th minute but defensive lapses cost the Vikings down the stretch. 2009 SEASON PREVIEW: The benefits of three consecutive strong recruiting classes is starting to show as the Vikings return eight starters and 17 letterwinners from the squad that set the school record for winning percentage (for the fourth season in a row) with an 8-10-2 mark. The strength of the Vikings is in the midfield where sophomore Natalie Daniels returns after leading the team in goals (5), assists (6) and points (16) en route to earning second team all-league honors. She is joined by junior Allie Riczo and freshman Valerie Stahl to give CSU its most-talented trio at the midfield ever. The group of forwards features just one returning starter - junior Sylvia Olsby (4-1-9) - but freshman Jaime Avona and junior Marley Greiner played well during the preseason. The position will receive a boost when redshirt freshman Nikki Bevilacqua comes back from a hip injury. The defense returns practically intact with Jessica McCloy and Danielle Ultican starting inside with Marina Taylor and Jordan King starting outside. The quartet combined to make 58 starts a year ago. Junior Kelly Zinkiewich returns to start in goal for the third straight season after making 78 saves with four shutouts last season. ANOTHER FIRST: When freshman Valerie Stahl converted a penalty kick to tie the match at 1-1 at Kent State last week, it marked the first time in the six-year history of the CSU women's soccer program that the Vikings made a penalty kick. Prior to Stahl's attempt, CSU had attempted just one kick, that coming when Jennifer Wieand missed in the 2008 season opener against Toledo. An interesting side note on the kick is that head coach Derrek Falor wanted Natalie Daniels to take the kick but Daniels opted out after experiencing an unusual inaccuracy with her kicks during the match. ZINKIEWICH BREAKS SAVES RECORD: An eight save effort in the win at Kent State allowed junior goalkeeper Kelly Zinkiewich to break the CSU school record for career saves. With one more stop against Eastern Illinois on Sunday, Zinkiewich now has 217 career stops, surpassing the old mark of 210 which was previously set by Erin Withrow (2005-06). Zinkiewich had 124 saves as a freshman in 2007 and 78 in 2008. She ranked fifth in the Horizon League in saves, and eighth in save percentage (.743) last year. Her 124 saves in 2007 are the fourth-highest season total ever. WORKING ON THE NEXT 100: Last Friday's match at Kent State was the 100th match in Viking women's soccer history. Started in 2004, this is the sixth season of intercollegiate soccer at CSU with the Vikings owning a 17-81-3 all-time record. . . . AND FALOR HAS BEEN ON THE BENCH FOR ALL 101: When the Vikings celebrate a milestone, head coach Derrek Falor can celebrate as well as he is the only head coach that CSU has had in women's soccer. Falor came to CSU in the spring of 2003 and worked a whole year to build the program, culminating in the initial recruiting class of 12 players (five of whom would play all four seasons of eligibility at CSU). DANIELS LEADS CSU OFFENSE: Sophomore Natalie Daniels is on a roll offensively, scoring at least one point in seven of her last nine matches going back to last season. Over that span, the sophomore has tallied three goals with five assists (11 points) to help CSU go 5-4. Those totals do not include her performance during the exhibition season this year when she posted two goals and three assists as CSU went undefeated in preseason play for the first time ever. Daniels led the Vikings last season with five goals, six assists and 16 points. SOME NEW BLOODS: The 2009 starting lineup features a pair of freshman starters, midfielder Valerie Stahl and forward Jaime Avona, both of whom have already made an impact. Stahl converted a penalty kick in the win over Kent State. Avona is scoreless in three matches after scoring a goal with two assists in the two exhibition matches, though she was the player dragged down that led to the penalty kick being awarded last week. GREINER FINDS SCORING NITCH: After scoring just one goal in her first two seasons, junior Marley Greiner has found her scoring touch. Her goal on Sunday gave CSU a 1-0 lead over Eastern Illinois. It came on the heels of scoring a goal with an assist during the preseason. NEXT UP: The Vikings take the next week off before returning home to
host Niagara (Sept. 16) and Robert Morris (Sept. 18) at Krenzler
Field.
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