Sept. 29, 2008

Contact: Brian McCann

Complete Release in PDF Format

Match 11
Cleveland State (4-5-1, 0-0-1) at Detroit (3-4-1, 1-0)
Date: Friday, Oct. 3, 2008
Time: 2:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Titan Field (500), Detroit, Mich.
Series: Detroit Leads, 3-0-1
Last Meeting: @CSU 2, Detroit 2 (2ot) (10/26/07)

Match 12
Loyola (6-5, 1-0) at Cleveland State
Date: Sunday, Oct. 5, 2008
Time: 11:00 a.m. EDT
Site: Krenzler Field (1,680), Cleveland, Ohio
Series: Loyola Leads, 4-0
Last Meeting: @Loyola 3, CSU 0 (10/5/07)

SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State continues its Horizon League schedule this week with a pair of matches. The Vikings open play on Friday, Oct. 3 with a 2:00 p.m. contest at Detroit and then return home to host Loyola on Sunday, Oct. 5 beginning at 11:00 a.m. CSU is 4-5-1 overall and 0-0-1 in league play after tying Wright State on Friday (Sept. 26). Both Detroit and Loyola are 1-0 in league play after defeating Youngtown State and Wright State, respectively.

REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings played just one match last week to open the Horizon League . Here is a synopsis of that contest:

Match 10: CSU 0, Wright State 0 (2OT) (Sept. 26, Krenzler Field)
Kelly Zinkiewich made a season-high 10 saves to help overcome a 24-5 Wright State shooting advantage as the Vikings battled the Raiders to a scoreless draw. It marked only the second league tie in CSU history and ended a streak of four straight wins against the Vikings by Wright State.

PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: The Vikings have come along nicely under fifth-year Viking head coach Derrek Falor as the return of eight starters from last year's 5-14-1 squad and the addition of 10 newcomers have given CSU its deepest and most talented team to date. Senior Jennifer Wieand (3 assists), CSU's career scoring leader with 32 points, leads the offense with senior Abbie Kakias (1 goal) joining her at forward along with sophomore Sylvia Olsby (1 goal, 1 assist, 3 points). The midfield lineup has been rebuilt with sophomore Allie Riczo (1-0-2), who redshirted last season, and freshman Natalie Daniels (3-1-7) being joined by freshmen Samantha Salamon and Rachel Strongoli (1 assist) starting outside. The defensive lineup is a veteran one with juniors Jessica McCloy and Danielle Ultican getting the starting nod in the middle with senior Maggie Pugliese and freshman Jordan King starting outside. Sophomore Kelly Zinkiewich returns in goal, holding opponents to a 1.78 goals against average, making 52 saves with a school-record three shutouts this fall.

SOMETIMES A TIE IS LIKE A WIN: When the Vikings tied Wright State on Friday (Sept. 26) to open the Horizon League season, the tie seemed more like a win, especially when you consider that CSU was tabbed to finish seventh in the Horizon League this season while Wright State was picked third. In the four previous meetings against the Raiders, CSU was out-scored, 17-1, by WSU. CSU is now 1-26-3 in league play, owning a win and a tie against Youngstown State and a tie against both Detroit and Wright State.

. . . AND THE TIE FOLLOWS FOUR WINS: Last week's tie against Wright State means after an 0-4 start, the Vikings have rebounded to go 4-1-1 over their last six contests. Included in that run was a school-record four match win streak that included victories over Robert Morris, Ohio, Eastern Kentucky and IPFW. The four straight wins marked the first successive victories in program history. Prior to this period, the best CSU could do was win two out of three matches early last season

ZINKIEWICH EYES SAVE MARK: With a season-high 10 saves in the tie against Wright State, sophomore goalkeeper Kelly Zinkiewich moved past Ashley Kidwell and into second place on the CSU career saves list with 176 career stops. Zinkiewich, who has 52 stops in 10 matches this year, has three more saves than Kidwell, who had 173 stops from 2004-06. Zinkiewich now needs 38 saves to break the record of 210 saves by Erin Withrow (2005-06).

. . . AND RECORDS FIFTH CAREER SHUTOUT: Kelly Zinkiewich has had a pretty good two weeks, recording shutouts in three of her four matches to set school records for shutouts in a season (3) and in a career (5). She started the stretch by posting back-to-back shutouts over Eastern Kentucky (Sept. 14) and IPFW (Sept. 19) and then came back on Friday to hold Wright State without a goal through 110 minutes of play. She enters the week with a 1.77 goals against average, which is considerably lower than her school record 2.33 average in 2007.

A WIN FROM THE RECORD: With at least nine matches to play this fall, the Vikings are just a win away from equaling the school record for wins in a season. CSU is 4-5-1 this year and quickly moving in on last year's total of five wins and one tie in 20 contests.

TOUGHER AT HOME: The Vikings didn't get any breaks from the Horizon League schedule makers this year as CSU's four home league matches will come against the teams picked to finish first (Milwaukee), second (Loyola), third (Wright State) and ninth (Youngstown State). For CSU to improve on last year's eighth place finish, the Vikings will need to play well away from home where they will play most of the teams picked to finish at the bottom of the standings.

THANK GOODNESS IT'S FRIDAY: There must be something about the end of the week that motivates the Vikings because in the last four weeks, CSU has posted a 3-0-1 record in matches played on Friday. The trend actually started last year when the Vikings were 2-6-1 on Friday, claiming wins over Robert Morris and Youngstown State and a tie vs. Detroit.

NEXT UP: The Vikings close the three-game homestand with contests against Milwaukee (Oct. 10) and IUPUI (Oct. 12) at Krenzler Field.