Sept. 8, 2006

Final Stats

Contact: Brian McCann

Cleveland State controlled play for most of the match but the final score was not in the Vikings' favor as CSU fell, 1-0, to Nicholls State at the KELME Port City Classic in Mobile, Ala. on Friday night. The Vikings are now 1-4 on the season.

CSU came out of the gate on fire early, recording the match's first five shots and constantly threatening to score. The match was scoreless until the 46:12 mark when Nicholls State's Alicia Gautreau found the net unassisted for the game-winner.

"Close matches have been our Achilles' heel," head coach Derrek Falor said. "I just think we need to stabilize ourselves defensively. It feels like we play well sometimes, we just need to be more consistent."

The Vikings dominated nearly every statistical category, recording 21 shots to just 10 for the Colonels. CSU also had more shots on goal, holding a 9-6 edge.

Junior Heather Clapacs led the Vikings' offensive charge with four shots, two of them on goal. Classmate Amber Rasmussen attempted three shots with two on target.

"I thought we possessed the ball really well, and that translated into a lot of good scoring chances," Falor said. "We need those good scoring chances to translate into goals."

Sophomore Erin Withrow, who currently is second in the Horizon League in saves, stopped five shots while playing all 90 minutes in goal.

The Vikings will have Saturday to recover before gearing up to play host school South Alabama on Sunday (Sept. 11) at 11:30 a.m. EDT. The match on Sunday concludes a six-match road swing for CSU.