Sept. 2, 2007
Final Stats
Contact: Brian McCann
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- DePaul's Shannon Williams scored on a short breakaway just three minutes into the second half to break open a tied match as the Blue Demons edged Cleveland State, 2-1 on Sunday on the final day of the CSU Fall Classic.
The loss dropped CSU to 0-2 on the young season while DePaul, who claimed the title of the CSU Fall Classic, improved to 2-0.
"I thought our play today was much better this afternoon," head coach Derrek Falor said. "Friday night was so out of the ordinary because we have played so much better this fall. Today, we were able to do some things offensively to create scoring opportunities and our defensive effort was also much,, much better.
"The interaction between Shayna (Back) and Jenni (Wieand) really keyed our offense this afternoon. They each have the ability to use their speed to create scoring chances and when they work well together, they open things up for the rest of or attackers as well.
"Kelly (Zinkiewich) had another nice match in goal. It is hard to believe that she is only a freshman so once she gets accustomed to playing at this level, she will be even better."
DePaul opened the scoring at the 31:01 mark when Kelly Semko served a ball into the box that no Viking defender could corral before Tiffany Jordan banged in home from inside of 10 yards.
Cleveland State, who had taken just three shots to that point, came alive offensively after that, tying the match at 1-1 in the 41st minute when Sylvia Olsby took a pass from the right wing from Chrissy Lazarevich, split two DePaul defenders and beat Blue Demon goalkeeper Brittini Lally to the short side.
DePaul came alive after the intermission, controlling play for the first 15 minutes, scoring the eventual game-winner at the 47:37 mark when Tiffany Jordan slid a past between two Viking defenders and Williams beat Zinkiewich to the ball, nudging it into the right corner of the net.
The Vikings refused to quit, out-shooting the Blue Demons 9-6 in the second half but could not even the match. DePaul finished the contest with a slight 16-15 edge in shots with Zinkiewich making nine saves and Lalli making seven saves for the Blue Demons.
Juniors Natalie Wilson, Abbie Kakias and Jennifer Wieand were each named to the all-tournament team with DePaul's Tara Strickland earning MVP honors.
The Vikings have little time to regroup, traveling to IPFW for a Tuesday afternoon (Sept. 4) matchup with the Mastodons.
