Sept. 19, 2008
Final Stats
Contact: Brian McCann
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Abbie Kakias scored her first goal of the season in the 57th minute and Nicole Howard added an insurance goal late in the second half as Cleveland State defeated IPFW, 2-0, on Friday night to extend CSU's school-record winning streak to four straight matches.
The Vikings, who started the season by losing their first four matches, have rebounded to reach the .500 mark for the first time ever after the opening week of a season. IPFW dropped to 0-8.
The match was filled with milestones as senior Jennifer Wieand had an assist to break the CSU career scoring record with 31 points. She topped the old record of 30 points, which was set by former teammate Shayna Back.
Sophomore Kelly Zinkiewich made four saves in goal to record the save, allowing her to set the school record for consecutive shutouts (2), shutouts in a season (2) and career (4).
"This was a nice win for us tonight," CSU head coach Derrek Falor said. "We didn't come out playing very aggressively but we were able to get things together and play hard.
"We came out ready to play in the second half and made some smart, heads up plays. Once we got the lead, we were able to maintain control of the ball and keep IPFW from being able to mount a comeback.
"This is another great sign. Before this year, this kind of match might have gone the other way but the leadership on this team is such that they take control and refuse to let our opponents make big plays."
Neither team mounted much offense in the first 45 minutes with IPFW holding a slight 5-3 edge in shots.
The momentum changed in CSU's favor after the break as the Vikings dominated offensively, out-shooting the Mastodons, 9-2 in the second half and 12-7 for the match.
The Vikings finally got on the scoreboard in the 57th minute when freshman Rachel Strongoli deflected a ball of the leg of an IPFW defender and up the field. Abbie Kakias was the first to reach the ball about 40 yards out from the goal and when Mastodon goalie Kristen McFadden made an ill-advised charge at the ball, Kakias chipped the ball high over her head and into the net.
"That was a very heads up play," Falor said. "Abbie has played long enough to know that when a keeper comes that far off her line that the smartest thing to do is chip it over her head. She did a great job of taking advantage of a mistake."
Cleveland State added an insurance goal in the 80th minute when Nicole Howard redirected a cross from the right wing by Wieand into the left corner of the goal. It was Howard's second career goal, the first coming last year in a 5-4 overtime win at IPFW.
On the play, Wieand recorded her third assist of the year to topple the career scoring mark.
The Vikings return to action on Sunday when they travel to Lexington, Ky. to face the University of Kentucky beginning at 12 noon.
