Sept. 21, 2008
Final Stats
Contact: Brian McCann
AKRON, Ohio - Stefan Ostergren scored with just 96 seconds left in the second overtime as 10th ranked Akron edged Cleveland State, 2-1, on Sunday night at Akron's Lee Jackson Field.
Akron improved to 5-1-2 while CSU drops to 1-4-2, losing by one goal for the third time this season.
"Akron is a very good team with some special players," CSU head coach Ali Kazemaini said. "We gave them everything they could handle, but in the end, it wasn't enough. There is a lot of positive that we will be able to build on.
"This was a very physical match tonight, but it wasn't dirty. Just two teams playing hard soccer.
"We had a bunch of guys go into the match as boys and come out as men. They now know what it takes to play at this high of a level and that should help us out down the road.
"We've got two big road matches coming up on the road next weekend and we are going to have to match our effort tonight to come home a winner," Kazemaini said.
Akron had a chance to take a lead in the 10th minute but goalkeeper Nick Harpel stopped Ben Zemanski on a penalty shot after Audric Kilroy was called for a yellow card in the box.
After a scoreless first half, Akron opened the scoring in the 48th minute when Steve Zakuani took a pass from Matt Tutich and drilled a shot from 13 yards out into the bottom right corner. Tutich had started the attack by intercepting an errant Viking pass, creating an advantage for Akron.
The Vikings evened the score at the 58:41 mark when Mitch Boyer conerted a penalty shot after Kilroy was taken down in the box while attacked from the weak side.
"We had the ball on the right wing and were sending extra attackers ahead and Audric was able to take a feed and beat a defender.
The match would remain tied through 90 minutes of regulation, forcing two overtime periods.
Akron had a 3-1 edge in shots in the first overtime but the Zips could not best Harpel, who had nine saves in the match, until the end of the second overtime.
It was Tutich again who started the play on the game-deciding goal by dribbling to the right side of the box and crossing a perfect pass to Ostergren, who flashed up the middle. The game-winning strike came from six yards out and sailed past Harpel at the 108:24 mark.
"We were pressing to try and create something and Akron made a nice play to get the ball going the other way," Kazemaini said.
The loss spoiled a strong performance by Harpel, who almost single-handedly keeping the Vikings in the match by making a season-high nine saves.
"Nick played just about as well in goal tonight as I have ever seen anybody play at this level," Kazemaini said.
Akron had a 25-6 edge in shots during a match that featured eight yellow cards and CSU holding a 28-17 lead in fouls.
The Vikings remain on the road this week to end a stretch that has seen CSU open the year with eight of its first nine contests on the road. Cleveland State opens its Horizon League slate in Chicago next weekend, playing at UIC on Friday (Sept. 26) and at Loyola on Sunday (Sept.28).
