Sept. 18, 2009

Final Stats

Contact: Brian McCann

The score is sometimes not indicative of how a game was played, and although the Cleveland State women's soccer team more than held their own against Robert Morris Friday, they fell by a final score of 3-0 at Krenzler Field.

The Vikings played solid defense in the first half, but Robert Morris's Ayana Davis was able to put through a header past junior Shannon Saunders five yards out off of a long free kick in the 18th minute. Saunders, replacing Kelly Zinkiewich, started her first game of the season at keeper.

With 12 minutes remaining in the half, the Vikings made a defensive stand, as the Colonials bombarded the box well into the 38th minute, but defenders Chrissy Lazarevich, Carla Ragone and Danielle Ultican were able to ward off the attempts.

The Vikings gave themselves a barrage of opportunities, but the Robert Morris keeper was able to bat away a number of shots and CSU was just unable to score.

“I thought we dominated offensively and had possession of the ball almost the entire second half,” head coach Derrek Falor said. “We just couldn't put one in the net. Every time we'd go to take a shot we'd find a leg or lose possession or take one too many dribbles and we'd miss out on it.”

In a pressuring mode, the Vikings pushed and put on the heat offensively, but chance after chance ended in a deflection or a close save. Robert Morris broke through again with a score and notched their third goal as Davis scored again on a breakaway.

“Our defense played very well despite the score,” Falor said. “We really limited their chances in the first half and the last two goals only came because we were pushing up offensively because we needed to score and that created breakaway opportunities.”

The Vikings fell to 1-6 on the season and will travel to Oxford, Ohio to take on Miami on Sunday.