Oct. 15, 2010

Final Stats

By: Robert Ivory

CLEVELAND, Ohio- A pair of seniors made the difference on Senior Night at Krenzler Field for Cleveland State as they beat Wright State 1-0 Friday night.

Sylvia Olsby scored the winner and Kelly Zinkiewich shut down Wright State.

"It was a huge win for us," head coach Derrek Falor said. "We have been able to create a home field advantage this year and I think we needed to maintain that."

With the win, the Vikings move to 8-6-2 on the year and 4-2-0 in the Horizon League. The three points also put Cleveland State just one point behind the league leaders, Loyola, who won earlier in the day.

Both the Vikings and the Raiders had to accustom themselves to the cold and windy October night in Cleveland, Ohio.

First half was dominated by the Vikings, but were unable to find the opening goal after coming up just wide on several attempts.

The Vikings got the goal from senior Sylvia Olsby with 2:01 in the first half. The play started when Natalie Daniels took a shot from the left side of the goal. The shot beat the goalkeeper, bounced off the post and dropped into the six-yard box. Olsby then slammed the ball into the net giving the Vikings the 1-0 lead right before the halftime break.

"I thought that the goal was a good momentum builder." Falor said. "It's funny that everybody is scouting Natalie, she is good at beating one or two players, which opens up a lot of seams later. It's getting harder and harder for her to score because everybody in the world knows where she is."

With that assist, Natalie Daniels reaches 20 points on the year (eight goals and four assists) and becomes the single-season scoring leader in Cleveland State history. Jennifer Wieand had 19 points in the 2007 campaign.

Cleveland State scored close the end of the half, but played a good second half to merit the win.

"I thought the wind and the weather played a factor in the second half," Falor said. "I think we are still learning how to win and manage the game. "

The Vikings were able to continue their excellence at defense and limited the Raiders to no shots on goal in the second half.

"That's awesome," Falor said of not allowing a shot on goal in the second half. "I am proud of them for that. As much as we were under fire there (in the second half) to not give up anything on frame is huge. That's huge."

Senior Kelly Zinkeiwich had four saves on the night and recorded her sixth shutout of the year.

After the win, the team's seven seniors (Kelly Zinkiewich, Nicole Howard, Allie Riczo, Shannon Saunders, Sylvia Olsby, Jessica McCloy, and Marley Greiner) were recognized for their outstanding work as Vikings.

"I am so glad we are able to finish off their careers in a positive way," Falor said. "These guys have been just awesome citizens, worked their tails off, and have put everything into their careers here at Cleveland State. I am so proud of them." The senior have led the team to 24 wins over the past four seasons and the program's only appearance in the Horizon League Championship in 2008.

The Vikings finish their regular season with a trip to Valparaiso on Friday (Oct 22) at 4:00 p.m. ET. They then complete their 2010 regular season on Sunday (Oct 24) at Butler with a 12:00 p.m. ET kickoff.