Sept. 1, 2010

Final Stats

Contact: Dan Carr

OLEAN, N.Y. - Cleveland State allowed only one goal, late in the second half, but the Viking offense was kept off the scoreboard as CSU fell to St. Bonaventure 1-0 Thursday night.

It was the season opener for both squads.

Coach Ali Kazemaini thought his team turned in a good performance in the defeat.

"On a scale from one to 10, I would rate our play as a seven," Kazemaini said. "Certainly good enough to win the match, but just bad enough to allow for a loss. A few more breaks here or there, and we would definitely have pulled out the victory."

A key Viking mistake led to the game's only score. A handball was ruled on a CSU player in the 73rd minute, allowing St. Bonaventure a free kick from 18 yards away. The shot sailed past Viking goaltender Brad Stuver, sealing the victory for the Bonnies.

Despite the final score, Kazemaini thought the Vikings outplayed St. Bonaventure.

"Really, the only mistake we made was on that penalty that led to the free kick," Kazemaini said. "I did not feel like we deserved the loss.

The Vikings had several opportunities to score. Aaron Adkins tallied three shots on the net, all in the second half, but was denied by goalkeeper David Flynn each time. Caleb Eastham and Justin Mancine also recorded shots on goal in the game.

"We did a good job of creating scoring chances," Kazemaini said. "We had more quality chances, but we need to continue working on our possessions and finishing out our shots."

Stuver played well in the loss, notching four saves, including three in the second half.

"We only gave up one or two scoring chances," Kazemaini said. "And one was on the free kick, which could have gone either way. This was just one of those games where the first team to score was going to win the match.

"That's how soccer is sometimes. You only get so many chances to score, and if you don't capitalize on them you aren't going to win."

The Vikings will attempt to rebound from the loss on Sunday (Sept. 5) when they will host Niagara in the second game of a CSU soccer double-header. The women's team will host Canisius in a noon match, while the men's game will kick-off at 3:00 p.m.

Live audio and visual streaming will be available on csuvikings.com for both matches. The Niagara contest will be the first men's soccer game to be video streamed live from Krenzler Field.