Sept. 17, 2010

Final Stats

Contact: Dan Carr

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Two early scores by the Cougars, including one just 3:11 into the contest, propelled SIU-Edwardsville to a 2-0 victory over Cleveland State on Friday (Sept. 17).

The Cougars' Jared Tejada found Jack Twellman in front of the net off a throw-in, allowing Twellman to send it past Viking goalkeeper Brad Stuver for an easy score. Nearly four minutes later, at the 7:26 mark, SIU-Edwardsville's Chris Anzalone sent a shot over Stuver's head into the net for the night's only other goal.

"Once again, we made some mistakes and put ourselves in an early hole," coach Ali Kazemaini said. "We're a young team - six of the starters tonight were freshmen, one was a transfer student, and our goalie is a sophomore - and so we knew that in the early part of the season there would be times when there would be problems. But you never want to use youth as an excuse, and I believe we are good enough to turn the season around."

To further complicate matters for the Vikings, senior Audric Kilroy, a leader in CSU's backfield, was given a red card in the 37th minute after making a hard tackle while going for the ball.

"This match was a test of character," Kazemaini said. "With the two early goals, and [Kilroy] getting the red card, and us being in an adverse atmosphere on the road, I was interested in seeing how our young guys would perform."

The Vikings responded to the early problems by coming out in the second half and becoming more aggressive on offense.

"We played well in the second half," Kazemaini said. "We pushed them a little bit, attacked a little harder. I saw character in these players, fighting to get back in the game, and that's a good thing."

CSU outshot SIU-Edwardsville nine to five, and had a five to three edge in corner kicks in the match. Manuel Conde led the Vikings with three shots on goal. Stuver notched two saves.

The Vikings (1-4) will be back in action on Sunday (Sept. 19) when they return home to host IPFW in a 1:00 p.m. contest. CSU will be attempting to keep alive it's school record 15 home game non-losing streak, as the Vikings have not lost at home in over two years (12-0-3 in that stretch).

"Hopefully we can turn it around, starting on Sunday," Kazemaini said. "We have to get rid of the early mistakes, but it only takes just one game to get things going our way again."