Sept. 24, 2010
Final Stats
Contact: Dan Carr
CHICAGO, Ill. - Going into this weekend's matches, it was uncertain whether or not Aaron Adkins would be able to play. Not only did Adkins end up coming off the bench for the Vikings, he ended up scoring the game-winning goal as Cleveland State beat UIC, 3-2, in both schools' conference opener on Friday (Sept. 24).
"We were hoping to get Adkins back for this match, but it was a game time decision," head coach Ali Kazemaini said. "We were happy he was able to come back, he made a real difference in the second half."
Adkins suffered a foot injury after the second match of the season and had not been back on the field prior to the UIC match.
The win, Cleveland State's first on the road this season, improved the Vikings to 3-4-0. UIC fell to 2-5-0.
After the teams played to a scoreless first half, Aslinn Rodas opened up the match, taking the ball, dribbling down a clear field, and kicking the ball past the UIC netminder and into the lower left corner at the 49:35 mark for his first career goal as a Viking.
"Rodas played really well," Kazemaini said. "We got Audric Kilroy back (he missed a game after earning a red card against SIU-Edwardsville on Sept. 17) and decided to move him to forward for this match. Kilroy's experience and ability drew the attention of UIC's defenders and freed Aslinn up to have a great game."
Rodas also recorded an assist on Adkins' game-winner.
The Vikings added an insurance goal slightly less than two minutes later. Manuel Conde found John Wargo on the side of the net, and Wargo increased CSU's lead to 2-0.
"Going up ahead and getting that second goal was huge for us," Kazemaini said. "In our other road matches, we would get down early and that would throw us off our game. Being up 2-0 gave us a big confidence boost and allowed us to keep playing to our strengths throughout the second half."
Eric Frazier got the Flames on the board in the 65th minute, finding the lower left corner of the net for an unassisted goal.
Adkins scored what would be the game-winner at the 79:33 mark. UIC cut the Vikings' lead to one less than two minutes later, when Derek Huffman took a quick pass from Slobodan Aleksov and fired a shot past CSU goalkeeper Brad Stuver. Cleveland State's defense protected the lead for the remainder of the game.
"Our defense played solid," Kazemaini said. "Before this game, we talked about being mentally strong on the road. Tonight, we had some trouble. After getting up 2-0 we let them score, and then we let them score again after Adkins' goal. But we didn't break."
Stuver recorded four saves in the win.
The Vikings will remain in Chicago for a match against Loyola (1-5-1, 1-0-0 HL) on Sunday, Sept. 26. The contest is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. CDT.
"It was good to get a win, but we need to remain focused," Kazemaini said. "We have another tough contest on Sunday. This was a good confidence win for us, but we have to stay humble and determined if we want to get another road win against Loyola."
