Oct. 5, 2011

Final Stats

Contact: Greg Murphy

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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Natalie Daniels scored in the 10th minute and the Cleveland State defense notched its fourth shutout of the season as the Vikings earned a 1-0 win at Butler in Horizon League action on Wednesday afternoon at the Butler Bowl.

The Vikings improved to 8-4-1 overall and 1-2-1 in league play. The eight wins are tied for the second most in a single season in the eight-year history of the program, one shy of tying the record of nine victories set last year.

Butler fell to 7-6-1 overall and 2-2 in league play.

"This was a gritty, gritty win for us today," head coach Derrek Falor said. "We came out very calm and relaxed and played the way I know we are capable of playing. We hit a little lull over the previous 10 days, but I think today showed the kind of team we are.

"Butler is a very talented team and we wanted to limit their chances of getting behind us and our defense stepped up to the challenge. We limited the touches they got in the final third of the field and really stuck to the game plan. We haven't had much success coming in here and winning so to come away with three points is a huge boost for us."

Senior Natalie Daniels provided the lone offense of the day, scoring 10 minutes into the contest. Daniels worked her way through a slew of defenders before firing a shot from just outside the box on the right side that found its way to the upper left corner of the goal.

"That was typical Natalie and the kind of goal we need her to score for us," Falor said. "She is able to beat that first defender and if she gets a window, she can finish from outside the box."

That was the only goal CSU was need despite being out-shot by Butler, 15-6.

That was in large part to the Viking defense as the fourth shutout moved this year's squad into second place in the CSU record books for most shutouts in a season (record is seven last season).

Becky Williams made five saves to earn her fourth shutout of the season. Since taking over as the starting goalkeeper in early September, Williams has posted a 1.06 goals against average and an .800 save percentage.

"We were much more aggressive to the ball today than we have been the last few matches and that was good to see," Falor said.

CSU returns back home for a few days before hitting the road back to Indiana for a 1:00 p.m. match at Valparaiso on Sunday (Oct. 9).