SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Cleveland State (0-1-0) suffered a 2-1 season opening loss to Santa Clara (1-0-0) on Thursday afternoon. The game in California was the furthest the Vikings have played away from home under coach Ubiparipovic.
The opening half went scoreless with Santa Clara holding a slim 7-5 advantage in shots, but both teams had a shot on goal.
The Broncos capitalized on a few bad clearances by the backline less than a minute into the new half to claim a 1-0 lead. However, the Vikings drew even nine minutes later as
Domenic Ruggiero headed in his first collegiate goal off a pair of passes from
Bora Eldem and
Tom Mertz.
Santa Clara notched the game-winner in the 82nd minute as the Broncos converted on a through ball inside the box.
The Vikings held a 12-7 edge in shots during the second half and an overall 17-14 advantage in the game. The shots on goal favored CSU 7-4. Each team took seven corners in the game.
Mertz had a game-best five shots with three on goal.
Uzman Ramees and Ruggiero each had three shots off the bench.
Stephen Yerian made two saves in goal.
The Vikings make their home debut on Friday, Aug. 28 against Mercyhurst at 7 p.m.
