The Cleveland State men's soccer team came away with a win today as they beat Niagara, 2-1. With the victory, CSU improves to 2-3-1 on the season, while Niagara falls to 2-3-1.
"We didn't change much from the way we played Friday against Buffalo," head coach Ali Kazemaini said. "We played both teams very well, and were able to come away with the result that we wanted today. We played better defense against Niagara, and this helped us in transitions to offense."
Stephen Byer scored the first goal for the Vikings in the 24th minute giving CSU a 1-0 lead. Byer was able to beat the Niagara keeper with a header from inside the box, off an assist by Slavisa Ubiparipovic.
Four minutes later Niagara was able to find the back of the net as Bryan DaCruz had a tap in, beating Viking goalkeeper Brad Stuver, tying the match at 1-1. The assist on the play went to Michael Cunningham.
The Vikings secured a 2-1 lead five minutes before halftime when Josh Williams recorded his third goal of the season, and what would eventually become the game winning goal. Williams beat the keeper from five feet out, after he got the ball from Marco DiFranco on a corner kick. This marks the second time this season the duo of Williams and DiFranco have been successful off a corner kick play.
"We needed this win going into next weekend when we face Loyola and UIC," Kazemaini said. "The win gives everybody confidence going into next weekend, and the last thing I wanted was to go into the Loyola game with a loss. We were disappointed after Friday's match but we were able to come back against Niagara and finish offensive plays that we started."
Going into the second half CSU had a 10-5 lead in shots, ending the contest with a 13-11 lead. Six of the shots for the Vikings were on goal, Williams and Byer each recorded a pair, while Aaron Adkins and DiFranco each added one. Stuver tallied three saves throughout 90 minutes of play in the net.
"Now we can have four good days of training to prepare for Loyola and UIC," Kazemaini said. "We will finally start conference play, and it will be against two very good teams who are both top teams in the league."
The Vikings return to Krenzler Field this weekend as they begin Horizon League play against the top two teams in the preseason polls. CSU will host Loyola on Friday (Sept. 25) at 7:00 p.m. and UIC on Sunday (Sept. 27) at 1:00 p.m.