Sept. 21, 2004

Final Stats

Contact: David Barry

The Cleveland State men's soccer team dropped its second straight match Tuesday night, a 2-1 overtime loss at IPFW. Sophomore forward Seth Matisak scored his first CSU goal in the loss.

IPFW struck first in the 36th minute on a goal from Billy Foreman. The Vikings fought back to play a strong second half, keyed by the goal from Matisak. It came in the 76th minute after Cameron Husty won a ball on the flank, drew the defense in, and slipped a through ball to Matisak, who calmy placed the ball in the back of the net. For the second straight match, though, the Vikings failed to convert some critical chances in the second half.

"We absolutely, totally dominated the second half," coach Pete Curtis said. "Ninety percent of the play was in their side, and we had plenty of chances that we squandered. We're not converting anywhere near enough of our opportunities. But you've got to credit IPFW. They withstood an awful lot of pressure and came out of the box quicker in OT."

After watching CSU outshoot them 7-3 in the second half, the Mastodons scored just over two minutes after the overtime whistle blew. Seth Fishelton played a cross from the right side that found the head of Billy Foreman, who sent a looping header into the top corner to secure the win for IPFW.

CSU had a chance to win it in regulation, when, with four minutes left, the team put together a beautiful sequence that culminated in a backheel from Julien Meunier to the feet of Matisak, who put the shot wide. The Vikings outshot IPFW, 14-9, in the match.

"The guys are bitterly disappointed," Curtis said. "We've got to regroup, put these errors out of our system, and hopefully do it right on Friday. These last two games are preparing us for conference matches. If we don't make these mistakes in conference play, then we're going to be alright."

Cleveland State will try to get back on track when it hosts Xavier Friday at 4:00 at Lost Nation Sports Park in Mentor.