When Ohio U. visits Cleveland State U. tonight, several “firsts” will be on the line.
The Bobcats (2-2-0) look to hand the Vikings their first home loss of the season in Ohio’s first ever trip to Krenzler Field. A win for the Bobcats would be a welcome result for the beginning game of a lengthy stretch of road matches.
This year, the Vikings (4-1-1) have taken advantage of a schedule that features a hearty 10 home games, the most in the program’s seven-year history. Cleveland State has outscored its opponents 13-5 at home and has netted at least two goals in every contest. The Vikings are 4-0-1 on their home turf.
The Bobcats have a career record of 2-1-0 against Cleveland State, with all three matches being played in Athens. Krenzler Field might be new to Ohio, but coach Stacy Strauss sees the venue as just another place for her team to play its own style.
“It’s always difficult to play on someone else’s home turf,” she said. “They do have a nice field. It should help our style of play if we can settle the ball and move it around them.”
Krenzler Field opened in 1985 and was renovated in 2005 to replace the grass surface with FieldTurf.
The Vikings are 15-29-4 in their time at Krenzler Field and have never won five games at the stadium in a season. That could change if they beat the Bobcats tonight.
Strauss said her team would have to match the intensity of Wednesday’s match against Marshall to pick up the win.
“I think we need to match our physical effort (from the Marshall game) and stay organized defensively,” she said. “There’s a few improvements we need to make to expect another win.”
Those improvements include clearing the ball better and playing stronger defense in the final 30 minutes, she said. Strauss also wants her forwards to take more chances against an aggressive Cleveland State squad.
“They’re hard-working, physical,” she said. “We need to ensure we do a good job to take advantage where we have numbers up.”
Another First
Rachael Goulding will make her first start of the 2010 campaign tonight. The fifth-year senior defender was redshirted in 2008 to play for the Canadian U20 World Cup team. The NCAA granted her a fifth year of eligibility, provided she sat out the beginning of the season.