Cleveland, Ohio - The Robert Morris University men's soccer team dropped a 4-0 decision to Cleveland State on Saturday night, an eerily similar result to a 5-0 loss they suffered to Akron in their 2005 opener. The Colonials went on to win the Northeast Conference championship in 2005 and finished with an 11-8-1 record.
For Cleveland State (1-0-0), it marked their first win in 25 matches after going 0-17-1 in 2005.
The Vikings drew first blood in the 18th minute as Nenad Stojkovic scored on a penalty kick. Andrew Gutting doubled the lead to 2-0 in the 28th minute as he broke in alone on Colonials sophomore keeper Matt Felice (Missisagua, Ontario / Phillip Pocock) and beat him to the far corner.
The Colonials (0-1-0) were forced to play the last 55 minutes of the match a man down after junior Ryan Zabinski (New Cumberland, Pa. / Cedar Cliff) was given a red card in the 35th minute. He was issued a yellow card, one of six issued in the match, following the Vikings second goal.
Peter Wagner made it 3-0 in the 49th minute as Gutting earned an assist to go with his earlier goal. Cleveland State capped the scoring in the 84th minute when Marco DiFranco found the top-right corner from 20 yards out.
The Vikings held the edge in shots, 16-9, while the Colonials earned 10 corner kicks to the hosts eight. Felice finished with six saves in goal while Kasey Gray earned the shutout with two saves. A total of 38 fouls were called in the game, 25 on CSU, in addition to seven cards (six yellow, one red).
Robert Morris returns to the pitch Sunday, August 27, when they host Manhattan in their season opener at North Athletic Complex for a noon start.
