Senior Luis Gamez (The Dalles, Ore.) set up freshman Marshall Kosaka (Burien, Wash.) ten minutes into the second half and goalie Emerson DeOliveira (Normandy Park, Wash.) continued his solid play from last season as the Seattle University men’s soccer team defeated Cleveland State of the Horizon League, 1-0, Saturday evening at the UC Irvine College Classic in Anteater Stadium.
After a scoreless first half and a couple of unsuccessful Cleveland State shots, Gamez took the ball inside the box and found Kosaka at the left post. Kosaka’s shot in the 55th minute went through Viking goalie Nick Harpel for Seattle’s first goal of the 2008 season after three scoreless exhibition matches in the preseason.
Cleveland State’s best scoring chances came 12 minutes later, as Justin Mancine’s shot got past DeOliveira but was sent away by the Redhawk defense. On the ensuing corner kick, Josh Williams was able to get his head on the ball, but DeOliveira prevented the header shot from tying the match.
DeOliveira made the last of his five saves on a shot by Marco DiFranco with less than nine minutes remaining in regulation. Harpel picked up three saves during the match. Cleveland State (0-1) finished with a slight shot advantage, 11-9, but Seattle University earned one more corner kick than the Vikings did, 4-3. It was a relatively clean match, with only nine fouls called on each team and no cards issued to either side.
Seattle University (1-0) will look to continue the momentum Monday, Sept. 1, as it faces North Florida on the second day of the UC Irvine College Classic beginning at 11:30 a.m. The Redhawks then return to open the home schedule against Chico State Friday, Sept. 5, beginning at 3:30 p.m. at Championship Field.