Sept. 24, 2006
Box Score
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Senior midfielder Javier Lopez scored his first goal of the season in the 34th minute of Loyola's 1-0 win against Cleveland State on Sunday at Krenzler Field. The Ramblers have won six of their last seven games, including five in a row, and now stand at 6-3 overall and 1-0 in Horizon League play. Cleveland State fell to 3-6-1 and 0-2 in the Horizon League.
Loyola's five-game win streak is tied for the second longest in school history. The Ramblers won five consecutive games between Oct. 8-19, 1983 while a seven-match win streak in the 1984 season between Sept. 29 and Oct. 13 stands as the school record.
The Ramblers got solid performances in every part of the game for their fourth straight shutout victory and third consecutive win against the Vikings. Loyola put pressure on the Cleveland State defense early in the game and had quality scoring chances throughout,
"We were able to create great scoring chances today," head coach Brendan Eitz said. "The CSU goal keeper made some excellent saves to keep them in the match."
Loyola outshot Cleveland State 13-7 for the game and 7-1 in the first half. Lopez capitalized on one of those first half chances at the 33:12 mark with a header off a left cross from Matt Kilday for his seventh career goal to give the Ramblers a 1-0 advantage they would never relinquish. The assist from Kilday was the first point of his career.
The Rambler defenders and goal keeper Sean Bond responded to late-game pressure from the Viking offense with two saves for the sixth shutout of the season, and fourth in as many games, spanning the last 384:59 of play. The current four-match shutout streak is tied for the longest in school history. In 1984, Loyola held opponents scoreless for four games between Sept. 19 and Oct. 1.
"The guys have held our opponents scoreless for over six hours," Eitz said. "Our goal keeper and backs deserve a lot of credit, but the team as a whole has trained hard on the system."
Loyola looks to extend its winning streak to six games as it hosts 14th-ranked Northwestern in its final non-conference game at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at Loyola Soccer Park.
