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CLEVELAND - The IUPUI women's soccer team opened Horizon League play with a 3-1 loss at Cleveland State on Friday night (Sept. 14) as the Vikings tallied a pair of unanswered goals after the match was tied at 1-1. CSU's McKenna Vento scored twice, including the game-winner, and senior teammate Sarah Krause contributed two assists for the victors. 

IUPUI (2-5-2, 0-1 HL) junior Emma Chambers tallied her first career goal on a penalty kick in the game's 20th minute to account for the Jaguars' scoring.

"We did not make the plays we needed to make in order to win the game," head coach Chris Johnson said. "We had a couple decent chances in each half and we had some decent chances on restarts, but we just weren't necessarily in the right spots at the right time and didn't make the most of them.

"They're a very fast, very senior-heavy team and we're just not there yet. Their intensity of it from the first whistle was that of a senior-laden team and we just didn't match them."

Cleveland State (5-4, 1-0 HL) needed exactly 121 seconds to take a 1-0 lead as Vento slipped a shot past junior goalie Sophia Lipka from the left side to break open the scoring.  

IUPUI pulled even in the 20th minute on Chambers' PK, setup by Valentine Pursey. Pursey was simply trying to receive a throw-in with her back to goal when she was clearly knocked to the ground by a CSU defender, earning the penalty. CSU keeper Stevie Holbrook guessed wrong and Chambers easily rolled home a shot for her first career score. 

However, the game stayed tied for less than nine minutes before the hosts took the lead for good. This time, IUPUI had trouble clearing out a corner kick as the ball found Vento near the top of the 18. The CSU attacker rolled a shot through traffic and Lipka was unable to get a clean read as the ball eluded her for an unassisted score. 

Enthusiasm on both sides was quelled at the start of the second half when CSU forward Jenna Prathapa went down with an injury in the 50th minute. The match was delayed for more than 30 minutes as she lie on the turf awaiting the arrival of an ambulance.

The resumption of play saw CSU essentially put the game away in the 54th minute when Krause rolled a cross against the grain of the defense to a streaking Ja'Maya Ward, who finished the play from the doorstep. 

IUPUI just missed chances in both halves as Renae Blevins tested Holbrook in the 32nd minute, only to see the CSU keeper punch the shot off the crossbar. Late in regulation, IUPUI's top scorer Miranda Ricks had a shot hit the bar as well. 

Lipka closed with two saves while Holbrook made five stops in the win. Vento paced all players with five shot attempts while Blevins and Ricks had two each for the Jags. 

IUPUI will return home to host Valparaiso on Sunday (Sept. 16) at 1:00 p.m. at Michael A. Carroll Stadium in a match that will be aired on ESPN+. Scott Agness (pxp) will be on the call of that contest.