Bowling Green State University
TOLEDO
Falcons Win at Toledo, 3-2, to Capture MAC Championship
October 28, 2005 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 28, 2005
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TOLEDO, Ohio - Senior Samantha Meister scored a pair of goals to help the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team to a 3-2 win at the University of Toledo Friday afternoon (Oct. 28) at Scott Park. With the victory, the Falcons also clinched the 2005 Mid-American Conference regular-season championship for the first time in school history.
BGSU's victory gives head coach Andy Richards and the Falcons an overall record of 13-6-0 to close the regular season, and BG ended MAC play with a 9-2-0 mark, best in school history. The Falcons will be the number-one seed for the 2005 MAC Tournament, which opens Tuesday (Nov. 1) with quarterfinal-round matches at campus sites.
The Rockets drop to 10-7-1 and 5-5-1, respectively.
Friday's result, as well as the results of other matches around the conference on the final day of the regular season, set up a BGSU-UT rematch in the MAC Tournament's quarterfinal round. The Falcons will host the Rockets at Cochrane Field Tuesday, with kickoff at 1:00 p.m.
 Senior Samantha Meister had two goals in Friday's win at UT  |
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For the hosts, Kelly Langenbeck scored both goals, giving her a MAC-leading 10 on the season.
Meister nearly put the Falcons on the board in the first minute of play, redirecting a pass on goal, but UT 'keeper Jen Whipple was able to make the save. Freshman Corbie Yee put a shot on goal with just over two minutes gone in the match, but Whipple made a dive and stopped the shot just inside the post.
Neither team had a great scoring chance for nearly a half-hour's time, but the Falcons made the most of the next chance. Yee took the ball down the left side of the field and passed to senior Britt Anderson on the left side of the penalty area. Anderson took a few touches, then slid a picture-perfect pass to a charging Meister.
Meister, at the top of the 18-yard box, hit the ball in stride, blistering her shot into the top of the netting, just under the crossbar. Yee and Anderson assisted on the goal, which came at the 32:37 mark.
Less than four minutes later, the Falcons struck again. After a Meister shot was deflected out of bounds for a BG corner kick, junior Lindsay Carter curved that corner toward the far post. Bremen was there to direct the ball into the net for a two-goal lead. The Falcons took that 2-0 advantage into halftime.
Once the second half began, however, it didn't take the Rockets long to find the back of the net. With a minute elapsed, UT won a corner, and Langenbeck knocked Pene Hughes' kick home to cut the home team's deficit to 2-1.
Five minutes later, Brianne Eisenhard nearly restored the Falcons' two-goal lead with a well-placed low shot, but Whipple blocked the ball out of play for a corner.
This time, senior Julie Trundle took the kick, and her ball found Meister at the far post. Meister headed it home to increase the BG lead to 3-1 with 37:52 left in the half. But, UT would strike right back.
Only 33 seconds later, Langenbeck picked up a loose ball near the top of the penalty area and knocked it into the lower left corner of the net. With over 37 minutes left in the second half, the Falcons' lead was again down to a single goal.
But, the BG defense would hold off the Rockets, despite a whopping five UT corner kicks in the final 10 minutes of the half. With just under seven minutes left in the match, off of one of those corner kicks, Langenbeck took a shot that Trundle blocked on the goal line.
Shingler stopped one UT threat with a minute and a half remaining, leaping high to snare a crossing ball. But, the hosts had one threat left in them.
With just 10 seconds left, the Rockets took the final corner kick of the day. Hughes' kick found the head of Pam Richard, who directed the shot on goal. But, Shingler made a leaping save as the public address announcer was in the midst of his 10-second countdown, and the senior goalie punted the ball out of the BG end as the clock hit zero.
Whipple made five saves on the day, three in the first half. All four of Shingler's saves came in the final 45 minutes, as the Rockets held a 9-4 advantage in second-half shots.
"I don't know if it has all sunk in yet," said Richards after the match. "At the beginning of the season, our first ambition was to go to the postseason. As things went on, we thought, 'maybe we can get a home berth.' And, now here we are in this position.
"It is a great achievement, and it is a reflection of everything the players have put into the program and the season. We have done it with a tough schedule, with seven of our 11 MAC games on the road. I think it gives our program a tremendous amount of respect. After winning the MAC Tournament last year, to come back and win the regular season this year says a lot.
"There is no substitute for the amount of experience our seniors have. We got all three goals from seniors today. I was especially pleased for Sam Meister, who has had a broken nose (in 2002) and a broken ankle (last year) on this field. For her to come back and score two goals today, I am delighted, because she has been through some tough times here.
"Really, I am just happy for everyone who has put every ounce of energy into this program. It is not just the kids who were on the field today, but everyone in practice. We had an unbelievable week of practice, in terms of the players' intensity, and that didn't come just from the players who played in the game today. Everyone on the team should take credit in the performance.
"We always talk about the fact that the MAC is incredibly competitive. That's why it is an exciting conference to play in, but also, that is why I am so proud of what these girls achieved. Out of 11 games, they managed to be successful in nine of them, and that is one heck of an achievement."
For the match, each team had 12 total shots, with BG owning an 8-6 shots-on-goal margin. UT's 10-4 advantage in corner kicks included an 8-1 edge in the second half.
The Falcons and Rockets, as mentioned, will do battle again on Tuesday at Cochrane Field. The winner will advance to Friday's (Nov. 4) semifinal round to face either Eastern Michigan or Miami. The MAC Tournament's championship match will be on Sunday, Nov. 6.
NOTES
Quarterfinals
Tuesday, November 1 (at campus sites)
#8 Toledo at #1 Bowling Green
#5 Eastern Michigan at #4 Miami
#6 Central Michigan at #3 Western Michigan
#7 Kent State at #2 Ball State
Semifinals
Friday, November 4 (at highest remaining seed)
BGSU-UT winner vs. Miami-EMU winner
WMU-CMU winner vs. BSU-KSU winner
Championship
Sunday, November 6 (at semifinal site)
Semifinal winners
MAC STANDINGS
(final regular-season standings)
Team (Overall) MAC Pts. Bowling Green (13-6-0) 9-2-0 27 Ball State (15-3-1) 8-2-1 25 Western Mich. (10-7-1) 8-3-0 24 Miami (8-8-0) 6-5-0 18 Eastern Mich. (8-10-1) 6-5-0 18 Central Mich. (6-9-3) 5-4-2 17 Kent State (8-8-3) 5-4-2 17 Toledo (10-7-1) 5-5-1 16 Akron (5-11-2) 3-7-1 10 Buffalo (5-11-2) 3-7-1 10 Northern Ill. (5-11-2) 3-8-0 9 Ohio (3-14-0) 1-10-0 3
FRIDAY'S MAC RESULTS
Bowling Green 3, at Toledo 2
Ball State 2, at Miami 1
at Eastern Mich. 4, Central Mich. 1
Western Mich. 2, at Northern Ill. 1
at Akron 3, Ohio 0
at Buffalo 0, Kent State 0 (2-OT)
