Bowling Green State University
TOLEDO
Falcons, Rockets Battle to 1-1 Tie at Cochrane
October 30, 2008 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 30, 2008
Final Stats
BGSU-Toledo Boxscore in PDF Format 
MAC Tournament Pairings Release in PDF Format
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - Freshman Megan Amann's second-half goal helped the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team earn a 1-1, double-overtime tie with the University of Toledo Thursday afternoon (Oct. 30). The Mid-American Conference game, the final regular-season contest for both teams, was held at Cochrane Field.
The tie gives the Falcons an overall record of 11-5-4, and BGSU finishes MAC regular-season action with a 6-3-2 league ledger. The Rockets are now 13-4-1 and 8-2-1, respectively.
BGSU has earned the fourth seed for the 2008 MAC Tournament, and will host fifth-seeded Western Michigan University in quarterfinal-round action Sunday afternoon (Nov. 2).
Brittany Hensler scored the Rockets' goal after a BG giveaway, giving the visitors the lead midway through the first half. Amann's equalizer came early in the second half, before the teams battled through 53 more minutes of scoreless soccer, including the overtimes.
"We congratulated the team at the end of the game," said BGSU head coach Andy Richards. "We congratulated them for achieving our first objective of the year, which is to qualify for the MAC Tournament, as well as for meeting our second objective by earning a home game in the quarterfinals.
"Our group of seniors (Brianne Eisenhard, Susan Hunter, Kristin McDonald, Gina Rossi, Corbie Yee and Christy Zabek) deserve special mention. They have led this team very well all year, and have achieved another target of earning a home quarterfinal berth in each of the last four years."
The game statistics were relatively even, with the Falcons holding a 15-14 advantage in shots, but the Rockets putting six of their shots on goal to BG's five. Redshirt sophomore Alexa Arsenault made five saves in her complete-match effort.
For the Rockets, goalkeepers Vicki Traven and Andrea Plewes made two saves apiece. Plewes replaced Traven exactly 25 minutes into the match, prior to the kickoff after UT's goal.
That goal came after a BG backpass took a bad hop and bounced over the foot of a Falcon defender near midfield. Hensler was the first one to the ball, and outraced the BG defense, taking the ball into the penalty area and converting her breakaway for a 1-0 Rocket lead.
Hensler's goal marked the first allowed by the Falcons at home since Aug. 31.
BGSU had six shots in the first half, with arguably the Falcons' best chance coming in the final moments. Junior Stacey Lucas took a corner kick -- one of only three in the entire game -- which found the head of classmate Samantha Bland in the box. But, Bland's header sailed over the goal.
Amann put the Falcons on the board with a nifty goal just over 11 minutes into the second period. The freshman took a pass from Yee, made a spin move worthy of Barry Sanders to give herself some space, whirled and fired a shot from the left side of the area. The shot sailed past Plewes into the right side of the goal, knotting the contest at 1-1.
The Falcons seemed to be energized by the Amann goal. After UT had controlled the play in the opening half, BG seemed to have the advantage over much of the second half.
Several minutes after Amann's goal, Yee fired a wicked half-volley after the ball bounced off the shoulder of a UT defender. Yee's shot, from the right side of the box, sailed wide of the target.
With 11 minutes left in regulation, Eisenhard flicked a ball ahead to Yee, who fired a right-side cross into the area, but the Falcons could not get a shot on goal.
Just under three minutes remained in the half when a Rocket free kick sailed into the area. Ali Leak redirected the ball on goal, but Arsenault made the stop, and the game wound up heading to OT.
In the first overtime period, UT's Erin Flynn lifted a dangerous ball into the penalty area, but Arsenault made a diving grab before a Rocket striker could get there.
At the other end of the field, BGSU built up a scoring threat, as sophs Jackie Tamerlano and Katie Stephenson and Amann worked the ball into the UT end of the pitch. Amann's left-side cross headed toward fellow freshman Alyssa Zuccaro, but a Rocket defender got a head on the ball just before Zuccaro could get there. The header, however, was not enough to divert the cross too far off course, and McDonald was able to get her head on the ball. But, the shot sailed wide.
Neither team had a grade-A scoring chance over the rest of the afternoon, and the match wound up a 1-1 draw.
As mentioned, the Falcons have earned a MAC Tournament quarterfinal home match, and will host Western Michigan. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Sunday (Nov. 2) at Cochrane.
"The season starts again now; everyone is level," said Richards. "We are excited for our game on Sunday.
"More than anything, we have to continue to get a little bit better each game, as we have done all year. We also need to take care of the critical moments of the game. If we can do those things, I think we can do well in the tournament. We are delighted to be in it, we are delighted to be hosting a game, and we excited to get the 'business end' of the season started."
NOTES
* Falcon freshman Hannah Merritt sang the National Athem before Thursday's game.
* As mentioned, Toledo's goal was the first allowed by the BGSU defense at Cochrane Field since the Aug. 31 game vs. Michigan State.
* The Rockets' goal snapped BGSU's home shutout streak at 687:50 ... the school record remains 946:02, set from Sept. 11, 2005 to Sept. 3, 2006.
* BGSU now has a home record of 7-1-1 this season ... the Falcons have outscored opponents, 24-4, at Cochrane Field this fall to date.
* In 15 series meetings between BGSU and Toledo through the years, the home team has won only twice ... the Falcons are now 1-3-3 in home games vs. the Rockets, but BGSU is 6-1-0 all-time in road games against UT, including a perfect 6-0-0 mark at Scott Park Field ... one series match -- last year's MAC Tournament championship game -- was held at a neutral site.
* The Falcons lead the overall series with Toledo by a 7-4-4 margin.
* Six of the seven BGSU-UT games at Cochrane Field have gone to overtime.
* The Falcons end the MAC schedule with an all-time record of 59-59-13 in conference regular-season matches.
* Freshman Megan Amann's goal on Thursday was her second of the season ... she also scored in the Falcons' win over Miami on Oct. 12 ... Amann, who has a team-leading eight assists, is now tied for second on the Falcons with 12 points.
* Amann now has a point-scoring streak of three games, the longest of her brief collegiate career.
* Senior Corbie Yee drew the assist on Amann's goal ... Yee now has four assists and 16 points to set new career standards in each category ... she had six goals, three helpers and 15 points as a freshman in 2005 ... Yee has matched that goal total in '08.
* Yee now has 51 career points, ranking fifth in school history ... she has 13 career assists, moving past Michelle Lisy (12 from 1997-2000) into sole possession of ninth place on that Falcon career chart.
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