Falcon Offense Explodes for 4-3 Win at Buffalo

Friday, October 16

Buffalo, N.Y.

7:30 PM

Bowling Green State University

Buffalo

Jacob Lawrence (27) scored twice at Buffalo, while fellow co-captain Hunter Van Houten had a pair of assists

October 16, 2009 | Men's Soccer

By: BUFFALO, N.Y. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Senior Jacob Lawrence scored a pair of goals, the last coming on a penalty kick with just 4:27 left in the match, as the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team picked up a road win, 4-3, over the University at Buffalo Friday night (Oct. 16). The Mid-American Conference match was held at UB Stadium.

BGSU 4, BUFFALO 3 - Final Statistics | BGSU 4, BUFFALO 3 - PDF Boxscore

With the win, the Falcons improve to 2-8-2 overall and 1-2-0 in MAC play. The Bulls drop to 5-8-0 and 0-3-0, respectively.

"I'm very happy for the guys," said Falcon head coach Eric Nichols. "They put in a great effort for a complete 90 minutes. There were several times where they could have caved -- when UB came back and tied the game just after halftime, when they took the lead -- but we persevered.

"The guys kept playing, they believed in themselves and I'm very happy they finally got the reward they deserved."

Senior Cameron Hepple also scored twice, in his first appearance after missing four matches due to injury. Senior Hunter Van Houten had a pair of assists on the night. Freshman Dylan Schoettley, making his first collegiate start in goal, had five saves to pick up his first win as a Falcon.

BGSU took a 1-0 lead into the halftime intermission, after Lawrence had scored his first goal of the night, off of a Van Houten corner kick, at the 30:36 mark. Van Houten, like Lawrence a 2009 senior co-captain, picked up the lone assist on the goal.

The second half would produce no fewer than six goals, including five in a span of less than 20 minutes. Lucas Bassan got the home team on the scoreboard just 95 seconds into the half, with Mike Unwin assisting.

Unwin scored a goal of his own at the 66:41 mark to give the Bulls the lead for the first time. For Unwin, UB's leading scorer, the goal was his seventh of the season.

But, the Falcons responded by tying the score less than three minutes later. Hepple scored from approximately 15 yards out, on an assist from Van Houten, at the 69:25 mark.

With under 14 minutes remaining in the period, Hepple would find the net again, giving the Brown and Orange the lead. Hepple, who had missed the previous four matches due to injury, has scored seven goals in just eight matches this year to date. The Falcons led, 3-2, with 13:32 on the clock.

"I'm very happy for Cameron," said Nichols. "He's been really frustrated with having to sit out for the last four weeks. To be be able to come back after such an extensive break from game action, and to be as sharp and good as he was, it says a lot about his character and his toughness. We already knew he was a great soccer player, but we saw another side of him tonight, and it's pretty impressive."

But, back came the Bulls, as Alex Marrello scored on a long shot. Only 2:12 after Hepple's goal, the home team had tied the score.

The Falcons, however, got what would prove to be the winning goal wth under five minutes remaining, as Lawrence converted a penalty kick after a UB foul in the penalty box.

The Bulls held a 16-11 advantage in shot attempts, including an 8-6 edge in shots on goal. Schoettley, as mentioned, made five saves in earning his first collegiate victory. Ryan Lewis had two saves for the Bulls.

The Falcons will step outside of MAC play for a Wednesday (Oct. 21) match at Michigan State, before hosting Hartwick on Sunday, Oct. 25. BGSU's final three MAC matches -- Hartwick, Northern Illinois (Oct. 31) and Florida Atlantic (Nov. 7), all will be held at Cochrane Field.

FALCON TEAM NOTES
* For the Falcons, the win snapped a 10-match winless streak ... BGSU's other win in 2009 came in the season opener, as BG picked up a 2-0 win over Marshall on Sept. 1.

* The win marked the first MAC victory, as well as the first road win at BG, for first-year head coach Eric Nichols.

* The victory snapped a 10-match losing streak to MAC teams, dating to the 2007 season ... BGSU's last win over a conference foe came on Nov. 2, 2007, a 3-1 triumph over Northern Illinois at Cochrane Field ... believe it or not, the Falcons had been outscored, 24-1, in those 10 losses.

* The win was BG's first on the road against a MAC team in nearly three years, since a 2-1 victory at Western Michigan in MAC Tournament play on Oct. 31, 2006.

* BGSU had not won a regular-season conference road game in over six years, since a 1-0, double-overtime win at UB on Oct. 3, 2003.

* The Falcons' four-goal total was the team's highest in almost two years, since a 4-1 home win over Western Michigan on Oct. 27, 2007 ... BGSU last scored as many as four goals on the road on Sept. 24, 2004, in a 7-4 loss at Ohio State.

* The Falcons now lead Buffalo, 8-6-0, in the all-time series between the teams, but Friday's win snapped a five-match series losing streak ... BG is 5-2-0 in road games vs. the Bulls.

FALCON PLAYER NOTES
* Senior co-captain Jacob Lawrence scored his first two goals of the year in Friday's win at UB ... he now has eight goals and 20 points in his Falcon career.

* Lawrence has three career game-winning goals, all coming in the last two seasons ... he scored winners in back-to-back games vs. Central Arkansas (Sept. 13) and IPFW (Sept. 19) last season.

* For Lawrence, Friday marked the second multi-goal game of his Falcon career ... he also had two goals in last year's win over UCA (Sept. 13).

* Senior Cameron Hepple's goals were his sixth and seventh of the season, most on the team ... Hepple has scored those seven goals in a total of just eight matches ... the UB game was his first after missing the previous four games due to injury ... he had not seen game action since the IPFW match of Sept. 20.

* Hepple now has a three-game point-scoring streak, having scored a hat trick at Dayton (Sept. 18) and adding an assist in the IPFW game.

* Hepple's totals of seven goals and 15 points are the highest by a BGSU player in four years, since Omari Aldridge had 11 goals and 25 points in 2005.

* Hepple now has career totals of 14 goals, nine assists and 37 points ... he is the Falcons' active career leader in all three categories.

* Senior Hunter Van Houten had a two-point night, with a pair of assists ... Van Houten now has 17 career points, on four goals and nine assists ... Van Houten is tied with Hepple for the active career lead in assists.