
Falcons Soar Past FAU, 3-0, on Senior Day
November 07, 2009 | Men's Soccer
Hepple scores twice; Schoettley & BG defense keep clean sheet
The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team put it all together Saturday afternoon (Nov. 7), picking up a 3-0 win over Florida Atlantic University. The Mid-American Conference match, the final 2009 contest for both schools, was held at Cochrane Field.
STATISTICAL INFORMATION
BGSU 3, FLORIDA ATLANTIC 0 - Final Stats | BGSU 3, FLORIDA ATLANTIC 0 - PDF Boxscore
BGSU CUMULATIVE STATS - PDF (1 page) | BGSU STATS PACKAGE - PDF (13 pages)
CAREER STATS FOR 2009 FALCONS - PDF (4 pages)
BGSU-FAU 'SENIOR DAY' MATCH PROGRAM - PDF | MAC TOURNAMENT BRACKET - PDF
With the win, the Falcons finish the season with an overall record of 3-12-3. In MAC play, BGSU ended with a 2-3-1 mark. The Owls end the year with marks of 4-10-2 and 0-6-0, respectively.
On 'Senior Day' at Cochrane Field, senior Cameron Hepple scored two goals, giving him 10 on the year, while sophomore Byard Ebling also found the back of the net. Freshman Dylan Schoettley earned the first clean sheet of his collegiate career, making seven saves on the afternoon.
On an unseasonably warm afternoon on Northwest Ohio, the Falcons peppered FAU goalkeepers Ciro Martinez and James McCormick with a total of 24 shots on the afternoon. BG held advantages of 24-14 in total shot attempts and 8-7 in shots on goal. The shots-on-goal category is deceiving, as the Falcons hit the crossbar with two shots and saw several more shots go just wide of the target.
All six Falcon seniors -- Hepple, Tyler Deal, Gavin Dozier, Chuko Evwaraye, Jacob Lawrence and Hunter Van Houten -- were in the starting lineup for head coach Eric Nichols, and all six contributed to the victory.
Hepple and Lawrence were thorns in the collective side of the FAU defense all game long, combining for no fewer than 14 shots. Hepple had a total of nine, the most by a BG player this season, with three on target and two eluding the FAU keepers. Lawrence had five shot attempts, also putting three on net.
It was the Owls, however, who had the first few shots of the day. Jose Guerra hit a wormburner that Schoettley deflected just wide in the first minute of the match. Then, off the ensuing corner kick, Dominic Cutrofello got his head on the ball, but his shot was directly at Schoettley.
The Falcons' two senior co-captains nearly combined for a goal with 10 minutes gone. Lawrence got his head on a Van Houten corner kick, drilling a shot on target. Martinez had no chance to make the save, but the ball was blocked by a defender on the goal line.
Two minutes later, Evwaraye put a crossing ball into the penalty area, but the ball was tipped by another FAU defender and caromed just out of the reach of Hepple.
Nearly 15 minutes had elapsed when Deal took a free kick, putting a long diagonal box onto the foot of the onrushing Hepple. Hepple got a touch on the ball, but was unable to get his shot on goal as an Owl player made contact with him.
Quickly, the visitors went on the offensive, with a cross finding FAU's leading scorer, Darnell King, in the box. But, King's header was wide of goal.
The Falcons were back at it several minutes later, as Lawrence got a boot on Hepple's cross to put a shot on goal. But, the ball went directly to Martinez.
Less than a minute later, the Brown and Orange had another close call at the offensive end. Lawrence and Hepple built the attack in the midfield area, and Hepple's through-ball found Evwaraye on the left side of the pitch. Evwaraye's shot from the left side was tipped by Martinez, and rolled to a stop near the right post. Van Houten and Martinez reached the ball at roughly the same time, and Martinez upended Van Houten as the BG senior attempted to score, sending the shot wide.
A delayed yellow card, however, was shown to FAU's Tyler McNabb, who had taken Lawrence down back near midfield.
After Schoettley broke up an FAU attack by leaping to grab a crossing ball, the Falcons threatened again. Another Deal free kick found the head of Lawrence in the penalty area. Martinez had left his goal line in an attempt to grab the free kick, but Lawrence outleaped the FAU 'keeper for the ball. His header went wide, but Evwaraye tracked it down on the right side of the penalty area. Evwaraye slid a pass to the onrushing Zach Lemke, but the redshirt freshman's shot was just wide, hitting the outside netting just wide of the near post.
With 11 minutes left in the half, FAU's McNabb was carded for taking Ebling down in the penalty box. The card was McNabb's second of the game, prompting the automatic red card and meaning that the Owls would be forced to play the final 56 minutes with 10 men.
Additionally, BGSU was awarded a penalty kick. Martinez made a dive to his right to save Lawrence's PK effort just inside the post. But, Hepple beat everyone to the ball and deposited it into the vacated net. The Falcons were on the scoreboard at the 34:03 mark.
Only 30 seconds later, Hepple was in the penalty area again, as Lawrence's forward pass found the senior striker. Hepple beat Martinez to a 50-50 ball, poking it out of the 'keeper's reach. But, he slipped as he attempted to regain possession near the end line, and FAU recovered to stop the scoring threat.
King made a nice effort at the other end of the field, after the Falcons failed to clear a cross with nine minutes left before halftime. But, the FAU sophomore's hard shot sailed high.
With just under eight minutes remaining in the half, BGSU doubled the lead. After a foul on the Owls near midfield, Van Houten hit a long free kick into the box. Martinez misjudged the kick, coming out of the net only to see the ball bounce over his head. The ball hit the crossbar, and Ebling was first on the scene to knock the rebound into the net from approximately five yards out.
Reenergized by the goal, the Falcons fired three more shots in the final five-plus minutes of the period. After receiving a nifty pass from junior Dusko Topolic, Hepple fired a shot that was just wide. Then, Lawrence got his head on a Van Houten corner kick, but saw his shot blocked out of play for another corner. Off of a short corner kick, Hepple's right-side offering was deflected by an FAU player. The Falcons took their two-goal lead into the intermission.
Early in the second period, BGSU was at it again. Van Houten's entry ball put Evwaraye down the left side of the field, and Evwaraye played a cross toward Hepple in the box. The cross was just a fraction too high, however, and Hepple was not able to get a great deal of force behind his header, hitting the ball over the bar for a goal kick.
Seven-and-a-half minutes into the period, Hepple and the Falcons scored again. This time, Schoettley boomed a long south-to-north punt well past midfield. The ball bounced once, and over a group of players as Hepple and a defender were in pursuit. After the ball took a second bounce, Hepple poked it over the head of McCormick and into the upper half of the net. Schoettley drew the lone assist on the goal, which officially came at the 52:29 mark.
Several minutes later, FAU's Karol Chorak blasted a shot from distance, but the ball whizzed wide of the right post.
Nearly midway through the period, redshirt sophomore Chris Jurtovski's pass put Hepple through on a breakaway, but McCormick blocked the ensuing shot to foil Hepple's bid for a hat trick.
Nichols removed five of his seniors, to thunderous applause, with the second period halfway over. All five would return to the match with just under 16 minutes left. Of the fourth-year players, only Deal remained in the match for the entire 90 minutes.
And, during that nine-minute span in which he was the lone senior in action, Deal hit a shot on goal. Off of a corner kick by sophomore John Barr, Deal drilled a header from the center of the box, but the shot sailed high.
Back into the game came Deal's five classmates, and Van Houten and Hepple nearly teamed up on a goal. With eight minutes remaining, Van Houten's pass found Hepple, who tried to poke the ball past McCormick. The ball got over the 'keeper, but went just past the upper-right corner of the goal.
Schoettley went high to break up a crossing attempt by FAU's Trey McEntee with just under five minutes left, and BG went on the attack again. Three seniors were involved in the play, as Van Houten's long throw in found Lawrence in the penalty box, on the left side. Lawrence's one-timer across the box found an open Evwaraye on the right side, and Evwaraye hit a one-timer of his own. The shot, however, hit off the crossbar.
With time winding down, Schoettley's final save of the day may have been his most difficult. The freshman was forced to work until the very last second for his shutout, diving to stop a hard shot from King with the scoreboard clock reading 00:01.
BGSU's advantage in shots included a 16-6 margin in the opening half. Martinez made three saves for the Owls in the first half, and was aided by one 'team save.' McCormick had one stop in the final 45 minutes of play.
The Falcons finish the regular season in fifth place in the seven-team MAC.
FALCON NOTES
* As mentioned, Saturday was 'Senior Day' at Cochrane Field, with the six seniors -- Tyler Deal, Gavin Dozier, Chuko Evwaraye, Cameron Hepple, Jacob Lawrence and Hunter Van Houten -- recognized prior to the match.
* Those six seniors combined for totals of 387 matches played, 284 matches started, 42 goals, 31 assists and 115 points in their BGSU careers ... each of the six players saw action in at least 57 matches in his four years as a Falcon.
* This season, that group combined for 16 of the Falcons' 21 goals and 11 of the team's 19 assists.
* Hepple finished the season with 10 goals and 21 points, the highest total by a Falcon in four years ... his numbers are the best for a BGSU player since Omari Aldridge had 11 goals and 25 points in the 2005 season.
* Hepple is just the second BGSU striker to hit double digits in goals in the last 13 years ... prior to Aldridge, the last Falcons to do so were Steve Klein (18 goals) and Dave Kindl (11 goals) in the 1996 season.
* Hepple had his 10 goals and 21 points in just 12 matches this season ... he missed all of six games and parts of two others due to injury ... Hepple averaged 0.83 goals and 1.75 points per game this season.
* Hepple had the third multi-goal game of his BGSU career on Saturday, with all three coming in 2009 ... he had a hat trick at Dayton on Sept. 18, and had two-goal games in both of BGSU's MAC wins, at Buffalo (Oct. 16) and against FAU.
* Hepple had the game-winning goal in two of BGSU's three victories this season, and had three career GWG.
* Lawrence finished the season with five goals, three assists and 13 points, setting personal bests in all three categories ... he was second on the team on each list this year.
* Hepple finished his BGSU career with 17 goals ... he also had nine assists for a total of 43 points as a Falcon ... Lawrence had career totals of 11 goals, six assists and 28 points in his BG tenure.
* In MAC matches, Hepple and Lawrence combined to score eight of BGSU's nine goals ... each player had four goals against conference competition.
* Lawrence had a team-leading total of nine points, on the four goals and one assist, in MAC matches ... Hepple had his four goals and eight points in just three MAC games.
* BGSU scored nine goals in MAC matches this season after scoring just one goal in seven games (six regular season, one tournament) vs. MAC foes a year ago.
* Van Houten's assist on Saturday was his fifth of the season, most on the team and a new personal best ... he had four helpers as a sophomore in 2007 ... Van Houten wound up with 11 career assists, most among anyone on the 2009 roster.
* Van Houten had four career goals, giving him a total of 19 points in his BGSU tenure ... he played in 71 career matches, most among '09 Falcons.
* Sophomore Byard Ebling's goal vs. FAU was his second of the year and the fourth of his career ... he has a career total of nine points.
* Freshman Dylan Schoettley recorded the first complete-game shutout and the first assist of his collegiate career in the same match ... Schoettley had combined with redshirt freshman Jeff Smoker on a shutout in BGSU's 2-0, season-opening win over Marshall on Sept. 1.
* BGSU now leads the series with FAU by a 2-1-0 margin ... the teams had traded 2-1 decisions in Boca Raton in the last two years, with BG picking up a victory in 2007 and the Owls getting an overtime win in '08.
* The Falcons had 10 first-half goals this season, including four in the final week of the regular season (two vs. both Detroit and FAU) ... by comparison, BGSU had only three first-half goals during the entire 2008 season.
STATISTICAL INFORMATION
BGSU 3, FLORIDA ATLANTIC 0 - Final Stats | BGSU 3, FLORIDA ATLANTIC 0 - PDF Boxscore
BGSU CUMULATIVE STATS - PDF (1 page) | BGSU STATS PACKAGE - PDF (13 pages)
CAREER STATS FOR 2009 FALCONS - PDF (4 pages)
BGSU-FAU 'SENIOR DAY' MATCH PROGRAM - PDF | MAC TOURNAMENT BRACKET - PDF
With the win, the Falcons finish the season with an overall record of 3-12-3. In MAC play, BGSU ended with a 2-3-1 mark. The Owls end the year with marks of 4-10-2 and 0-6-0, respectively.
On 'Senior Day' at Cochrane Field, senior Cameron Hepple scored two goals, giving him 10 on the year, while sophomore Byard Ebling also found the back of the net. Freshman Dylan Schoettley earned the first clean sheet of his collegiate career, making seven saves on the afternoon.
On an unseasonably warm afternoon on Northwest Ohio, the Falcons peppered FAU goalkeepers Ciro Martinez and James McCormick with a total of 24 shots on the afternoon. BG held advantages of 24-14 in total shot attempts and 8-7 in shots on goal. The shots-on-goal category is deceiving, as the Falcons hit the crossbar with two shots and saw several more shots go just wide of the target.
All six Falcon seniors -- Hepple, Tyler Deal, Gavin Dozier, Chuko Evwaraye, Jacob Lawrence and Hunter Van Houten -- were in the starting lineup for head coach Eric Nichols, and all six contributed to the victory.

Hepple and Lawrence were thorns in the collective side of the FAU defense all game long, combining for no fewer than 14 shots. Hepple had a total of nine, the most by a BG player this season, with three on target and two eluding the FAU keepers. Lawrence had five shot attempts, also putting three on net.
It was the Owls, however, who had the first few shots of the day. Jose Guerra hit a wormburner that Schoettley deflected just wide in the first minute of the match. Then, off the ensuing corner kick, Dominic Cutrofello got his head on the ball, but his shot was directly at Schoettley.
The Falcons' two senior co-captains nearly combined for a goal with 10 minutes gone. Lawrence got his head on a Van Houten corner kick, drilling a shot on target. Martinez had no chance to make the save, but the ball was blocked by a defender on the goal line.
Two minutes later, Evwaraye put a crossing ball into the penalty area, but the ball was tipped by another FAU defender and caromed just out of the reach of Hepple.
Nearly 15 minutes had elapsed when Deal took a free kick, putting a long diagonal box onto the foot of the onrushing Hepple. Hepple got a touch on the ball, but was unable to get his shot on goal as an Owl player made contact with him.
Quickly, the visitors went on the offensive, with a cross finding FAU's leading scorer, Darnell King, in the box. But, King's header was wide of goal.
The Falcons were back at it several minutes later, as Lawrence got a boot on Hepple's cross to put a shot on goal. But, the ball went directly to Martinez.
Less than a minute later, the Brown and Orange had another close call at the offensive end. Lawrence and Hepple built the attack in the midfield area, and Hepple's through-ball found Evwaraye on the left side of the pitch. Evwaraye's shot from the left side was tipped by Martinez, and rolled to a stop near the right post. Van Houten and Martinez reached the ball at roughly the same time, and Martinez upended Van Houten as the BG senior attempted to score, sending the shot wide.
A delayed yellow card, however, was shown to FAU's Tyler McNabb, who had taken Lawrence down back near midfield.
After Schoettley broke up an FAU attack by leaping to grab a crossing ball, the Falcons threatened again. Another Deal free kick found the head of Lawrence in the penalty area. Martinez had left his goal line in an attempt to grab the free kick, but Lawrence outleaped the FAU 'keeper for the ball. His header went wide, but Evwaraye tracked it down on the right side of the penalty area. Evwaraye slid a pass to the onrushing Zach Lemke, but the redshirt freshman's shot was just wide, hitting the outside netting just wide of the near post.
With 11 minutes left in the half, FAU's McNabb was carded for taking Ebling down in the penalty box. The card was McNabb's second of the game, prompting the automatic red card and meaning that the Owls would be forced to play the final 56 minutes with 10 men.
Additionally, BGSU was awarded a penalty kick. Martinez made a dive to his right to save Lawrence's PK effort just inside the post. But, Hepple beat everyone to the ball and deposited it into the vacated net. The Falcons were on the scoreboard at the 34:03 mark.
Only 30 seconds later, Hepple was in the penalty area again, as Lawrence's forward pass found the senior striker. Hepple beat Martinez to a 50-50 ball, poking it out of the 'keeper's reach. But, he slipped as he attempted to regain possession near the end line, and FAU recovered to stop the scoring threat.
King made a nice effort at the other end of the field, after the Falcons failed to clear a cross with nine minutes left before halftime. But, the FAU sophomore's hard shot sailed high.
With just under eight minutes remaining in the half, BGSU doubled the lead. After a foul on the Owls near midfield, Van Houten hit a long free kick into the box. Martinez misjudged the kick, coming out of the net only to see the ball bounce over his head. The ball hit the crossbar, and Ebling was first on the scene to knock the rebound into the net from approximately five yards out.
Reenergized by the goal, the Falcons fired three more shots in the final five-plus minutes of the period. After receiving a nifty pass from junior Dusko Topolic, Hepple fired a shot that was just wide. Then, Lawrence got his head on a Van Houten corner kick, but saw his shot blocked out of play for another corner. Off of a short corner kick, Hepple's right-side offering was deflected by an FAU player. The Falcons took their two-goal lead into the intermission.
Early in the second period, BGSU was at it again. Van Houten's entry ball put Evwaraye down the left side of the field, and Evwaraye played a cross toward Hepple in the box. The cross was just a fraction too high, however, and Hepple was not able to get a great deal of force behind his header, hitting the ball over the bar for a goal kick.
Seven-and-a-half minutes into the period, Hepple and the Falcons scored again. This time, Schoettley boomed a long south-to-north punt well past midfield. The ball bounced once, and over a group of players as Hepple and a defender were in pursuit. After the ball took a second bounce, Hepple poked it over the head of McCormick and into the upper half of the net. Schoettley drew the lone assist on the goal, which officially came at the 52:29 mark.
Several minutes later, FAU's Karol Chorak blasted a shot from distance, but the ball whizzed wide of the right post.
Nearly midway through the period, redshirt sophomore Chris Jurtovski's pass put Hepple through on a breakaway, but McCormick blocked the ensuing shot to foil Hepple's bid for a hat trick.
Nichols removed five of his seniors, to thunderous applause, with the second period halfway over. All five would return to the match with just under 16 minutes left. Of the fourth-year players, only Deal remained in the match for the entire 90 minutes.
And, during that nine-minute span in which he was the lone senior in action, Deal hit a shot on goal. Off of a corner kick by sophomore John Barr, Deal drilled a header from the center of the box, but the shot sailed high.
Back into the game came Deal's five classmates, and Van Houten and Hepple nearly teamed up on a goal. With eight minutes remaining, Van Houten's pass found Hepple, who tried to poke the ball past McCormick. The ball got over the 'keeper, but went just past the upper-right corner of the goal.
Schoettley went high to break up a crossing attempt by FAU's Trey McEntee with just under five minutes left, and BG went on the attack again. Three seniors were involved in the play, as Van Houten's long throw in found Lawrence in the penalty box, on the left side. Lawrence's one-timer across the box found an open Evwaraye on the right side, and Evwaraye hit a one-timer of his own. The shot, however, hit off the crossbar.
With time winding down, Schoettley's final save of the day may have been his most difficult. The freshman was forced to work until the very last second for his shutout, diving to stop a hard shot from King with the scoreboard clock reading 00:01.
BGSU's advantage in shots included a 16-6 margin in the opening half. Martinez made three saves for the Owls in the first half, and was aided by one 'team save.' McCormick had one stop in the final 45 minutes of play.
The Falcons finish the regular season in fifth place in the seven-team MAC.
FALCON NOTES
* As mentioned, Saturday was 'Senior Day' at Cochrane Field, with the six seniors -- Tyler Deal, Gavin Dozier, Chuko Evwaraye, Cameron Hepple, Jacob Lawrence and Hunter Van Houten -- recognized prior to the match.
* Those six seniors combined for totals of 387 matches played, 284 matches started, 42 goals, 31 assists and 115 points in their BGSU careers ... each of the six players saw action in at least 57 matches in his four years as a Falcon.
* This season, that group combined for 16 of the Falcons' 21 goals and 11 of the team's 19 assists.
* Hepple finished the season with 10 goals and 21 points, the highest total by a Falcon in four years ... his numbers are the best for a BGSU player since Omari Aldridge had 11 goals and 25 points in the 2005 season.
* Hepple is just the second BGSU striker to hit double digits in goals in the last 13 years ... prior to Aldridge, the last Falcons to do so were Steve Klein (18 goals) and Dave Kindl (11 goals) in the 1996 season.
* Hepple had his 10 goals and 21 points in just 12 matches this season ... he missed all of six games and parts of two others due to injury ... Hepple averaged 0.83 goals and 1.75 points per game this season.
* Hepple had the third multi-goal game of his BGSU career on Saturday, with all three coming in 2009 ... he had a hat trick at Dayton on Sept. 18, and had two-goal games in both of BGSU's MAC wins, at Buffalo (Oct. 16) and against FAU.
* Hepple had the game-winning goal in two of BGSU's three victories this season, and had three career GWG.
* Lawrence finished the season with five goals, three assists and 13 points, setting personal bests in all three categories ... he was second on the team on each list this year.
* Hepple finished his BGSU career with 17 goals ... he also had nine assists for a total of 43 points as a Falcon ... Lawrence had career totals of 11 goals, six assists and 28 points in his BG tenure.
* In MAC matches, Hepple and Lawrence combined to score eight of BGSU's nine goals ... each player had four goals against conference competition.
* Lawrence had a team-leading total of nine points, on the four goals and one assist, in MAC matches ... Hepple had his four goals and eight points in just three MAC games.
* BGSU scored nine goals in MAC matches this season after scoring just one goal in seven games (six regular season, one tournament) vs. MAC foes a year ago.
* Van Houten's assist on Saturday was his fifth of the season, most on the team and a new personal best ... he had four helpers as a sophomore in 2007 ... Van Houten wound up with 11 career assists, most among anyone on the 2009 roster.
* Van Houten had four career goals, giving him a total of 19 points in his BGSU tenure ... he played in 71 career matches, most among '09 Falcons.
* Sophomore Byard Ebling's goal vs. FAU was his second of the year and the fourth of his career ... he has a career total of nine points.
* Freshman Dylan Schoettley recorded the first complete-game shutout and the first assist of his collegiate career in the same match ... Schoettley had combined with redshirt freshman Jeff Smoker on a shutout in BGSU's 2-0, season-opening win over Marshall on Sept. 1.
* BGSU now leads the series with FAU by a 2-1-0 margin ... the teams had traded 2-1 decisions in Boca Raton in the last two years, with BG picking up a victory in 2007 and the Owls getting an overtime win in '08.
* The Falcons had 10 first-half goals this season, including four in the final week of the regular season (two vs. both Detroit and FAU) ... by comparison, BGSU had only three first-half goals during the entire 2008 season.
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