Falcons, Ball State Battle to 3-3 Draw

Sunday, October 10

Muncie, Ind.

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

4-9-2, 2-3-1MAC

Ball State

6-7-1, 0-5-1MAC

Team	1	2	OT 3	OT 4	Final F
Bowling Green	1	2	0	0	3
Ball State	0	3	0	0	3

Keely Chandler scored the first goal of the game at Ball State on Sunday

October 10, 2010 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Teams combine for 48 shots in double-OT affair

By: MUNCIE, Ind. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

In a game that saw the two sides combine for 48 shot attempts, the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team battled host Ball State University to a 3-3 draw Sunday afternoon (Oct. 10). The Mid-American Conference game was held at the BSU Soccer Field.

FINAL STATS - HTML | BOXSCORE - PDF
Scroll down for a postgame interview with BGSU head coach Andy Richards

The result leaves the Falcons with a 4-9-2 overall record and a 2-3-1 MAC mark. The Cardinals are now 6-7-1 and 0-5-1, respectively.

Sophomore Keely Chandler, senior Jackie Tamerlano and junior Alyssa Zuccaro scored the Falcons' goals, while fifth-year senior goalkeeper Alexa Arsenault made nine saves for the Brown and Orange.

Five of the six goals in the match, including all three Ball State scores, came in the second half. Paige Stroinski, Shaniece Thorpe and Missy Gordon scored the Cardinals' goals, within a span of less than 20 minutes.

The Cardinals had 10 corner kicks to the Falcons' two, including a CK in the first minute of play. That kick, off the boot of Sarah Orisich, curved toward the goal and would have gone in the upper corner had Arsenault not punched the ball away.

The Falcons' first shot attempt of the day came when freshman Madeline Wideman fired a shot just wide with nearly seven-and-a-half minutes gone.

In the 18th minute, a steal by senior co-captain Katie Stephenson led to a BGSU rush which resulted in Zuccaro being fouled just outside the penalty box. But, Stephenson's shot on the ensuing free kick was wide to the left.

BG had another chance two minutes later, as junior Megan Amann slid a pass toward classmate Katelyn Turner in the box. But, the two just missed connecting on the pass, and BSU cleared the ball out of danger.

Midway through the period, Turner tried to lob a forward ball over the BSU back line for Zuccaro, but the pass was just out of 'Z's reach, and BSU 'keeper Aubrey Beuhler corralled it.

The Cardinals had a chance of their own only two minutes later, as Gordon hit a left-side cross that went through the penalty box, but no Cardinal player was in the area.

With 12 minutes left in the period, Stephenson's long shot glanced off of a BSU defender, and Buehler could only knock the ball out of bounds for a corner kick. Off of that corner, Turner hit a one-timer from close range that was blocked. The ball went back out toward the corner, where Stephenson served a ball back in to Turner. The junior headed the ball toward goal, but the shot sailed right to Buehler. Five minutes later, however, BG would put a ball past the Cards' netminder.

On the scoring play, sophomore Sarah VonderBrink and freshman Kaitlyn Tobin worked a give-and-go play to perfection on the left side of the pitch. VonderBrink hit a low cross to a wide-open Chandler near the six-yard line, and the Falcon soph calmly placed a shot into the lower left-hand corner of the goal. The clinical play gave the visitors a 1-0 lead.

The second half saw no fewer than five goals scored and 27 shots taken. Early in the half, Tina Vannatta had several effective free kicks for the Cardinals. The first, just over four minutes into the period, was a diagonal ball that Arsenault went to her knees to grab. The second, only two minutes later, was a long kick from the left side that was ticketed the far corner, but the BG 'keeper got there in time to deflect the ball out for a corner kick. Stephenson blocked a Ball State shot off of the ensuing scrum after the corner kick, but the assistant referee's flag was up for an offside call against the Cards.

Just over eight minutes into the period, the Falcons doubled the lead. Tamerlano played a ball toward goal from the right side of the field, the ball was misplayed by Buehler and went into the net for a 2-0 BG advantage at the 53:08 mark.

BG tested Buehler again just a minute later, as Wideman hit a shot from the right side, but the BSU goalie was up to the task this time.

Several minutes later, Amann's left-side cross reached Turner in the box. Turner tipped the ball to Zuccaro, but the junior's shot was blocked by a BSU defender and Buehler was able to grab it.

Exactly two minutes later, a Ball State corner kick was deflected to the Cardinals' Alyssa Ables near the top of the box. But, Ables misfired on a shot attempt, which was blocked, and a teammate's follow-up try was blocked by the BG defense as well.

Less than a minute after that, another Cardinal corner kick was redirected not once, but twice, by the heads of BSU players. The second such header put the ball at the feet of Skylar Chew on the right side of the goal, about two yards from the end line. From a bad angle, Chew got good force behind a right-footed shot, but Arsenault blocked the ball out of bounds for a corner kick.

That corner found the head of Brigit Reder, who put a shot on goal that was blocked by a BG player on the end line. But, it was ruled that the Falcon defender blocked the ball with her arm as well as with her body, and a penalty kick was awarded.

Stroinski took that penalty kick, and the kick was saved by Arsenault. But, after Arsenault's diving stop, the rebound bounded directly to Stroinski, and she put the ball into the right corner with 29:02 left in regulation.

Midway through the period, Chandler slid a pass to Tamerlano, and the BG senior rifled a shot that went just over the crossbar from approximately 18 yards out.

Several minutes later, the Cardinals increased the pressure and seized the momentum. In a nine-minute span, the home team had five shots, putting four of them on goal and putting the last two into the net just 2:20 apart.

First, the Cards had back-to-back corner kicks 30 seconds apart. One of those CKs looked to be headed into the far corner of the net before Arsenault punched it away.

With exactly 17 minutes left in the half, Gordon ripped a long shot that was parried by Arsenault. Gordon led all players with a total of six shots on the day.

Ninety seconds later, Gordon's cross from the right side found Thorpe in a dangerous area. Thorpe was wide open just several yards from the goal, but could not get a good first touch on the ball, and it hit off of her foot and was gathered in by the BGSU goalkeeper. Thorpe would atone for her mistake, however, less than three minutes later.

With 12:52 on the clock, a left-side cross by Vannatta found Thorpe in traffic, and the BSU sophomore headed it home to tie the score. Vannatta drew the lone assist on the play.

WIthin a minute of Thorpe's goal, the Falcons built the attack and looked to take the lead. Amann and Zuccaro worked to bring the ball down the left side of the field. Amann's crossing ball found Wideman, but the freshman's shot was high.

The Cardinals got another goal with 10:32 remaining, as Gordon's seemingly harmless shot hit a BGSU defender and sailed into the left side of the net. The shot appeared to be headed directly to Arsenault before it was deflected, but there was nothing the BG 'keeper could do as the shot gave the home team the lead.

The Falcons responded, however, peppering the net with shots during a furious flurry with under eight minutes left. After a BSU foul, Stephenson played her free kick into the box, where it found the head of Zuccaro.

Zuccaro's shot was saved by Buehler, but Turner was on the doorstep as well. Buehler did well to block Turner's point-blank rebound try, but this rebound went back to Zuccaro, and the junior knocked the ball into the open net with Buehler on the ground. Turner drew the lone assist on the goal, which came with 7:40 remaining.

Each team had additional chances to score in the remainder of regulation. With the clock ticking under seven minutes, Gordon uncorked a shot that seemed headed for the upper left corner of the frame. Arsenault, however, made one of her better saves of the day, leaping to tip the shot over the 'bar for a corner kick. The Cards saw a shot by Reder sail just wide after that corner.

The Falcons nearly scored in the final minute of regulation. BGSU controlled the ball, with Tamerlano, Amann, Zuccaro and Turner all stringing passes together. Zuccaro's pass to Turner found the junior in the penalty area. Turner played the ball back to the onrushing Stephenson, who blasted a low shot that seemed headed for the back of the net. But, BSU's Cortney Coombs blocked the shot for a 'team save' with just 23 seconds left, and the teams headed to overtime.

Each team had two shot attempts in the first OT, but none of those four shots were on goal. Three of those shots came in the final minute-plus of the period, as a shot by Ables went wide for the Cards, and two long shots by Wideman kept Buehler honest in the final minute. With 35 seconds left, Tamerlano found Wideman in the center of the park, and she took a few dribbles forward and hit a long shot that went over the goal.

Off of the ensuing goal kick, BGSU stole the ball back, and Wideman's shot in the final seconds went wide.

The teams combined for five shots in the second OT period. The first came after BSU got a steal in the opening minute of the period. Stroinski's pass found Maggie Brown, but Brown's shot was blocked by a BG defender, and Arsenault grabbed the ball.

Nearly four minutes into the period, Zuccaro and Chandler nearly set up a grade-A scoring chance. Zuccaro's pass found Chandler in the BSU end of the field, and Chandler worked to free herself some space while 'Z' got in position for a return pass. Chandler was held up just long enough by a Cardinal defender, however, that by the time she could hit her through ball, Zuccaro was in offside. 'Z' let the ball go by as she returned to an onside position, and BSU regained possession.

The Falcons built the attack once again midway through the period, but Zuccaro's shot went wide of the net.

In the final minute of the match, Stephenson's hustle won the Falcons a 50-50 ball at midfield. The captain slid a pass to Turner, who found VonderBrink on the right side of the field. VonderBrink played a diagonal ball toward goal, but the cross/shot was grabbed by Buehler with 30 seconds remaining. BG got the ball back one more time, but could not serve it in to the BSU penalty area, and the clock ran out.

Ball State had 27 shot attempts on the day, while BGSU had 21. The home team had a narrow 13-11 advantage in shots on goal. Arsenault, as mentioned, had nine saves, while Buehler made seven stops. Each side was credited with one 'team save' on the day.

BGSU returns home for a pair of matches next weekend. The Falcons will host Akron in Friday (Oct. 15) action, with a 4:00 p.m. kickoff at Cochrane Field. Then, the Brown and Orange will face Ohio on Sunday (Oct. 17). Kickoff for the Ohio match is scheduled for 1:00 p.m., with 'Senior Day' festivities to be held prior to the game.

FALCON TEAM NOTES
* BGSU has scored a total of 20 goals this fall, including 12 in the six MAC games to date ... last season, the Falcons had just 16 goals during the entire season, including only seven in the 11 MAC matches.

* The Falcons have scored at least three goals in a game four times this season, after doing so only once during all of 2009.

* BGSU's totals of 21 shots attempted and 11 shots on goal were season highs ... Ball State's 27 shots and 13 SOG represented season-high totals for a Falcon opponent.

* The 48 combined shots marked the highest two-team total in over seven years, since a BGSU game at Northern Illinois on Oct. 12, 2003 ... on that date, BG outshot NIU by a 33-18 count, for 51 total shot attempts.

* Sunday's game in Muncie was the first time both teams had over 20 shots since a 2003 game vs. Eastern Illinois (BGSU 22 shot attempts, EIU 20 on Sept. 5, 2003) ... additionally, it was the first time both BGSU and the opponents hit double digits in shots on goal in nearly six years (BGSU 12 SOG, Kent State 10 in an Oct. 15, 2004 game in Kent).

* Following Sunday's match, the Falcons now have an all-time record of 18-15-28 in overtime matches ... to follow are a few more fascinating facts regarding BGSU and OT contests.

• Believe it or not, the Falcons have lost just once in 23 all-time overtime games on the road ... BG now has a record of 7-1-15 in road OT matches ... BGSU is 9-12-11 in overtime games played at Cochrane Field, and 2-2-2 all-time in neutral-site OT affairs.

• The only overtime loss in a road game in program history came at Ball State, on Oct. 19, 2007.

FALCON INDIVIDUAL NOTES
* Junior Alyssa Zuccaro scored her team-leading eighth goal of the season, and now has 20 points to lead the Falcons in that category as well.

* Zuccaro's goal and point totals are the highest by a BGSU player since 2005 ... that season, Samantha Meister had eight goals and 22 points en route to MAC Player-of-the-Year honors, as the Falcons won the league regular-season and tournament titles.

* Zuccaro now has 12 points in the Falcons' six MAC games, including five goals and two assists ... last year, no Falcon had more than four points in conference play.

* Zuccaro, BG's active career scoring leader, now has 38 points as a Falcon ... she iw now eighth in BGSU history with 15 goals, and sits ninth on the points list ... 'Z' moved past Janice Mentrup (37 points from 1997-2000) on the latter list with her goal vs. BSU.

* Senior Jackie Tamerlano's goal on Sunday was her first of the season and the sixth of her BGSU career ... she now has 16 career points.

* Sophomore Keely Chandler also scored her first goal on the season in the BSU game ... she now has eight career points on four goals ... Chandler tied for the team lead with three goals in 2009.

* Sophomore Sarah VonderBrink's assist on Sunday gives her a total of seven points this year, on two goals and three assists ... she is fourth on the team in points and is tied for fourth in assists.

* Junior Katelyn Turner's assist gives her four points on the season and 18 in her career ... Turner has seven goals and four assists in 49 career games for BGSU.

* Freshman Kaitlyn Tobin's assist on Chandler's goal was the first point of her collegiate career.