Chippewas Slip Past Falcons, 1-0

Sunday, October 3

Bowling Green, Ohio

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

4-8-1, 2-2-0MAC

Central Michigan

7-3-1, 4-0-0MAC

Central Michigan

Bowling Green

Senior co-captain Alicia Almond had the Falcons' best scoring chance, with two minutes left

October 03, 2010 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Defending MAC champions score with just over 10 minutes left in match

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Defending Mid-American Conference champion Central Michigan University got a goal late in the second half to slip past the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team Sunday afternoon (Oct. 3). The contest was held at a windy Cochrane Field.

FINAL STATISTICS - HTML | BOXSCORE - PDF

With the win, the Chippewas improve to 7-3-1 overall and 4-0-0 in MAC play to date. The Falcons are now 4-8-1 and 2-2-0, respectively.

CMU's Ashley Mejilla scored the game's lone goal, knocking home a deflected shot from close range with 10:18 left in the second half.

The Chippewas held a decisive 16-4 advantage in total shot attempts, but CMU put just four shots on net to the Falcons' two. Shay Mannino and Stefanie Turner combined for the shutout in goal for the visitors.

Mannino, a last-minute addition to the Chippewas' last-minute starting lineup, played the first 45 minutes and did not face a shot. CMU held a 7-0 advantage in shot attempts in the opening half.

Turner, who played the second half, made two saves, including one on Falcon senior co-captain Alicia Almond with exactly two minutes to play.

The Falcons did not have a single shot attempt over the game's first 84 minutes, but had four in the final 5:28 of the contest as BGSU looked for the equalizer.

Central's goal came off of a corner kick. The corner was knocked out of the penalty area by a Falcon defender, but went to CMU's Valerie Prause, stationed approximately 30 yards away from goal. Prause hit a shot that was deflected right to Mejilla. Mejilla poked the ball home from a yard out.

Sophomore Sarah VonderBrink had the Falcons' first shot of the day, coming with just under five-and-a-half minutes remaining. The shot came from the left side of the penalty area after a BG corner kick from the right side, but the effort was blocked by a CMU backliner.

As the Falcons pressed forward, freshman Madeline Wideman hit a shot toward goal with just over three minutes remaining, but Turner was able to gather it in.

Then, however, came the Falcons' best chance of the day. Junior Alyssa Zuccaro took a shot that was blocked, with the ball caroming to Almond. The senior co-captain, from over 30 yards out, scorched a shot toward the top of the net. It was all Turner could do to tip the ball over the crossbar at the last second. That shot, which came with exactly two minutes left, was the final shot attempt by either team.

Of Central's seven first-half shots, a precious few were solid scoring chances. Laura Twidle fired a shot over the bar with eight minutes gone, and Prause got to the far post to reach a diagonal ball by Clare Horton, but headed it wide with 15 minutes expired.

Late in the half, another entry ball by Horton hit a leg in a crowded six-yard box, but the Chippewas could not get a shot off.

Midway through the second period, Wideman made a long run, getting past several would-be defenders. But, a Central player was able to knock the ball off of Wideman's boot just outside the penalty area.

Central appeared to have a scoring chance with 17 minutes remaining, as a ball sailed over the head of a BGSU defender, with Kaely Schlosser reaching it first. But, the Brown and Orange recovered to block Schlosser's shot out of play.

Twidle saw a shot sail just high with 12-and-a-half minutes left, and BGSU senior co-captain Katie Stephenson came up big for the home team just over a minute later.

With under 11 minutes on the clock, Horton played a right-side free kick into the box. Falcon goalkeeper Alexa Arsenault -- in the middle of a crowd of players -- attempted to punch the ball away, but was unable to clear it out of the danger area. Twidle settled the ball and fired toward the near (left) post, but Stephenson blocked the shot on the end line.

Less than a minute later, however, the Chippewas got on the board on Mejilla's second goal of the season.

Arsenault played all 90 minutes for the Falcons, making two saves. BGSU also was credited with a 'team save,' on Stephenson's stop in the 80th minute.

The Falcons now prepare for a pair of road games next weekend. BG heads to Toledo for a Friday (Oct. 8) match with the Rockets, then will travel to Muncie, Ind., for a Sunday (Oct. 10) contest against Ball State.