Falcons Rally for 3-2 Win at Indiana State

Alyssa Zuccaro had her first career two-goal game, and Sarah VonderBrink scored a late goal for the second-straight Sunday, as the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team rallied for a 3-2 victory at Indiana State. The match, the Falcons' final non-conference contest of the season, was held Sunday afternoon (Sept. 19) at ISU's Memorial Stadium.

FINAL STATISTICS - HTML | BOXSCORE - PDF

With the win, the Falcons improve to 2-6-1 on the season, while dropping ISU to 6-3-0. BGSU's win snapped the Sycamores' six-match winning streak.

Additionally, the win was the 100th career victory for BGSU head coach Andy Richards, with all 100 of those wins coming at the Falcon helm.

"Our team deserves a great amount of credit today," said Richards. "They played with a lot of commitment and desire. They showed tremendous character as well, to come back from one-nil down and 2-1 down, and then to go on to win it. That was fantastic -- it doesn't happen very often."

Alison Gasparovich had both of the Sycamores' goals on the day, giving her five on the season. But, Zuccaro answered each of Gasparovich's goals, and VonderBrink's winner came in the 79th minute.

Gasparovich got the scoring started in the 22nd minute, on a blast from the left wing, about 25 yards out. But, Zuccaro responded with a goal less than four minutes later. Senior co-captain Alicia Almond played a long ball over the top of the Sycamore defense, finding the onrushing Zuccaro in the penalty box. The Falcon junior controlled the long pass and scored from the right side of the box to tie the score at the 25:04 mark.

Gasparovich gave the hosts the lead with just under 10 minutes gone in the second half. ISU's Katie Geyman played a cross into the box, where several players collided as they converged on the ball. The ball went to Gasparovich, who was alone near the back post, and she deposited it into the back of the net to give the hosts a 2-1 lead.

Zuccaro responded with a second goal of her own, this time coming just under 10 minutes after Gasparovich's strike. 'Z' received a pass from classmate Megan Amann at the top of the 18-yard box, contolled the ball and powered a shot past diving ISU goalkeeper Emily Lahay to knot the score with 25:58 left in the second half.

The Falcons got the eventual winning goal in the 79th minute. Freshman Madeline Wideman and Zuccaro connected on passes across the top of the ISU penalty area, with Zuccaro finding VonderBrink. The sophomore made a move to find an open space, took a touch and beat Lahay, firing her shot into the far corner. VonderBrink's game-winning goal, as mentioned, was her second in as many Sundays.

"We are a little bit disappointed in the goals we allowed today," said Richards. "I think they both could have perhaps been avoided. That's something for us to work on in practice.

"But, to score three goals on the road is tremendous. Credit to 'Z' for scoring two goals, on a left-foot finish and a right-foot finish. And then, Vondy showed wonderful composure to win the game. It was a great finish by her."

Indiana State had a narrow 11-10 advantage in total shot attempts, but the Falcons put six shots on goal, to five for the Sycamores. Both 'keepers, ISU's Lahay and BGSU senior Alexa Arsenault, had three saves on the day.

"This was a team performance," said Richards. "The girls worked hard, and the win is well-timed as we prepare for MAC play. I feel that, in the last three games, we have begun to turn a corner.

"I told the team that we will be facing this kind of game twice every weekend now -- we will face teams that we can defeat if we play really well, but also, teams that can cause a lot of problems for us if we don't do the right things.

"Overall, we are delighted with the win, happy with the performance and now we look forward to the start of MAC play next week."

The Falcons return home to begin the Mid-American Conference portion of the schedule next weekend. BGSU will host Buffalo on Friday (Sept. 24) and will take on Kent State Sunday (Sept. 26) at Cochrane Field.

FALCON NOTES
* Sunday's victory was the 100th win in the head-coaching career of BGSU's Andy Richards ... Richards is in his 11th season as a head coach, all with the Falcons.

* BGSU's win on Sunday snapped Indiana State's winning streak at six games ... that was the Sycamores' longest such streak since the 2006 season.

* BGSU's win marked the team's first come-from-behind win in more than two years ... the Falcons' last such win came against Eastern Michigan on Nov. 4, 2007 ... on that day, BG posted a 2-1 win in a MAC Tournament quarterfinal-round match at Cochrane Field.

* BG's last come-from-behind win on the road came just three days (and one game) prior to that EMU match ... on Nov. 1, 2007, the Falcons scored two times in the final two minutes of the second half for a 2-1 victory at Toledo.

* Falcon junior Alyssa Zuccaro had the first two-goal match of her career ... she had scored one goal in a match eight times in a BGSU uniform.

* Zuccaro had a career-high five points in the win at ISU ... her previous career best had been three points in a game, on two occasions ... Zuccaro had a goal and an assist in a win over Miami two years ago (Oct. 12, 2008) and in last year's victory vs. Indiana State (Aug. 28, 2009).

* Zuccaro now has eight points in two career games against ISU ... she has been involved in the scoring of all five BGSU goals vs. the Sycamores ... Zuccaro had a goal and an assist in last year's 2-1 win over ISU, and had two goals and an assist on Sunday afternoon.

* Zuccaro has topped her goal and point totals for all of last season ... through nine games this year, she has eight points on three goals and a pair of assists ... Zuccaro totalled seven points in the 2009 season, with two goals and three assists.

* With her five-point day, Zuccaro moved up five spots on the BGSU career scoring list ... Zuccaro, BG's active career scoring leader, now has 26 career points ... she sits in 13th place on the school's career list.

* Zuccaro now has 10 career goals, tying her for ninth on that BGSU chart.

* Sophomore Sarah VonderBrink scored the game-winning goal for the second time in as many Sundays ... she has both of BGSU's winners this season ... VonderBrink scored with just over six minutes left in last Sunday's (Sept. 12) game vs. Cleveland State, giving the Falcons a 2-1 win at Cochrane Field.

* VonderBrink now has a total of five points this season ... she is tied with senior co-captain Katie Stephenson for second on the Falcons in both goals (two) and points this fall.

* Alicia Almond's assist on Sunday was her third of the season and the fourth of her career ... the senior co-captain now has 10 career points, on three goals and the four assists ... her three points this season ties her career standard (three points last year on a goal and an assist).

* Freshman Madeline Wideman recorded her second assist as a Falcon, but her first on her birthday ... Wideman celebrated her 18th birthday on Sunday.

* BGSU scored as many as three goals in a game for the first time in over a year ... the last time the Falcons scored more than twice in the same game was on Sept. 4, 2009, in a 4-0 win at Detroit.

* Believe it or not, Zuccaro's first goal of the day marked BGSU's first goal in the first half this season ... in fact, the Falcons had not scored in the first half of a game since last Oct. 18 ... on that date, Keely Chandler found the net in the sixth minute, for what turned out to be the lone goal of a 1-0 win over Buffalo at Cochrane ... the Falcons had gone 11 consecutive games without scoring in the opening half.

* Andy Richards was coaching against one of his former players on Sunday ... Erika (Flanders) True was one of the top goalkeepers in Falcon history ... a four-year starter (1999-2002), she played under Richards for her final three seasons.

* Prior to Sunday, BGSU had been 0-23-3 since the start of the 2008 season in matches in which the opponent scored first ... the last time BG allowed the opening goal but came back to win was on Nov. 4, 2007, in the aforementioned Eastern Michigan game ... on that date, Samantha Bland tied the score at 85:36, and Corbie Yee scored a 'Golden Goal' just 1:46 into overtime for a 2-1 BG win.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Next Event

Team Stats

Alyssa Zuccaro

Sarah VonderBrink

Megan Amann

Katelyn Turner

Upcoming Events

Recent Results