'Z' for Three: Zuccaro's Hat Trick Lifts Falcons to 4-0 Win over Buffalo

Alyssa Zuccaro and her Bowling Green State University women's soccer teammates were clicking on all cylinders Friday afternoon (Sept. 24). Zuccaro had a hat trick as the Falcons downed the University at Buffalo, 4-0, in the Mid-American Conference opener at Cochrane Field.

FINAL STATISTICS - HTML | BOXSCORE - PDF
PHOTO GALLERY (photos courtesy Nathan Dreimiller)
POSTGAME INTERVIEWS with Richards, Zuccaro + Wideman at the bottom of the page

With the win, the Falcons improve to 3-6-1 on the season. BGSU has won two games in a row and three of the last four. The Bulls drop to 1-8-0.

Zuccaro, after recording her first collegiate two-goal game in Sunday's (Sept. 19) win at Indiana State, topped that total with her first three-goal outing as a Falcon. The junior now has six goals on the season, twice as many as any BGSU player scored during all of 2009.

Freshman Madeline Wideman, who had the primary assist on Zuccaro's first goal of the day, scored her first collegiate goal on Friday.

Zuccaro got the Falcons on the scoreboard just over 11 minutes into the match, taking a pass from Wideman and firing a shot past UB goalkeeper Ainsley Wheldon.

Wideman doubled the Falcons' lead with less than 20 minutes elapsed, slotting the ball into a small opening between Wheldon and the near goalpost.

Zuccaro did the same in the second half, bringing the ball along the end line, faking a pass and putting the ball between the UB 'keeper and the near post. That goal gave the Falcons a 3-0 lead with 51:37 elapsed.

The Falcon junior completed the hat trick at the 61:07 mark, knocking the ball home after a corner kick by classmate Megan Amann. Amann assisted on each of Zuccaro's last two goals.

BGSU enjoyed a 15-8 advantage in total shot attempts, and put six shots on goal to the Bulls' three. Senior 'keeper Alexa Arsenault made three saves to earn the shutout for the Brown and Orange.

For the visitors, Wheldon made one save in nearly 58 minutes of work, while Courtney McHale stopped one of two shots on goal she faced in relief.

BG had had the first scoring chance of the day, with Zuccaro again at the center of the action. The junior brought the ball along the touch line on the left side, sliding a pass to Wideman. But, Wideman could not get a solid touch, and her shot was blocked by a UB defender. The ball eventually wound up on the foot of senior co-captain Katie Stephenson, who put her long follow-up try just wide.

The game's next shot, however, would be on target. Freshman Alyssa Carmack played a long ball ahead to classmate Wideman. Wideman made a quick pass to the onrushing Zuccaro, who received that pass approximately 35 yards away from goal.

'Z' took several dribbles, having gained a step on her would-be defender, and fired a shot home from the left side of the goal, about 10 yards out. The shot found the lower-left corner of the net, and the Falcons had the lead for good.

With nearly 18 minutes gone, BGSU again put several passes together, with Wideman sliding a right-side pass toward Zuccaro. But, Wheldon reached the ball at roughly the same time as Zuccaro, and smothered the BG striker's shot attempt. Two minutes later, though, the Falcons put another shot past the UB 'keeper.

Sophomore Sarah VonderBrink began the play, playing a pass ahead to Wideman. The BG freshman dribbled into the penalty area, saw a small sliver of light between Wheldon and the near post, and put the ball into that very spot. Wideman's first collegiate goal came at 19:32.

With 13-plus minutes left in the opening half, the Bulls came as close to getting on the board as they would all day. Julie Dale played a long crossing ball into the area from the right side. On an afternoon when the wind whipped through Cochrane Field at nearly 30 miles per hour, the ball sailed toward goal. Arsenault was able to adjust to the cross/shot, grabbing the ball despite slipping and falling to the ground. Arsenault fell into the goal, but kept the ball from crossing the goal line.

With under 12 minutes remaining before halftime, freshman Ivi Casagrande's corner kick sailed into the penalty area. Classmate Tracy Togba, stationed at the far post, got a foot on the ball, but could not direct it into the net.

The Falcons increased the lead just over six minutes into the second half. Amann played a ball ahead to Zuccaro on the right side of the pitch. Zuccaro beat her defender, brought the ball along the end line and fired it past Wheldon and into the near corner of the net, just inside the post.

Stephenson put her free kick past the diving UB 'keeper with 10 minutes gone in the period, but the ball went just wide of net.

Five minutes later, Amann's left-side cross found Zuccaro in the penalty box. Zuccaro's diving header rang off the crossbar, and Stephenson's follow try was blocked out of bounds for a BGSU corner kick.

Amann took that corner, and played a ball into the goalmouth area. Backup UB goalkeeper McHale knocked it down, but could not hold onto the ball, and it went directly to Zuccaro. The Mentor, Ohio, native knocked the ball into the net from approximately three yards out, and the Falcons led by four goals.

That was more than enough for Arsenault and the Falcon defense, as BGSU posted its second shutout of the season.

The Falcons remain at home for a Sunday (Sept. 26) match vs. Kent State. That contest, which begins at 2:00 p.m. at Cochrane Field, will be the second half of a doubleheader, as the BGSU men's soccer team takes on Lipscomb in an 11:00 a.m. start.

FALCON NOTES
* BGSU won the MAC opener for the first time in four years ... the Falcons' last win in the first league match of the year was a 1-0 triumph over Northern Illinois on (Sept. 22, 2006).

* BGSU scored four goals in a game for the first time in over a year ... the last time the Falcons had scored so many goals was Sept. 4, 2009, a 4-0 victory at Detroit.

* BGSU had not scored four goals in a match at Cochrane Field in nearly two years, since a 4-0 win over Miami on Oct. 12, 2008.

* After scoring a total of five goals in the first eight games of the season, the Falcons have scored seven goals over the last two games ... BGSU won at Indiana State, 3-2, on Sunday (Sept. 19), prior to the win over UB.

* The Falcons have not scored seven goals over a two-game period since home wins over Marshall (3-0; Sept. 14, 2008) and UDM (4-0; Sep. 19, 2008).

* Junior Alyssa Zuccaro's hat trick vs. UB was the first of her collegiate career ... it was also just the second-ever hat trick by a Falcon in a MAC regular-season game ... Samantha Meister had four goals in a 4-3 win at Northern Illinois on Oct. 12, 2003.

* Overall, Zuccaro's hat trick was the first by a Falcon since Nov. 5, 2004 ... on that date, Kristy Coppes scored three times in a 4-1 win over Western Michigan in the semifinal round of the MAC Tournament.

* Zuccaro, who had two goals and an assist at ISU, has scored five goals over the last two games ... that is the highest two-game total by a Falcon since Kristy Coppes on the first weekend of the 2004 season ... Coppes had all six of her goals in one game, against Duquesne on Aug. 27, 2004.

* Zuccaro now has 14 points this season, more than any Falcon had during all of 2009 ... Megan Amann led last year's club with a total of nine points.

* With six goals, Zuccaro has scored twice as many goals as any BGSU player did in '09 ... Katelyn Turner and Keely Chandler each had three goals last fall, tying for the team lead.

* Zuccaro's 14 points this season are a career best ... she now has 32 career points on 13 goals and six assists.

* After Friday's match, 'Z' now ranks eighth on the BGSU list for career goals ... she moved past Julie Trundle (12 goals from 2002-05) in the UB match.

* Zuccaro's total of 32 points ties her for 10th on the BGSU career list with Beth Wechsler (1998-2001) ... Zuccaro has moved up eight spots on that list in the last two games.

* Freshman Madeline Wideman had the first goal, and the first three-point game, of her collegiate career ... she now has five points on the season, including three assists.

* Amann, a junior, had two assists on Friday, giving her a team-high four on the year ... Amann now has 17 career assists, tying her for fifth on the school career list with Britt Anderson (2002-05) and Meister (2002-05).

* Sophomore Sarah VonderBrink had an assist on Wideman's goal vs. UB ... VonderBrink now has six points this season, tripling her total for all of last year.

* Freshman Alyssa Carmack had her first career point on an assist on Zuccaro's first goal.

* Two other freshmen, Matti Chappelle and Melissa Zeigler, saw the first playing time of their respective collegiate careers on Friday, getting into the match in the second half.

* Senior Alexa Arsenault's shutout was her first complete-game shutout of the year and the 21st of her career, extending her school career record.

* BGSU now leads Buffalo, 10-4-1, in the all-time series, and the Falcons have won three-straight matches, all by shutout.

* Two of Arsenault's 21 complete-game shutouts have come against UB, and she played over 74 minutes in another shutout win over the Bulls ... Arsenault has a 3-1-0 win-loss record against UB, and she has a personal shutout streak of 310:17 against the Bulls, dating to the 2007 season.

* As a team, the Falcons have gone a total of 326:13 since allowing a goal against UB.

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