Falcons Fall to Niagara in OT, 2-1

Laura Kimoto's overtime corner kick wound up in the net, giving visiting Niagara University a 2-1 victory over the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team Sunday afternoon (Sept. 4). The non-conference match was held at Cochrane Field.

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With the overtime win, the Purple Eagles improve to 1-3-0 on the season. The Falcons drop to 1-4-0 on the year.

Senior captain Alyssa Zuccaro scored the Falcons' goal, which had given the home team a 1-0 lead midway through the first half. But, NU tied the score, against the run of play, when Courtney Pierce picked up a loose ball and fired it home in the game's 62nd minute. The match remained tied until Komoto's decisive corner kick at the 98:28 mark.

BGSU held a 17-15 advantage in shot attempts, but the Purple Eagles put 10 shots on goal to the Falcons' six. Zuccaro led all players with a whopping nine shot attempts on the afternoon.

The Falcons held a 10-3 advantage in first-half shots, taking a 1-0 lead into the half. Each team fired seven shots in the second half, and Niagara had a 5-0 advantage in the overtime period.

After Niagara's Adriana Gallo took the first shot attempt of the game, the Falcons fired the next nine shots, with five coming from Zuccaro.

BG's first shot of the day came from sophomore Tracy Togba with six minutes gone in the match. Togba poked the ball away from a Niagara defender, took it into the right side of the penalty area and hit a shot toward the left side of the goal, but NU goalkeeper Gabrielle Wilson was there to make the save.

Less than three minutes later, a Niagara backliner misplayed a cross by freshman Kaylee Draper, and the ball went to Zuccaro, but her low shot rolled just wide of the left post. Zuccaro promptly stole the ensuing goal kick, took a few dribbles and fired another low shot. This time, the ball went just wide right.

Sophomore Madeline Wideman had two shot attempts as the teams reached the one-third mark of the opening half, and redshirt soph Jenny Fowler put her shot on goal, but Wilson made the stop. Still, the Falcons kept threatening.

MIdway through the period, Zuccaro stole the ball from NU's Jen Kimoto at midfield, took the ball all the way to the penalty area and uncorked a shot that went just wide left. One minute later, 'Z's fourth shot attempt of the game was wide right. But, she would make no mistake on her fifth shot of the day.

After a Niagara foul, Wideman lined up for a free kick on the left side of the pitch. The sophomore lof ted a ball into the box, where Zuccaro was waiting. From approximately eight yards out, Zuccaro met the left-to-right diagonal ball and headed it back the other way, into the lower-left-hand corner of the net. Wideman picked up the lone assist on the goal, which came at the 24:24 mark.

With 12 minutes left before halftime, it appeared as if a through ball by NU's Michaela DiFazio had put Breanna Catipovic in on goal. But, BGSU defender Emily Rothwell made a nifty tackle on Catipovic just as she neared the 18-yard line.

Just over a minute later, a BG giveaway gave Catipovic another chance, but her shot was easily parried by redshirt junior goalkeeper Becca Ison.

Redshirt freshman Kylie Briem stole a Niagara pass just over midfield and proceeded to work a give-and-go with Zuccaro. But, Briem's hard shot sailed wide of the goal.

Early in the second period, NU's Kayla Picanco took a long shot toward the BG net. For an instant, it looked as if Ison was fooled by the shot, but the Falcon 'keeper recovered nicely, leaping to grab the shot near the crossbar.

Freshman Ashley Garr and senior Megan Amann teamed up to get the ball to Zuccaro, who took a shot that was directly at Wilson. Several minutes later, a Togba pass sent Zuccaro into the penalty area, but a defender knocked the ball away as the BG captain went to the ground.

Less than a minute later, a long ball by a Falcon defender was misjudged by a Niagara player, and Zuccaro and Wilson raced to reach it first. Wilson, charging out of the penalty area, reached the ball just before the BG captain, clearing it out of danger.

Only 20 seconds later, against the run of play, the Purple Eagles had tied the game. An NU crossing try was blocked by a BG player in the penalty area. The ball bounced around and came out of the box to Pierce, who blasted the loose ball into the left side of the net from approximately 20 yards out. The unassisted goal came at the 61:19 mark.

Soon after that goal, the Falcons built the attack at the other end. Zuccaro took a pass from Togba, and returned the favor with a nifty pass to the onrushing Togba. Togba entered the penalty area and took a shot, but the ball was deflected just after it left her foot, bounding over the end line for a BG corner kick. The Purple Eagles were able to clear that corner kick out of danger.

Twenty minutes remained in regulation when the Falcons let the visitors have a solid scoring chance. Gallo put a cross into the center, where Picanco was waiting. Picanco, all alone on the six-yard line, headed Gallo's cross wide of the net.

With under 10 minutes on the clock, NU's Jen Kimoto made a nice defensive play to knock the ball away from Togba after it appeared that a pass from Zuccaro had put the BGSU sophomore through. Less than a minute later, Wilson made a nice leaping grab of Draper's corner kick in traffic.

The clock had just ticked under eight minutes remaining when, off of a scrum in the Niagara end, a shot by freshman Kenzie Schlemitz was saved by Wilson, who made a diving effort to grab the low shot near the left post. A minute later, Zuccaro nodded a Draper cross just wide of the net.

The only remaining shot attempt in regulation came off the boot of NU's Catipovic, but the one-timer rolled directly to Ison.

In overtime, the Falcons had several chances early, but could not get a shot off. The Purple Eagles, however, took five shots in the period.

Only 45 seconds into the OT, Zuccaro blew past her would-be defender and brought the ball along the end line from left to right. She attempted to slide a cross to a teammate, but the ball rolled directly to Wilson.

With three minutes gone in the period, Picanco eluded a Falcon defender and crossed the ball to Jamie Raepple. Raepple let the ball roll past her while shielding it from a BG player, then, while running right-to-left across the 18-yard box, fired a shot that went wide left.

The Purple Eagles had another good chance several minutes later. Raepple slid a cross to Laura Kimoto. Kimoto's ensuing shot hit a defender, bounced off of Kimoto and headed toward the goal. It spun past Ison, but the BG 'keeper turned and grabbed the ball before it reached the line. But, the visitors would score just over two minutes later.

Laura Kimoto's corner kick in the 99th minute, just the second of the game for the Purple Eagles, sailed toward the near post. Ison attempted to grab the ball in traffic, but it went off her fingers and landed in the net. Kimoto was credited with the unassisted goal.

Wilson made five saves to earn the win for the Purple Eagles. Ison had a total of eight stops for the Falcons, including four in the second half and two in the overtime period.

The Falcons now prepare for a pair of road matches next weekend. BGSU will take on Michigan State University on Friday (Sept. 9), before heading to Youngstown State for a Sunday (Sept. 11) contest. The MSU match will begin at 2:30 p.m., while the YSU contest is slated for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff.

FALCON NOTES
* Senior Alyssa Zuccaro's goal on Sunday was the 16th of her BGSU career ... she is now tied for seventh on the school's career list for goals ... Zuccaro is deadlocked with Britt Anderson (2002-05) on that chart.

* Zuccaro now has 42 career points, ranking her ninth on that BG career list.

* Zuccaro took a total of nine shot attempts against Niagara ... that is the highest total by a BGSU player in nearly seven years ... Kristy Coppes had nine shot attempts against Buffalo on Oct. 17, 2004, marking the second time that season that Coppes had fired nine shots ... Coppes holds the school record with 11 shots in a 2002 match vs. Western Michigan.

* Sophomore Madeline Wideman's assist on Zuccaro's goal was the sixth of her career ... Wideman now has 12 career points.

* The overtime game was the first for the Falcons in 2011 ... BGSU now has an all-time record of 18-17-30 in OT matches, including a 9-13-13 record at Cochrane Field, a 7-2-15 mark in road games and a 2-2-2 ledger in neutral-site overtime contests.

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