Friday, November 14
Akron, Ohio
4:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
14-5-1
3
vs
2
West Virginia (Semifinal)
11-7-1
1
2
OT 2
F
Bowling Green
1
1
1
3
West Virginia
0
2
0
2
The Falcons & their fans celebrate Max Auden's 'Golden Goal' vs. WVU
Photo by: Ernie Aranyosi
Falcons in the Final! Auden's OT Goal Lifts BGSU Past WVU, 3-2
November 14, 2014 | Men's Soccer
Max Auden's goal in the first minute of overtime lifted the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team to a 3-2, come-from-behind win over West Virginia University Friday afternoon/evening (Nov. 14). The match, a semifinal-round contest in the Mid-American Conference Tournament, was held at First Energy Stadium - Cub Cadet Field in Akron.
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LINKS
FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
POST-MATCH INTERVIEW: Auden & Nichols
PHOTO GALLERY: Ernie Aranyosi, Akron Athletics
With the win, the Falcons improve to 14-5-1 on the year, and BGSU advances to Sunday's (Nov. 16) league tourney championship match. The Falcons will face the University of Akron in Sunday's final. The Zips defeated Western Michigan, 2-1, in Friday's second semifinal.
BGSU returns to the championship match for the first time since 2003.
Members of the sophomore class accounted for all three BGSU goals, as Pat Flynn gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead in the first half. The Mountaineers took the lead with just over an hour gone, as Andy Bevin and Jamie Merriam scored just over five minutes apart.
But, the Falcons got the tying goal on a penalty kick by Jacob Roth, after Roth was taken down in the box with 8:39 left in the second half. Then, Auden took a pass from Flynn and scored from the left side of the six-yard box with 59 seconds gone in the OT period.
"It was a lot of fun out there tonight," said Auden. "It's really cool to score that goal, but it's just the semifinals. We still have another game to look forward to on Sunday."
BGSU has won five consecutive games, all by a single goal. Four of the wins during that stretch have come in overtime.
Auden now has six goals this season, good for second on the team behind Flynn. Three of Auden's six goals have been game winners, with two coming in OT.
Auden has scored four of his six goals in the Falcons' six games vs. MAC teams, and has scored the GWG in all three of BGSU's wins vs. conference foes this fall.
WVU had a 16-10 advantage in total shots attempts on Friday, but the Falcons put eight shots on goal to the Mountaineers' six. Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Nick Landsberger made four saves for the Falcons en route to his 10th victory of the year. WVU 'keeper Lee Johnston had five saves in the match.
Momentum shifted from the Falcons to the Mountaineers and back on numerous occasions during the match. West Virginia had the first seven shot attempts of the afternoon, holding the Brown and Orange without a shot for over 30 minutes.
BGSU had some chances during that time, but Johnston grabbed a Roth diagonal ball in the third minute, the Falcons were ruled offside as sophomore Joe Sullivan tried to connect with Flynn in the 13th minute, and a BG corner kick four minutes later was cleared by the WVU defense.
Meanwhile, the Mountaineers had several solid chances in that time. Off of a free kick in the fifth minute, a WVU player one-timed the ball to Jad Arslan on the right side of the six-yard box, but Arslan sent his shot wide of the frame.
In the ninth minute, Bevin -- the MAC Player of the Year -- saw his free kick blocked in the penalty area. Bevin got the ball back, but his left-side cross was just out of the reach of Zak Leedom.
With nearly 15 minutes gone, WVU's Joey Piatczyc -- the MAC Freshman of the Year -- drilled a shot from nearly 30 yards out, but Landsberger was up to the task, leaping to deflect the ball over the crossbar. Off of the ensuing corner kick, Bevin fired a shot that went just wide of the upper right corner of the goal.
In the 20th minute, Flynn played a ball forward to Sullivan on the left side, but a WVU defender was able to take the ball away from Sullivan in the box.
After a BG turnover near midfield, Bevin tried to catch Landsberger napping, quickly firing a long shot from over 50 yards out, but Landsberger scrambled back into the goalmouth and guarded the left side of the goal as Bevin's shot rolled wide of the frame and out of play for a Falcon goal kick.
After West Virginia had dominated the statistics for the first 30 minutes, the Falcons began to see their forays into enemy territory increase in both numbers and intensity. Flynn found Auden as the two headed down the middle of the pitch, before a WVU defender poked the ball away at the last second. BG got the ball back, and Flynn again found Auden. His shot was blocked, but junior Ryan James tracked the ball down and slid a pass to Auden in the box. Auden's hard shot forced Johnston into a leaping save, as he deflected the shot over the goal for a corner kick.
That corner kick, taken by Roth, found its way to senior Danny Baraldi. Baraldi, seeing his first action since suffering an injury in the Western Michigan match of Nov. 1, took a shot that was blocked. A BG player lofted the ball back into the box, where another senior tri-captain, Jon Kumher, got a head on it. But, Kumher's effort was saved by Johnston.
With under 12 minutes left in the half, the Falcons broke through. West Virginia had taken the first seven shots of the match, but BG fired the next five. The fourth shot very nearly went in, and the fifth one indeed found the back of the net.
James took a pass from Auden in the box, and the junior ripped an absolute blast toward the goal. A defender blocked the ball, or at least happened to be in the path of the ball, and the shot caromed off of the crossbar.
James tracked down the rebound and slid a pass to Flynn in the center of the box. The sophomore striker made no mistake, firing a shot past Johnston and into the left side of the goal. The goal was Flynn's team- and MAC-leading 14th of the season, and came at the 33:20 mark.
The teams traded shots just 22 seconds apart in the 35th minute, but Merriam's attempt was stopped by Landsberger at the near post, and Johnston saved Auden's shot at the near post in a mirror image of the previous play.
With five minutes to go in the half, Auden and Baraldi attempted a give-and-go play on the left side of the box, but as Baraldi slid a return pass to Auden, the assistant referee's flag was raised, indicating offside against the Falcons. Two minutes later, BG was ruled offside again, as junior Jake Martin attempted to connect with redshirt sophomore Danny Shea on the left side of the pitch.
Landsberger grabbed a ball out of the air after a free kick with a minute to go in the period, and he grabbed a shot from distance off the boot of Christian Diaz as the final seconds of the period ticked away. The Falcons took a 1-0 lead into the halftime break.
Early in the second half, the Mountaineers had a good chance, but Mike Desiderio's turnaround shot in the box went wide. Moments later, Flynn was fouled deep in the WVU end on the left side, and a yellow card was given to Louis Thomas, but Roth's free kick was just over the head of a leaping teammate in the penalty area.
The Mountaineers seemed to have the momentum back, however, and took the game's next six shots. And, two of those shots found the mark.
First, however, Francio Henry's shot from close range sailed high. Then, Merriam fired a hard shot, but the ball was hit directly at Landsberger.
BG headed the other way several minutes later, and Flynn played a ball ahead to Sullivan on the right side. Sullivan's ball into the middle of the box was tipped, and the ball went just out of the reach of a sliding effort by Auden on the far side of the six-yard area.
With just under 10 minutes gone in the period, WVU evened the score. Piatczyc's cross from the right side of the pitch found the head of Bevin, and the Mountaineers' leading scorer directed the ball just over Landsberger and just under the crossbar at the 54:58 mark.
Less than 30 seconds later, Merriam had a chance to give his team the lead, but his shot sailed high and wide. When given another chance five minutes later, though, he indeed gave the Mountaineers the advantage.
In the 61st minute, Merriam received a pass from Desiderio as he approached the top of the box. Merriam held off a defender and fired a low ball that was just out of reach of the charging Landsberger. WVU had the lead, 2-1.
With 16-plus minutes left in the half, freshman Keaton Reynolds nearly found the equalizer, but his shot from the right side hit the outside netting at the near post. Three minutes later, Kumher's left-side cross was just out of the reach of Reynolds, who had a defender shadowing him in the box.
Kumher played a long ball ahead to Flynn as the clock ticked under 11 minutes, but at the last possible moment, a WVU defender was able to poke the ball away from the BG soph.
With under nine minutes remaining, though, the Falcons tied the score. Freshman Brad Macomber played a pass ahead to Roth on the right side of the penalty area, and Roth was taken down. A penalty kick was awarded with 8:39 to go, and Roth blasted that PK past Johnston to tie the score.
BG had a grade-A chance to take the lead with just over three minutes left. Sullivan put Auden behind the defense, but Auden's shot was saved by Johnston. BGSU quickly got the ball back, and the Falcons looked to find Auden once again, but he was ruled offside.
Johnston grabbed a long ball by junior Jake Genrich with 90 seconds to go, and the teams headed to overtime. The first shot attempt of the OT was also the last. As BG possessed the ball in the offensive end of the field, Flynn slid a ball forward to Auden. Auden was tightly marked, but held off a Mountaineer defender and hit a shot as he went to the ground. That shot beat Johnston to the far side, gave the Falcons the win and sparked a wild celebration.
Sunday's BGSU-Akron championship match will begin at 1:00 p.m. at FirstEnergy Stadium - Cub Cadet Field.
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LINKS
FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
POST-MATCH INTERVIEW: Auden & Nichols
PHOTO GALLERY: Ernie Aranyosi, Akron Athletics
With the win, the Falcons improve to 14-5-1 on the year, and BGSU advances to Sunday's (Nov. 16) league tourney championship match. The Falcons will face the University of Akron in Sunday's final. The Zips defeated Western Michigan, 2-1, in Friday's second semifinal.
BGSU returns to the championship match for the first time since 2003.
Members of the sophomore class accounted for all three BGSU goals, as Pat Flynn gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead in the first half. The Mountaineers took the lead with just over an hour gone, as Andy Bevin and Jamie Merriam scored just over five minutes apart.
But, the Falcons got the tying goal on a penalty kick by Jacob Roth, after Roth was taken down in the box with 8:39 left in the second half. Then, Auden took a pass from Flynn and scored from the left side of the six-yard box with 59 seconds gone in the OT period.
"It was a lot of fun out there tonight," said Auden. "It's really cool to score that goal, but it's just the semifinals. We still have another game to look forward to on Sunday."
BGSU has won five consecutive games, all by a single goal. Four of the wins during that stretch have come in overtime.
Auden now has six goals this season, good for second on the team behind Flynn. Three of Auden's six goals have been game winners, with two coming in OT.
Auden has scored four of his six goals in the Falcons' six games vs. MAC teams, and has scored the GWG in all three of BGSU's wins vs. conference foes this fall.
WVU had a 16-10 advantage in total shots attempts on Friday, but the Falcons put eight shots on goal to the Mountaineers' six. Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Nick Landsberger made four saves for the Falcons en route to his 10th victory of the year. WVU 'keeper Lee Johnston had five saves in the match.
Momentum shifted from the Falcons to the Mountaineers and back on numerous occasions during the match. West Virginia had the first seven shot attempts of the afternoon, holding the Brown and Orange without a shot for over 30 minutes.
BGSU had some chances during that time, but Johnston grabbed a Roth diagonal ball in the third minute, the Falcons were ruled offside as sophomore Joe Sullivan tried to connect with Flynn in the 13th minute, and a BG corner kick four minutes later was cleared by the WVU defense.
Meanwhile, the Mountaineers had several solid chances in that time. Off of a free kick in the fifth minute, a WVU player one-timed the ball to Jad Arslan on the right side of the six-yard box, but Arslan sent his shot wide of the frame.
In the ninth minute, Bevin -- the MAC Player of the Year -- saw his free kick blocked in the penalty area. Bevin got the ball back, but his left-side cross was just out of the reach of Zak Leedom.
With nearly 15 minutes gone, WVU's Joey Piatczyc -- the MAC Freshman of the Year -- drilled a shot from nearly 30 yards out, but Landsberger was up to the task, leaping to deflect the ball over the crossbar. Off of the ensuing corner kick, Bevin fired a shot that went just wide of the upper right corner of the goal.
In the 20th minute, Flynn played a ball forward to Sullivan on the left side, but a WVU defender was able to take the ball away from Sullivan in the box.
After a BG turnover near midfield, Bevin tried to catch Landsberger napping, quickly firing a long shot from over 50 yards out, but Landsberger scrambled back into the goalmouth and guarded the left side of the goal as Bevin's shot rolled wide of the frame and out of play for a Falcon goal kick.
After West Virginia had dominated the statistics for the first 30 minutes, the Falcons began to see their forays into enemy territory increase in both numbers and intensity. Flynn found Auden as the two headed down the middle of the pitch, before a WVU defender poked the ball away at the last second. BG got the ball back, and Flynn again found Auden. His shot was blocked, but junior Ryan James tracked the ball down and slid a pass to Auden in the box. Auden's hard shot forced Johnston into a leaping save, as he deflected the shot over the goal for a corner kick.
That corner kick, taken by Roth, found its way to senior Danny Baraldi. Baraldi, seeing his first action since suffering an injury in the Western Michigan match of Nov. 1, took a shot that was blocked. A BG player lofted the ball back into the box, where another senior tri-captain, Jon Kumher, got a head on it. But, Kumher's effort was saved by Johnston.
With under 12 minutes left in the half, the Falcons broke through. West Virginia had taken the first seven shots of the match, but BG fired the next five. The fourth shot very nearly went in, and the fifth one indeed found the back of the net.
James took a pass from Auden in the box, and the junior ripped an absolute blast toward the goal. A defender blocked the ball, or at least happened to be in the path of the ball, and the shot caromed off of the crossbar.
James tracked down the rebound and slid a pass to Flynn in the center of the box. The sophomore striker made no mistake, firing a shot past Johnston and into the left side of the goal. The goal was Flynn's team- and MAC-leading 14th of the season, and came at the 33:20 mark.
The teams traded shots just 22 seconds apart in the 35th minute, but Merriam's attempt was stopped by Landsberger at the near post, and Johnston saved Auden's shot at the near post in a mirror image of the previous play.
With five minutes to go in the half, Auden and Baraldi attempted a give-and-go play on the left side of the box, but as Baraldi slid a return pass to Auden, the assistant referee's flag was raised, indicating offside against the Falcons. Two minutes later, BG was ruled offside again, as junior Jake Martin attempted to connect with redshirt sophomore Danny Shea on the left side of the pitch.
Landsberger grabbed a ball out of the air after a free kick with a minute to go in the period, and he grabbed a shot from distance off the boot of Christian Diaz as the final seconds of the period ticked away. The Falcons took a 1-0 lead into the halftime break.
Early in the second half, the Mountaineers had a good chance, but Mike Desiderio's turnaround shot in the box went wide. Moments later, Flynn was fouled deep in the WVU end on the left side, and a yellow card was given to Louis Thomas, but Roth's free kick was just over the head of a leaping teammate in the penalty area.
The Mountaineers seemed to have the momentum back, however, and took the game's next six shots. And, two of those shots found the mark.
First, however, Francio Henry's shot from close range sailed high. Then, Merriam fired a hard shot, but the ball was hit directly at Landsberger.
BG headed the other way several minutes later, and Flynn played a ball ahead to Sullivan on the right side. Sullivan's ball into the middle of the box was tipped, and the ball went just out of the reach of a sliding effort by Auden on the far side of the six-yard area.
With just under 10 minutes gone in the period, WVU evened the score. Piatczyc's cross from the right side of the pitch found the head of Bevin, and the Mountaineers' leading scorer directed the ball just over Landsberger and just under the crossbar at the 54:58 mark.
Less than 30 seconds later, Merriam had a chance to give his team the lead, but his shot sailed high and wide. When given another chance five minutes later, though, he indeed gave the Mountaineers the advantage.
In the 61st minute, Merriam received a pass from Desiderio as he approached the top of the box. Merriam held off a defender and fired a low ball that was just out of reach of the charging Landsberger. WVU had the lead, 2-1.
With 16-plus minutes left in the half, freshman Keaton Reynolds nearly found the equalizer, but his shot from the right side hit the outside netting at the near post. Three minutes later, Kumher's left-side cross was just out of the reach of Reynolds, who had a defender shadowing him in the box.
Kumher played a long ball ahead to Flynn as the clock ticked under 11 minutes, but at the last possible moment, a WVU defender was able to poke the ball away from the BG soph.
With under nine minutes remaining, though, the Falcons tied the score. Freshman Brad Macomber played a pass ahead to Roth on the right side of the penalty area, and Roth was taken down. A penalty kick was awarded with 8:39 to go, and Roth blasted that PK past Johnston to tie the score.
BG had a grade-A chance to take the lead with just over three minutes left. Sullivan put Auden behind the defense, but Auden's shot was saved by Johnston. BGSU quickly got the ball back, and the Falcons looked to find Auden once again, but he was ruled offside.
Johnston grabbed a long ball by junior Jake Genrich with 90 seconds to go, and the teams headed to overtime. The first shot attempt of the OT was also the last. As BG possessed the ball in the offensive end of the field, Flynn slid a ball forward to Auden. Auden was tightly marked, but held off a Mountaineer defender and hit a shot as he went to the ground. That shot beat Johnston to the far side, gave the Falcons the win and sparked a wild celebration.
Sunday's BGSU-Akron championship match will begin at 1:00 p.m. at FirstEnergy Stadium - Cub Cadet Field.
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Team Stats
BGSU
WVU
Goals
3
2
Shots
11
16
Shots on Goal
8
6
Saves
4
5
Corners
3
2
Fouls
14
21
Scoring Plays
FLYNN, Pat (14)
Assisted By: JAMES, Ryan
initial shot deflected, rebounded for go
33:20
Bevin, Andy (13)
Assisted By: Piatczyc, Joey , Thomas, Louis
Header GOAL by WVU Bevin, Andy {shot from in the box}, Assist by Piatczyc, Joey and Thomas, Louis, goal number 13 for season.
54:58
Merriam, Jamie (9)
Assisted By: Desiderio, Mike
GOAL by WVU Merriam, Jamie {shot from top of box}, Assist by Desiderio, Mike, goal number 9 for season.
60:28
ROTH, Jacob (4)
BGSU ROTH, Jacob PENALTY KICK GOAL, goal number 4 for season.
81:21
AUDEN, Max (6)
Assisted By: FLYNN, Pat
shot just inside six yard box to corner
90:59
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
1
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's SoccerM
/ Men's Soccer
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GK
/ Men's Soccer
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/ Men's SoccerD/M
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M
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