Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Take Unbeaten Record To Peoria, Ill. For Holiday Inn Classic
January 03, 2000 | Men's Soccer
Sept. 7, 1999
UPCOMING GAMES ...
Tournament action concludes on Sunday with Bowling Green and Tulsa playing at noon, followed by Bradley vs. Richmond at 2:00 p.m.
Bowling Green continues its string of four consecutive tournaments the following weekend with an appearance in the Soccer World Classic hosted by Oakland University (Rochester Hills, MI) on Sept. 18-19. The Falcons will face Central Florida on Saturday and Xavier on Sunday.
THE COACH ...
Mahler was an assistant coach at Akron (1981-83) and High Point (1978-80) prior to being named head coach at Pfeiffer. He also spent seven years as an assistant coach at BG (1987-92, 1994) under Palmisano.
THE SERIES ...
BG has faced the Golden Hurricane just once with that meeting coming in 1990. Tulsa was victorious by a 1-0 score on the second day of the Kwik Goal/BGSU Soccer Classic.
SCANNING THE POLLS...
In the first Great Lakes Region poll of 1999, BG was rated third behind Indiana and Notre Dame. Akron was ranked fourth and Kentucky seventh.
PREVIEWING UPCOMING OPPONENTS...
Tulsa is ranked fifth in this week's Midwest rankings after splitting its opening two matches. The Golden Hurricane defeated Alabama-Birmingham (4-3), but lost to South Florida (4-2).
LOOKING BACK AT LAST WEEK ...
Tommy Thomas scored his first collegiate goal nine minutes into the Flyer contest. Thomas scored on a rebound of Jason Bryant's shot. Bobby Biggs began the scoring play on a restart just outside the penalty box. Kevin Wisniewski scored the match-winner at the 32:13 mark as his rebound shot eluded Dayton goalkeeper Jeff Krempec. Tony Malik and Gene Braxton assisted on Wisniewski's first career tally.
Biggs completed the BG scoring at the 51:23 mark with an unassisted goal as he intercepted an errant UD clearing pass.
BG senior goalkeeper Ty Fowler, in his second collegiate start, lost his bid for his first collegiate shutout when Emmanuel Ayim scored with 5:07 remaining in the second half. Fowler made nine saves, while Krempec was credited with six stops.
Senior Chris Dore scored the only goal of the match (at 33:48) in the Falcons 1-0 triumph over Western Kentucky on the first day of the 1999 BGSU Soccer Classic. Dore took a pass from Adam Erhard dribbled around a Hilltopper defender and blasted a shot over WKU goalkeeper Ryan Lossie.
BGSU senior goalkeeper Ty Fowler made four saves in recording his first collegiate shutout. The Falcons outshot the guests 15-9 and held a 7-4 advantage in shots on goal.
In the first game of the tournament, Detroit rallied with two second half goals to defeat DePaul 4-3.
The Falcons won their third straight match of the season with a 2-0 win over DePaul on Sept. 5. Sophomore Kevin Wisniewski opened the scoring at 20:39 with assists from Tommy Thomas and Chris Dore. Junior Zac Olson gave BG a 2-0 advantage with his marker at 27:53. Bobby Biggs set up Olson for his first tally of the campaign.
BG outshot the Blue Demons 13-10 and converted on both of its shots on goal. Falcon goalkeeper Ty Fowler was credited with two saves, both coming in the second half for his second consecutive shutout.
NOTES ...
Bowling Green has now won six of its last seven matches dating back to last season and nine of its last 11 contests.
Freshman Matt Leardini made his collegiate debut against Western Kentucky. Leardini played eight minutes as a second half substitute. Fellow newcomer Justin Follebout made his collegiate debut on Sunday, playing 19 minutes as a second half substitute
The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team will take a 3-0 record into its two matches this weekend at the Holiday Inn City Centre Classic in Peoria, Illinois. The Falcons face tournament host Bradley University at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. The BGSU-BU contest is preceded by the Tulsa vs. Richmond match.
Falcon field general Mel Mahler is in his fifth consecutive year as Bowling Green head coach. He served as interim head coach at BG during the 1993 season while coach Gary Palmisano was working the World Cup. Mahler recorded his 75th win as BG mentor with the Falcons 2-0 win over DePaul on Sept. 5. Prior to joining the Falcon coaching staff in 1987, Mahler served as the head coach at Pfeiffer College (Misenheimer, NC) from 1984-86.
Bowling Green dropped the only previous meeting against Bradley by a 1-0 score last season at BG's Mickey Cochrane Field. Gavin Glinton, a 1999 preseason Second Team All-American by College Soccer Online, scored the lone goal in last year's meeting with 5:35 remaining in the second half.
Bowling Green was picked second in the 1999 Mid-American Conference Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll. Defending regular-season and tournament champion Akron was a unanimous first-place selection.
Bradley began its 1999 campaign with a 5-1 triumph over Millikin on Sept. 1. Senior All-America candidate Stephen Wylie had a goal and two assists. The defending Missouri Valley Conference champion Braves dominated possession throughout the game and finished with a 31-5 edge in shots and extended the nation's third-longest active regular-season, non-conference unbeaten streak to 17 games (15-0-2). Bradley goalkeeper Nate Adams was credited with one save against Millikin. The Braves are rated 10th in this week's NSCAA Midwest Rankings. Bradley lost to North Carolina (3-1) and Southern Methodist (2-1) over the weekend.
The Falcons improved their record in season openers to 23-6-6 (.743) with a 3-1 victory over Dayton on Sept. 1 at Mickey Cochrane Field. BG has recorded a 25-7-3 (.757) mark in home openers.
Four Falcons were named to the 1999 BGSU Soccer Classic All-Tournament Team: Seniors Chris Dore and Ty Fowler, junior Fred Degand and sophomore Kevin Wisniewski. Fowler earned All-Tournament Defensive MVP honors with Dore earning Offensive MVP accolades.
