Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU Hosts OSU And Toledo This Week
January 04, 2000 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 25, 1999
TOP STORIES:
* - BGSU completes the regular season with a pair of home matches this week, facing Ohio State and arch-rival Toledo ... the UT match, scheduled for Saturday (Oct. 30) morning at 10:00, was rescheduled from Sept. 29 ... on the original date, a traffic accident prevented the UT team bus from reaching BGSU.
* - The Falcons still can qualify for the eight-team Mid-American Conference Tournament ... to do so, the Falcons must defeat Toledo while Kent loses at Buffalo Saturday (Oct. 30) ... the Brown and Orange would win a tiebreaker over Kent.
THIS WEEK: The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team (5-9-3 overall, 2-5-3 MAC), looking to reverse its recent fortunes, completes the regular season with a pair of home matches this week. The Falcons continue a three-match homestand with a Wednesday (Oct. 27) contest against the Ohio State University (10-5-2). Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at BGSU's Cochrane Field.
The OSU match is the first half of a soccer doubleheader at Cochrane Field, as the BGSU men's team will take on Oakland University later that afternoon.
On Saturday (Oct. 30), the Brown and Orange will host the University of Toledo (7-8-0 overall, 3-6-0 MAC). Start time for the match between the two arch-rivals is 10:00 a.m. at Cochrane Field.
Cochrane Field is located off Stadium Drive, just west of Doyt Perry Stadium. Cochrane is located directly east of Keefe Tennis Courts, which are behind the BGSU Ice Arena.
TOM PICCIRILLO: BGSU head coach Tom Piccirillo is in his third season at the helm of the Falcons, and has a 19-32-4 record. His overall record, which includes five years at Tiffin and three seasons at Keuka (N.Y.), is 102-91-12. BGSU's Sept. 12 win over Niagara was Piccirillo's 100th victory as a collegiate head coach.
Julie Reule is in her third season as Piccirillo's assistant.
ABOUT THE FALCONS: Bowling Green is 5-9-3 on the season, and the Falcons are 2-5-3 in MAC play. Last week, the Brown and Orange lost three matches. BGSU fell at home to Detroit by a 6-0 count Wednesday (Oct. 20), before losing a 4-1 contest at Western Michigan Friday (Oct. 22). On Sunday (Oct. 24), Indiana beat the Falcons, 3-0, at Cochrane.
BGSU is looking to end a school-record 10-match winless streak. After opening MAC play with a pair of wins, the Falcons are 0-7-3 in the last 10 matches. BG has lost the last five contests.
Through 17 matches, freshman Jill Conover paces the Falcons with 20 points, followed by junior Michelle Lisy, with 18. Junior Autumn Harris and sophomore Desiree Erb have scored eight and seven points, respectively, while junior Janice Mentrup and sophomore Mandy Smith have six points each.
Freshman goalkeeper Erika Flanders has a 5-9-1 record and a goals-against average of 2.17. Sophomore Sarah Gawel is 0-0-1 with a 1.96 GAA.
BGSU finished the 1998 season with an overall record of 8-11-1. The Falcons went 4-5-1 in MAC play to finish sixth. In the MAC Tournament, BG posted a 1-0 win at third-seeded Eastern Michigan in the quarterfinals before losing to the number-two seed and eventual tourney champ, Northern Illinois, in the semifinals by a 2-1 count.
MAC TOURNAMENT POSSIBILITIES: The Falcons enter the final week of the regular season fighting for the eighth and final berth in the Mid-American Conference Tournament. BGSU, currently tied with Toledo for ninth place, needs a win over the Rockets, and the Falcons must hope for a Kent loss to Buffalo Saturday (Oct. 30). Such a scenario would give BGSU and Kent 12 points each, but the Falcons would win the tiebreaker by virtue of a 2-0 victory over the Golden Flashes in the teams' Sept. 15 meeting.
Even if Toledo were to defeat Western Michigan Wednesday (Oct. 27), giving the Rockets 12 points, the Falcons could tie UT in the standings with a Saturday win, and would win the tiebreaker by virtue of that Saturday victory.
As mentioned, eight teams qualify for the tournament, with the top-four seeds hosting quarterfinal matches a week from Tuesday (Nov. 2).
If the Falcons were to qualify, the team's first-round site is not yet known. Just three points separate the first- through fourth-place teams - Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Buffalo and Miami. CMU hosts EMU Friday (Oct. 29), and a Central win or a tie would give the Chippewas the regular-season title. An EMU win would give the Eagles the crown.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: Ohio State is 10-5-2 overall, and the Buckeyes finished Big Ten Conference play with a 5-4-1 league record. OSU played just one match last week, dropping a 5-0 home contest to Penn State Friday (Oct. 22). OSU and BGSU have faced four common opponents this year - Ohio, Detroit, Indiana and Michigan State. The Buckeyes are 3-0-1 against those teams, while BGSU is 1-2-1. Last year, Ohio State went 13-8-1 overall and placed seventh in the Big Ten with a 3-5-1 league ledger. Lori Walker is 32-22-4 in her third year at the Buckeye helm. She is 45-45-5 in her fifth year as a collegiate head coach.
Toledo is 7-8-0 overall, and the Rockets will take a 3-6-0 MAC record into Wednesday's (Oct. 27) home match vs. Western Michigan. The Rockets enter the final week of the regular seaon in a ninth-place tie with BGSU. Last week, the Rockets lost a 2-1 match at Northern Illinois Friday (Oct. 22) before capturing a 3-2 win in non-league action at Wisconsin-Green Bay Sunday (Oct. 24). A year ago, the Rockets were 8-12-0 overall and 5-5-0 in MAC play to place fifth. Head coach R.J. Anderson is 42-44-0 in his fifth year as a collegiate women's soccer coach, all at UT.
THE SERIES: The Falcons lost the only previous meeting with Ohio State. In just the fourth match in program history, the Brown and Orange fell by a 3-0 count in Columbus (Sept. 6, 1997).
The Falcons are 1-1-0 vs. Toledo in the all-time series between the schools, having split a pair of one-goal decisions in the Glass City. Stephanie Heller and Ashley Enser scored goals in a 3-2 loss at the Glass Bowl two years ago (Sept. 20, 1997), with Autumn Harris adding an assist. Last year (Sept. 17, 1998), in the MAC opener, the visiting Falcons recorded a 2-1 victory at UT's Scott Park Complex. Beth Wechsler scored BGSU's first goal, and Desiree Erb netted the match-winner with under 10 minutes remaining. Sarah Gawel made six saves to earn the complete-match win.
RECAPPING LAST WEEK: Bowling Green struggled offensively in losing three matches last week ... BGSU scored just one goal in the three contests ... Detroit handed the Falcons a 6-0 defeat at Cochrane Field Wednesday (Oct. 20) ... the Titans outshot the Falcons by just a 16-9 margin, but both Gwen Kilfoy and Tanya Tiselj recorded hat tricks ... three Falcons saw action in goal ... Erika Flanders made one save and surrendered a single goal before leaving the contest due to injury in the last minute of the first half ... Sarah Gawel played 25-plus minutes in net, while Michelle Lisy saw her first action of the year in goal, playing the final 20 minutes ... the Titans played the last 51 minutes a player down, after a UDM player received a red card ... on Friday (Oct. 22), host Western Michigan captured a 4-1 victory on a cold, windy afternoon in Kalamazoo ... with temperatures in the mid-30s and a rain/snow mix falling from the sky periodically, the Broncos took a two-goal lead on a pair of Katie Markey scores ... BGSU got on the board with just 59 seconds left in the half, as Mandy Smith scored her second goal of the year ... Janice Mentrup assisted on the play ... WMU, however, scored just five minutes into the second half and added an insurance goal with eight minutes left ... the Broncos outshot the Falcons, 18-14, including a 12-6 edge in shots on goal ... Flanders made eight saves in the BG net ... BGSU was blanked for the second-straight home match Sunday (Oct. 24), losing to Indiana by a 3-0 final ... the Hoosiers scored nearly 17 minutes into the match, and added another tally in the 39th minute ... the visitors' final goal came at the 72:40 mark ... IU held a 19-6 shots advantage, and had nine shots on goal to the Falcons' two ... Flanders made six saves ... BGSU's best scoring chance came in the first few minutes of the match, when Jill Conover was stopped from point-blank range by IU 'keeper Ashley Davis ... Davis and Chrissy Heubi combined to make two saves for the visitors.
FALCON QUICK FACTS
THIS WEEK
Toledo at BGSU
LAST WEEK
at Western Michigan 4, BGSU 1
Indiana 3, at BGSU 0
1999 RECORDS
HEAD COACH - Tom Piccirillo (third year)
ASSISTANT COACH - Julie Reule (third year)
BOWLING GREEN RECORDS
1999 MAC STANDINGS
Ohio State at BGSU
Wednesday, October 27 - 1:00 p.m.
Cochrane Field
Saturday, October 30 - 10:00 a.m.
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Detroit 6, at BGSU 0
Wed., Oct. 20 - Cochrane Field
Fri., Oct. 22 - Kalamazoo, Mich.
Sun., Oct. 24 - Cochrane Field
Overall: 5-9-3 (.382)
Mid-American Conference: 2-5-3 (.350)
Alma Mater: Upsala, 1986
Record at BGSU: 19-32-4
Career: 102-91-12 (11th year)
Alma Mater: James Madison, 1995
All-Time: 19-32-4 (.382) (1997-present / third year)
MAC: 7-16-4 (.333) (1997-present / third year)
Team (Overall)_____________MAC__Pts. Central Mich. (13-4-1)___8-2-0__24 Eastern Mich. (14-2-2)___7-1-2__23 Buffalo (13-3-1)_________7-3-0__21 Miami (14-3-0)___________7-3-0__21 Ohio (7-9-1)_____________5-4-1__16 Northern Ill. (5-12-0)___5-5-0__15 Western Mich. (9-7-1)____4-4-1__13 Kent (9-8-0)_____________4-6-0__12 Bowling Green (5-9-3)____2-5-3___9 Toledo (7-8-0)___________3-6-0___9 Marshall (6-8-3)_________2-6-2___8 Ball State (1-16-1)______0-9-1___1 (three points for a win, one for a tie)
BGSU RESULTS LINE
419/372-7076, choose option 4
(same-day scores and brief summaries from all Falcon athletic teams)
