Bowling Green State University Athletics
Conover Is Golden Against Marshall
October 13, 2000 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 13, 2000
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - In a match which belonged to the goalkeepers, Jill Conover provided the exclamation point.
The Bowling Green State University sophomore scored a "Golden Goal" to give the Falcons a 1-0 overtime victory over Marshall Friday afternoon (Oct. 13). The Mid-American Conference match was held at BGSU's Cochrane Field.
With the victory, the Falcons improve to 7-6-0 overall and 5-3 in MAC play. The Thundering Herd drops to 7-8-0 overall and 2-7 in the conference.
Juniors Mandy Smith and Beth Wechsler drew assists on Conover's goal, which came at the 95:39 mark and gave the Falcons a perfect 3-0 record in overtime matches this season.
Both teams had several quality scoring chances during regulation, but both goalkeepers came up big. BGSU sophomore Erika Flanders and MU junior Kayla Johnson kept zeroes on the scoreboard until the very end.
The Herd nearly scored 10 minutes into the match, but a header by Karla Ledford glanced off the crossbar. With 17 minutes left in the first half, BG senior Michelle Lisy worked a two-on-one masterfully, drawing the MU defender to her and sliding a pass to a wide-open Conover. But, Johnson made the save, one of numerous impressive stops on the afternoon.
With seven-and-a-half minutes remaining until halftime, the Falcons' Tracy Gleixner was stopped on a point-blank attempt, then Ashley Enser's rebound shot was denied by Johnson.
The Herd had the better of the play in the second half, as MU outshot BGSU by a 9-5 margin in that stanza. But, Flanders made nine saves to keep the visitors off the scoreboard.
Falcon head coach Andy Richards probably wishes he had tape-recorded the speech he gave his Falcon troops prior to the overtime, because the Falcons dominated the extra session. BGSU, after being outshot by a 19-11 margin in regulation, held a 5-0 advantage in shot attempts in the five-plus minutes of OT.
With just 30 seconds gone in the extra session, Conover slid a pass through the middle of the penalty box, but no Falcon could get a foot on it.
Just 20 seconds later, Conover hit the goalpost with a shot. Then, less than two minutes into the overtime, Lisy's grade-A shot attempt was blocked by an MU defender.
After the numerous quality scoring chances by both teams all day, the winning goal began innocently enough. Wechsler took a free kick from approximately 40 yards out. Her kick sailed toward the MU net, and Smith, facing away from the goal, headed the ball backward. The ball came to Conover, who one-timed a shot into the lower-right corner of the net and sparked a Falcon celebration.
"Jill has struggled a bit of late, as many strikers do," said Richards. "But, to her credit, she stuck with it, kept working and never gave up. And, she got her reward.
"I think we have learned a lesson from previous years and previous matches this year," said Richards. "We have become more knowledgeable as a team.
"We realize that there are certain days when things just don't go your way, and today, we kept working and doing the simple things. It isn't any secret, you just have to keep working.
"I am a firm believer that you get what you deserve. Marshall did a very good job of pressuring us and making life difficult for us. But, I am very proud of our team for keeping at it, and sticking to the task.
"That five minutes of overtime was a clinic on creating chances, and we were able to finish on the last of those chances."
After the win over Marshall, the Falcons are one victory away from matching the school seasonal record. The 1998 team went 8-11-1 overall. BG's total of seven regular-season wins ties the school mark set by that '98 squad.
BGSU has won five MAC matches for the first time in school annals, and the Falcons have three league contests left to play.
Flanders has posted back-to-back shutouts for the second time in her career, and BGSU has blanked two successive opponents for just the second time in school history. Flanders is now working on a shutout streak of 189:20, and the school record stands at 216:22. BGSU has not been scored upon in the last 209:58.
For Flanders, the shutout was her fourth of the season and the sixth of her career, adding to her school records in both instances. She also garnered her seventh victory of the season, also a BGSU mark.
"Erika Flanders was outstanding today," said Richards. "She has overcome some difficulties, and I believe she is playing the best soccer of her collegiate career right now.
"Today, she was solid, dependable, communicative, and had a presence about her that allowed us to go forward as a team."
The Falcons complete the weekend homestand with a Sunday (Oct. 15) match against Ohio University. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at BGSU's Cochrane Field.
