Bowling Green State University Athletics
Women's Soccer Heads To Buffalo, Kent State This Weekend
October 17, 2000 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 17, 2000
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, after clinching a berth in the Mid-American Conference Tournament, will look to earn home-field advantage for the tourney this weekend. The Falcons (7-7-0 overall, 5-4 MAC) will face the University at Buffalo (11-5-0, 7-2 MAC) in a Friday afternoon (Oct. 20) contest. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at UB's RAC Field.
Following the UB contest, the Falcons of first-year head coach Andy Richards will complete league regular-season play with a Sunday (Oct. 22) tilt against Kent State University (6-8-1, 2-7-0 MAC). That contest is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. at the Kent State Soccer Field.
HEAD COACH ANDY RICHARDS: Andy Richards is in his first year as a head coach, and has a 7-7-0 record heading into the Buffalo match. Richards, who came to BGSU after five years as an assistant coach at Oregon State University, was hired in April.
Ashlee Orr was named the BGSU assistant coach in late August.
THE OPPONENTS: Buffalo enters the week with an overall record of 11-5-0, and the Bulls are tied for first place in the MAC standings with a 7-2 league mark entering the final weekend of conference action. UB is deadlocked with Miami at the top of the league, after dropping a 2-1 road decision to the RedHawks Friday (Oct. 13) and rebounding for a 2-0 win at Ball State Sunday (Oct. 15). UB is 5-1 at home this season, including a 3-1 home record in league play. Senior Paula Listrani leads the Bulls in goals (12), assists (7) and points (31), and is the school's career leader with 44 goals and 108 points. Goalkeepers Emily Cox, a sophomore, and senior Jaime Adams have split time in the net this year. Cox has a goals-against average of 0.99 to lead the league, while Adams is second with a 1.08 GAA. Last year, UB finished 13-5-1, and placed fourth in the MAC with a 7-4-0 league mark. Head coach Jean-A. Tassy is 56-39-10 in his sixth year, all at UB. More information on the team can be found at www.buffalobulls.com.
Kent State begins the week with a 6-8-1 overall record, and the Golden Flashes are 2-7-0 in MAC action heading into a Friday home match against Toledo. KSU will be looking to break a three-match losing streak, including last weekend's losses at Ball State (1-0, Friday) and Miami (3-1, Sunday). KSU is 3-2 at home this season, including a 1-2 mark in MAC action. Freshman Lauren Caminati leads the Flashes in goals and points, with seven and 18, respectively. Sophomore Lindsey Mitchell has started nine games in goal and has a 1.95 GAA. A year ago, Kent went 10-9-0 overall and 5-6 in the MAC to tie for seventh place. Head coach Colleen Marcum, 32-38-4 in her fourth year in Kent, is 41-92-4 in her eighth year as a collegiate head coach. More information on the Flashes can be accessed at www.kent.edu/athletics.
THE SERIES: The Falcons lead the all-time series with five MAC opponents, including each of this weekend's foes. BGSU holds a 2-1 lead over Buffalo, and the teams will be meeting in Buffalo for the first time Friday. Three years ago, Michelle Lisy's goal helped the Brown and Orange to a 2-1 victory at Cochrane Field (Oct. 24, 1997). The next year, BG won by the identical score, as Stephanie Heller and Tracy Gleixner each found the back of the net. Gleixner's goal came in the waning moments of that match (Sept. 25, 1998). Last year, the Bulls posted a 3-0 win (Sept. 26).
The Falcons are 3-0-1 all-time vs. Kent, having outscored the Flashes by a combined 6-1 margin. The teams met twice in 1997, including in the first match in the history of both programs. In that contest, the only prior meeting held in Kent, the Falcons took a 1-0 overtime decision (Aug. 29, 1997). Later that year, Jamie Eshleman scored one of BG's goals in a 2-0 home win (Oct. 17, 1997). The teams battled to a 1-1 tie in BGSU in 1998 (Sept. 27) before the Falcons posted another 2-0 home win last year (Sept. 15, 1999). Jill Conover and Eshleman scored in that contest, with Erika Flanders earning the shutout in goal.
LAST TIME OUT: The Falcons split a pair of 1-0 matches last weekend, winning the Friday (Oct. 13) contest vs. Marshall on an overtime goal by sophomore Jill Conover. Juniors Mandy Smith and Beth Wechsler drew assists on the goal, while sophomore Erika Flanders made nine saves to earn the shutout.
On Sunday (Oct. 15), Flanders made eight more saves, but a goal by Ohio's Carolyn Valade proved to be the match winner. The Falcons had seven shots on goal, but could not get a shot past OU goalie Anita Alexander.
NOTING THE FALCONS: Two of senior Jamie Eshleman's three career goals have come against Kent State ... junior Annmarie Aparo's sister, Robin, is a freshman on the Buffalo women's soccer team ... the Falcons are currently embroiled in the race for home-field advantage for the MAC Tournament's quarterfinal round ... BGSU is in a three-way tie for fifth place with one weekend left in the MAC schedule ... the Falcons have clinched a berth in the eight-team league tourney, which begins with the quarterfinal round at campus sites on Oct. 31 ... BG still has a shot at finishing in one of the top four spots and earning a home quarterfinal match ... the Falcons have 15 points, along with Ohio and Central Michigan ... fourth-place Western Michigan is one point ahead of that trio ... BGSU's best-ever MAC finish was a sixth-place showing in 1998 ... after being outshot by a 19-11 margin in regulation in Friday's Marshall match, the Falcons held a 5-0 edge in the 5:39 of overtime ... BGSU is now 3-0 in OT matches this season ... the Falcons had a 2-4-3 overtime record in the first three years of the program ... last weekend, sophomore Erika Flanders made 17 saves and surrendered just one goal ... she now has four shutouts this season and six in her career to hold the school records in both categories ... the Ohio goal Sunday snapped a personal scoreless streak of 245:55 for Flanders, a new school mark ... as a team, the Falcons went 266:33 without allowing a goal, also a BGSU record ... Friday's win over Marshall enabled the 2000 Falcons to tie the school record for regular-season wins ... the 1998 team went 8-11-1, including a MAC Tournament quarterfinal win ... BGSU is now 7-7 after finishing 5-11-3 in 1999 ... the Falcons finished last year at 2-6-3 in conference play, but currently are 5-4 within the league ... Flanders holds nearly every BGSU career goalie record, including victories (12) and saves (173) ... five players - seniors Ashley Enser and Janice Mentrup, juniors Leslie Hepfinger and Mandy Smith, and sophomore Jill Conover - have started every match this season ... Ashley Enser and Mentrup have started all 71 contests in the history of the program.
MAC STANDINGS
Team (Overall) MAC Pts. Miami (9-5-0) 7-2-0 21 Buffalo (11-5-0) 7-2-0 21 Eastern Michigan (8-6-2) 6-3-0 18 Western Michigan (8-6-1) 5-3-1 16 Bowling Green (7-7-0) 5-4-0 15 Central Michigan (7-9-0) 5-4-0 15 Ohio (7-8-0) 5-4-0 15 Toledo (5-8-1) 4-5-1 13 Northern Illinois (4-11-1) 2-6-1 7 Ball State (6-8-2) 2-6-1 7 Kent State (6-8-1) 2-7-0 6 Marshall (7-9-0) 2-7-0 6 (standings as of Tuesday morning, Oct. 17)
