Bowling Green State University Athletics
Men's Soccer Prepares For MAC Opener
October 02, 2000 | Men's Soccer
Oct. 2, 2000
The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team has one match this week, Friday at Northern Illinois, the site of last year's season-ending loss in the Mid-American Conference tournament.
The Falcons are coming off an impressive 2-0 win over Michigan on Thursday at Cochrane Field. BG senior Fred Degand assisted on Detrick Matthews goal, then scored the next Falcon goal. Degand also scored the lone BG goal in the 2-1 loss to Vanderbilt on Sept. 24. He now leads BG with four goals and is tied for the team lead with nine points.
Freshman goalkeeper David DeGraff recorded his first collegiate shutout in the blanking of the Wolverines.
After scoring two goals in his first two seasons combined (34 games), junior Detrick Matthews has two goals this season - both match-winners (Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Michigan).
Bowling Green will take a 3-5 overall record into Friday's MAC match at NIU. It will be the first conference game for the Falcons, while the Huskies dropped a 4-0 decision at Kentucky on Oct. 1.
The Huskies are led offensively by Dan Parisi who has scored six of NIU's 13 goals this season. Peter Agrimson has two goals while five other players have a goal apiece.
In goal, Coach Willy Roy has used sophomore Kurt Baumgartner (2-1-0, 2.09) and sophomore Rasih Pala (2-5-0, 2.54).
With seven schools (including Kentucky) sponsoring men's soccer in the Mid-American Conference in 2000, the league tournament format has been changed. On Friday, Nov. 3 in Buffalo, there will be three matches (#7 vs. #2, #6 vs. 3, and #5 vs. #4), while the #1 seed receives a bye.
Quarterfinal winners are re-seeded based on regular-season standings for the Nov. 5 semi-final matches, also in Buffalo. The highest remaining seed will face the lowest remaining seed, while the second-highest remaining seed will play the second-lowest remaining seed.
The MAC Championship game will be played the weekend of Nov. 10-12 at the highest remaining seed. The MAC tournament winner receives an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.
