Bowling Green State University Athletics
Women's Soccer Downed By Kent State, 3-1
October 22, 2000 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 22, 2000
KENT, Ohio - Kent State University broke out to a 3-0 lead, and the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team could not recover from the deficit. The result was a 3-1 KSU win in the Mid-American Conference regular-season final‚ Sunday (Oct. 22) at the Kent State Soccer Field.
The Golden Flashes, who improve to 8-8-1 overall and 4-7-0 in MAC play, got on the board when Nicki Downey converted a penalty kick at the 19:44 mark. KSU's Lauren Caminiti scored the first of her two goals at 36:59, giving the hosts a two-goal halftime margin.
Caminiti struck again, this time off a Cassi Johnson cross, to give the hosts a three-goal advantage at 57:40.
The Falcons (now 7-8-1, 5-5-1 MAC) got on the board when senior Jamie Eshleman scored at 61:53. For Eshleman, the goal was her first of the year, and the fourth of her Falcon career. Three of those four goals have come vs. the Golden Flashes.
Senior Stephanie Heller and sophomore Jill Conover drew the assists on Eshleman's goal. For Heller, the assist was her first of the season. Conover increased her team-leading totals to six assists and 14 points on the year.
The Falcons could not draw any closer, and fell to the Golden Flashes for the first time in five series meetings. BGSU is now 3-1-1 all-time against Kent State.
BGSU held a 30-23 advantage in shots, but KSU had a slim 15-14 edge in shots on goal.
Sophomore Erika Flanders made a season-high 12 saves for the Falcons, increasing her season total to 97, a new school record.
KSU goalkeeper Melissa Glyptis made four saves before leaving the match in the 24th minute with a thigh contusion. Lindsey Mitchell stopped nine of the 10 shots on goal she faced in relief.
The loss ends the conference portion of the season for the Falcons, and dashed any BGSU hope of hosting a MAC Tournament quarterfinal match. BGSU ends the league regular season in seventh place, and will hit the road for the quarterfinal round (Tue., Oct. 31). The Falcons will face second-seeded Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Mich.
"If anything, we are consistent in our inconsistency," said BGSU head coach Andy Richards. "I think that has been a feature of our team this year.
"We have played some awesome games against some very good opponents, and then, frankly, let ourselves down against other teams.
"The coaching staff takes full responsibility. I attribute the loss to myself, having not prepared the team in a better fashion. Of course, we are naturally disappointed that we didn't put up a better showing against Kent State.
"Jamie Eshleman scored an excellent goal today. She came on and provided us with a lot of energy and enthusiasm, and she did what we have been asking of our players to do all season, set the ball up for a shot and strike it hard. She did so, and beat the goalkeeper with pure speed.
"We battled hard to get back into the game. We dominated much of the second half, in terms of possession. We just couldn't seem to put the ball in the back of the net, which has been a disease of late. We're creating a lot of chances, but we don't seem to have that killer instinct to put the ball in the net."
The Falcons finish MAC play at .500, the best conference mark in school history. BGSU's previous best was s 4-5-1 league finish in 1998. That year, the sixth-seeded Falcons went to EMU and recorded a 1-0 upset win in the league tourney quarterfinals.
The Brown and Orange will complete the regular season with a pair of matches at Cochrane Field next weekend. BGSU will host Wisconsin-Green Bay Friday (Oct. 27) and Michigan State Sunday (Oct. 29), with both matches scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m.
MAC STANDINGS
(through matches of Sunday, Oct. 22)
Team (Overall) MAC Pts. 1-Buffalo (12-5-1) 8-2-1 25 2-Eastern Michigan (10-6-2) 8-3-0 24 3-Central Michigan (9-9-0) 7-4-0 21 Miami (9-7-0) 7-4-0 21 Ohio (9-8-0) 7-4-0 21 6-Western Michigan (8-7-2) 5-4-2 17 7-Bowling Green (7-8-1) 5-5-1 16 8-Toledo (5-10-1) 4-6-1 13 9-Kent State (8-8-1) 4-7-0 12 10-Marshall (8-9-1) 3-7-1 10 11-Ball State (6-10-2) 2-8-1 7 Northern Illinois (4-13-1) 2-8-1 7
Sunday's (Oct. 22) Scores:
at Kent State 3, Bowling Green 1 at Marshall 1, Western Michigan 1 (2-OT) at Buffalo 3, Toledo 1 Central Michigan 3, at Miami 1 at Ohio 7, Northern Illinois 2 Eastern Michigan 2, at Ball State 0
MAC Tournament Quarterfinal Matchups
Tuesday, Oct. 31:
#8 Toledo at #1 Buffalo #7 Bowling Green at #2 Eastern Michigan #6 Western Michigan at #3 Central Michigan #5 Ohio at #4 Miami
MAC Tournament Semifinals
Friday, Nov. 3 at site of highest remaining seed:
UT-UB winner vs. OU-MU winner BGSU-EMU winner vs. WMU-CMU winner
MAC Tournament Championship
Sunday, Nov. 5 at semifinal site:
Semifinal winners
