Bowling Green State University Athletics
Men's Soccer Hosts Michigan State To End Regular Season
October 30, 2000 | Men's Soccer
Oct. 30, 2000
The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team will play one non-conference match (Tuesday vs. Michigan State at Cochrane Field) to complete the regular season before heading to Buffalo as the No. 1 seed for the 2000 Mid-American Conference tournament.
The Falcons defeated Buffalo (3-0) and Akron (2-1) this past weekend creating a four-way tie for first place in the final MAC standings. BG, Marshall, Akron and Kentucky all finished with identical 4-2 conference records. BG earned the No. 1 seed by compiling a 2-1 mark against the other three schools and defeating Marshall head-to-head (1-0 on Oct. 14). Marshall is the No. 2 seed and is followed by Akron, Kentucky, Northern Illinois, Buffalo and Western Michigan.
Friday's quarterfinal matches have No. 2 seed Marshall versus No. 7 Western Michigan, No. 3 Akron vs. No. 6 Buffalo and No. 4 Kentucky vs. No. 5 Northern Illinois. The semifinal matches will be held on Sunday in Buffalo.
BG recorded a 3-0 triumph over visiting Buffalo Friday at Cochrane Field After a scoreless first half that only saw one shot on goal (by BG's Matt Lyons with 19 minutes remaining) that was cleared away by a Buffalo defender, the Falcons scored three times in the second half for the victory.
Junior Detrick Matthews tallied his third of the season at 61:37 off an assist from Lyons. BG increased its lead to 2-0 when Gene Braxton scored at 82:32 off an assist from Lyons. Lyons then completed the Falcon scoring with his fourth of the campaign off assists from Fred Degand and Matthews.
Freshman goalkeeper David DeGraff made one save for the Falcons, while Buffalo goalkeeper Brian Wozniak also made one save.
The Bowling Green State University men's soccer squad defeated defending three-time Mid-American Conference champion Akron, 2-1, Sunday afternoon at BG's Cochrane Field.
BG opened the scoring against the Zips when senior Matt Lyons header to the far post just 6:30 into the match beat Akron goalkeeper Kyle Milligan. Senior Gene Braxton sent the ball in to Lyons from the left side.
Akron tied the game at one at the 13:49 mark when Ørjan Bj†nesø put in a rebound of a Pat Beattie shot.
Falcon freshman P.J. Behan's match-winning goal at the 51:21 mark deflected off an Akron defender into the top part of the net. Senior Fred Degand had sent a header back to Behan to set up the winning score.
BG goalkeeper David DeGraff made three saves, while senior Tommy Thomas earned a "team save" when he cleared the ball off the goal line in the first half. UA goalkeeper Kyle Milligan made five saves. Akron held a 16-12 edge in total shots, with BG leading in shots on goal, 7-4.
The Falcons have won five of their last six matches outscoring their opponents 11-4. Nine different BG players have scored goals this year to lead a balanced attack. Senior Matt Lyons has five goals this season after scoring three times his first three years combined. BG is 7-0 when scoring at least two goals and 1-7 when scoring one or fewer goals.
Bowling Green is ranked 10th in this week's Great Lakes Region poll sponsored by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). The Falcons played No. 2 ranked Ohio State scoreless for nearly 35 minutes on Sept. 23 before the game was cancelled due to weather. BG dropped a 3-1 decision at No. 3 ranked Dayton on Sept. 20, but won at No. 5 ranked Oakland (2-1) on Oct. 17. The Falcons have defeated No. 8 ranked Marshall (1-0) and No. 11 ranked Akron (2-1).
