Bowling Green State University Athletics
Women's Soccer Advances To MAC Championship
November 03, 2000 | Women's Soccer
Nov. 3, 2000
BUFFALO, N.Y. - Sophomore Susan Wallace scored a second-half goal to lift the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team to a 2-1 victory over Western Michigan University in the semifinal round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament Friday (Nov. 3) at RAC Field in Buffalo, N.Y.
The win advances the Falcons to Sunday's (Nov. 5) championship match, where BGSU will face Miami University.
BGSU, the seventh seed for the tourney, drew first blood on a goal by redshirt sophomore Tracy Gleixner at the 33:36 mark. For Gleixner, the goal was her fifth of the season, and the 17th of her Falcon career. Senior Janice Mentrup, the school's all-time assists leader, drew her 23rd career assist on the goal.
Junior Mandy Smith started the play, winning the ball at midfield and passing the ball to Mentrup. Mentrup beat a WMU defender and slid a pass to Gleixner. Her shot beat Western goalie Megan Ramey low and to the far side.
Seven minutes later, however, sixth-seeded Western knotted the contest, as freshman Kate Koscielniak scored her first collegiate points on a goal at 40:45. Abi Morrell, WMU's leading scorer in 2000, drew the assist.
The teams remained tied until less than 15 minutes remained in the second half. Senior Michelle Lisy's cross found Wallace, whose "back-post flying header" (in the words of Falcon coach Andy Richards) eluded Ramey at the 75:11 mark.
For Wallace, the goal was her third of the season and her first since August. She had a goal in each of the Falcons' first two matches of the season.
The Falcons dominated the match statistically, holding a 19-2 advantage in shots attempted. BGSU had a 7-1 margin in shots on goal. Western's two overall shot attempts set a new record for fewest shots in a match by a Falcon opponent, while the Broncos' total of one SOG tied that BG opponent record.
BGSU had 10 shots in the first half and nine in the second, while WMU had just one in each stanza. Ramey made five saves in the Bronco net, while BGSU sophomore goalie Erika Flanders was not called upon to make a save.
The Falcons, now 10-9-1 on the season, advance to the league tourney final for the first time in school history. BGSU, a fourth-year program, is in the MAC Tournament for only the second time, having also qualified in 1998.
BGSU holds an all-time league tourney record of 3-1 entering Sunday's match.
"It is very difficult for me to find the words to describe this team," said Richards. "The girls have come together and played extremely well over the last two matches.
"We have become a superb team with unbelievable drive and work ethic. We dominated today's match in terms of possession as well as shots.
"Tracy (Gleixner) made a great run on her goal. She found a seam through two (WMU) players and slid a ball across the 'keeper to the far side. It was a great goal, classic in its simplicity.
"Susan's goal, as well, was a very high-quality goal. It was a pinpoint cross (by Lisy) and a bullet header."
The Brown and Orange beat Western for the first time in five series meetings. WMU had captured the teams' 2000 regular-season match by an identical 2-1 score at BG's Cochrane Field on Oct. 1.
The Falcons' total of 10 wins extends the school seasonal records, as the previous best was an 8-11-1 mark in 1998. BGSU has now won seven matches away from home this season, having gone 5-3-1 on the road and 3-1 in neutral-site matches.
The team suffered a setback when sophomore forward Jill Conover, the team's leading scorer, was injured with just seven seconds left in the match. Conover collided with Ramey. There was no malicious intent on the part of either player, according to Richards, but Conover will miss Sunday's championship match.
The Falcons were already playing without senior Ashley Enser, who suffered a concussion in Tuesday's (Oct. 31) quarterfinal win at Eastern Michigan. Lisy wore Enser's uniform #4 in Friday's match to honor her teammate, who had started every match in the history of the program prior to the WMU contest.
"We played without Ashley Enser, one of our top players," said Richards. "And, without any disrespect to Ashley, we didn't miss a beat. The team just keeps driving on, somehow, they have the ability to keep playing at a higher standard.
"Nobody had a bad game today. I can't speak highly enough of the players, as well as (assistant coach) Ashlee Orr, who deserves a ton of credit and has become an integral part of this team.
"Now, we likely will be playing without Jill as well. That really hurts us, but I don't know if I would want to bet against us right now, the way we are playing.
"We will be the underdog again Sunday, and that is not necessarily a bad thing for us."
Fourth-seeded Miami (12-8-0 overall) earned the other championship-match berth with Friday night's 2-0 win over top-seeded Buffalo.
Sunday's championship match is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. at RAC Field.
The winner of Sunday's contest will earn the MAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
