Bowling Green State University Athletics
Women's Soccer Team To Begin Home Schedule
September 26, 2000 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 26, 2000
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, after a pair of impressive victories last weekend, will begin the home schedule with a pair of Mid-American Conference matches this weekend. The Falcons (5-3-0 overall, 3-0 MAC) will open the home portion of the 2000 schedule with a Friday (Sept. 29) contest against Northern Illinois University (2-6-1, 0-2-1). That match is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. at BGSU's Cochrane Field.
Following the NIU contest, the Falcons of first-year head coach Andy Richards will play a Sunday afternoon (Oct. 1) contest vs. Western Michigan University. The Falcons and Broncos (6-3-0, 3-0) will do battle in a 3:00 p.m. start at Cochrane Field.
HEAD COACH ANDY RICHARDS: Andy Richards is in his first year as a head coach, and has a 5-3-0 record heading into the NIU 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: Northern Illinois brings a 2-6-1 overall record into the week's action, and the Huskies are 0-2-1 in MAC play. NIU will host Marquette Tuesday (Sept. 26) to complete a five-match homestand before heading to BG for Friday's match. Last weekend, the Huskies lost a 4-0 decision to visiting Miami Friday before earning a 2-2 draw with Ball State two days later. Katie Klaas leads the team with eight points, while Becca Bleyer has a pair of goals to tie Klaas for the team lead in that category. Last year's team was 5-14-0 overall and tied for seventh in the MAC with a 5-6 league ledger. Head coach Frank Horvat has a record of 67-75-4 in his eighth year as a collegiate head coach, all at NIU. More information on the team can be found at www.niu.edu/athletics.
Western Michigan is 6-3-0 overall, and the Broncos, like the Falcons, have a perfect 3-0 MAC record heading into a Friday (Sept. 29) home match vs. Toledo. Last weekend, WMU won twice at home, downing Ball State and Miami by identical 2-0 scores. Western's other MAC victory was a 1-0 win at NIU (Sept. 17). The Broncos have not given up a goal in four matches, and Megan Ramey has a 1.04 goals-against average. Abi Morrell leads the team with three goals, and Megan Urbats is deadlocked with Morrell with six points. Urbats is one of four Broncos with two goals on the season. Last season, WMU went 10-9-1, including a 5-5-1 MAC mark that was good for sixth in the league. Head coach Mike Haines is 22-22-3 in his third year with the Broncos. He is 54-25-6 in his fifth year as a collegiate head coach. More information on the Broncos can be found at www.wmubroncos.com.
THE SERIES: The Falcons trail Northern Illinois, 3-1-0, in the all-time series, but BGSU won the last meeting, a 3-2 contest in DeKalb last season (Sept. 18). NIU has won both previous meetings at Cochrane Field, a 6-0 match in 1997 and a 4-2 verdict in 1998. The Huskies also beat the Falcons in the 1998 MAC Tournament, with a 2-1 win in double overtime in the semifinal round. Jill Conover scored two goals in last season's win, while Janice Mentrup netted the match winner. Other current Falcons who have found the net vs. NIU include Tracy Gleixner and Beth Wechsler.
Western Michigan has won all three previous meetings against the Falcons, including a 4-1 win in wintry conditions in Kalamazoo last Oct. 22. Mandy Smith scored BG's lone goal in that match. The only previous meeting in BGSU resulted In a 4-2 Western win. Tracy Gleixner and Janice Mentrup scored the Falcon goals in that contest. The first-ever meeting between the teams saw host WMU rally from a 2-0 deficit for a 4-2 win in 1997. Autumn Harris and Stephanie Heller had staked the Falcons to the early lead in that first matchup.
LAST TIME OUT: The Falcons posted a pair of road wins last weekend to move to 3-0 in MAC play. On Friday (Sept. 22), the Brown and Orange recorded a 2-1 win against arch-rival Toledo. BG fell behind after just 56 seconds, but junior Beth Wechsler converted a penalty kick to tie the contest just over seven minutes later, and senior Stephanie Heller scored what would prove to be the winning goal midway through the second half. Sophomore Jill Conover assisted on the winning score. Sophomore Erika Flanders made seven saves in the victory.
Flanders had a stellar match on Sunday (Sept. 24) at Eastern Michigan, and sophomore Tracy Gleixner scored at the 108:22 mark to give BGSU a 1-0 double-overtime win over the defending MAC champions. Conover and senior Janice Mentrup assisted on Gleixner's goal. Flanders made 10 saves, including a stop of an EMU penalty kick, en route to her second shutout of the season.
FLANDERS FLAWLESS, ALMOST: Sophomore Erika Flanders had a solid weekend, surrendering just one goal and making seven saves at Toledo and 10 more at EMU. In the the win over the defending MAC champs, Flanders stopped a penalty-kick attempt by Eastern's Brandy Jones in the first half, then made a save of a shot from point-blank range with just 30 seconds left in regulation. After allowing a goal in the first minute of the UT match, she held the opposition scoreless for the last 197:26 heading into Friday's NIU contest.
SHE'S A SCHOLAR, TOO: For her efforts last weekend, sophomore Erika Flanders was named the MAC's Female Scholar-Athlete of the Week on Tuesday morning (Sept. 27). The honor is presented to one male and one female student-athlete each week, regardless of sport, who has a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better and performs well during the previous week's competition. The Scholar-Athlete of the Week award is determined by one of the conference's faculty athletic representatives. Flanders, an art education major, has a 3.53 GPA.
UNCANNY MARKSWOMANSHIP: Redshirt sophomore Tracy Gleixner has displayed quite the shooting touch this season. Gleixner, who missed all of last season due to injury, has attempted five shots this season, and four have resulted in goals. She was thwarted for the first time in Friday's Toledo match, but was not denied Sunday, as she scored the overtime winner at Eastern Michigan. Gleixner now has 16 career goals in just 25 matches as a Falcon. The goal at EMU moved her past senior Michelle Lisy for the BGSU career lead in that category.
NOTING THE FALCONS: The Falcons are off to a 3-0 start in MAC play for the first time in school history ... all three wins came on the road, including triumphs over the teams picked to finish first (Eastern Michigan) and second (Central Michigan) in the MAC preseason coaches poll, as well as BGSU's arch rival (Toledo) ... with five overall victories this season, BGSU has tied the win total of all of 1999 (5-11-3) ... goalkeeper Erika Flanders, just a sophomore, already holds nearly every BGSU career goalie record, including victories (10), saves (144) and shutouts (four) ... the Falcons' five match-winning goals in 2000 have been scored by five different players ... Sunday's match marked the first-ever home loss in MAC regular-season play for Eastern Michigan ... prior to BGSU's 1-0 win, the Eagles had been 11-0-2 in conference home action since the MAC began sponsoring women's soccer in 1997 ... Tracy Gleixner's goal was the first scrimmage goal scored by a MAC opponent against the Eagles at Scicluna Field since the 1998 season ... the last MAC player to score against EMU in Ypsilanti was BG's Cari Combs in the 1998 MAC Tournament, also resulting in a 1-0 Falcon win ... prior to Sunday, the Eagles had allowed just one goal in the last 13 overall home matches ... BGSU has scored two OT goals in as many extra-session matches this season ... prior to this fall, the Falcons were 2-4-4 all-time in overtime matches ... Jill Conover has had an assist on the winning goal in each of BGSU's last three matches, and now has a team-high five helpers on the year ... the Falcons played the UT contest without senior starters Michelle Lisy and Autumn Harris ... in fact, Lisy played only sparingly at EMU, while Harris did not see action in that match either ... Harris has played in just two matches this year, due to injury ... six players - seniors Ashley Enser and Janice Mentrup, juniors Leslie Hepfinger and Mandy Smith, and sophomores Conover and Flanders - have started every match this season ... Ashley Enser and Mentrup have started all 65 contests in the history of the program.
MAC STANDINGS:
Team MAC Pts. Bowling Green (5-3-0) 3-0-0 9 Western Michigan (6-3-0) 3-0-0 9 Ohio (5-4-0) 3-0-0 9 Buffalo (6-4-0) 2-1-0 6 Eastern Michigan (4-3-2) 2-1-0 6 Miami (4-4-0) 2-1-0 6 Central Michigan (3-7-0) 1-2-0 3 Toledo (2-6-0) 1-3-0 3 Marshall (5-4-0) 1-3-0 3 Ball State (4-4-2) 0-2-1 1 Northern Illinois (2-6-1) 0-2-1 1 Kent State (4-4-1) 0-3-0 0 (standings as of Tuesday morning, Sept. 26)
