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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Women's Soccer Wins Third-Straight Match
October 09, 2001 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 9, 2001
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team used a pair of goals less than five minutes apart to defeat Wright State University, 2-1, Tuesday afternoon (Oct. 9). The non-conference match was held at BGSU's Cochrane Field.
With the victory, BGSU's third in a row, the Falcons move to 7-3-2 on the season. WSU drops to 4-6-0, seeing a two-match win streak come to an end.
The teams battled through a scoreless first half, with very few scoring opportunities generated by either team. The Falcons and Raiders combined for just seven total shots (five by WSU) in the opening 45 minutes.
Early in the second half, the Raiders got a quality scoring chance, but could not capitalize. Almost seven minutes into the half, WSU's Sharon Roscoe slid a cross through the box, which a sliding Kim Chianese redirected toward the net. BGSU goalkeeper Erika Flanders, however, was there to make arguably her toughest save of the match from point-blank range.
Just over 10 minutes later, the Falcon offense broke the scoreless tie. BGSU freshman Nikki Pucillo took a corner kick, and worked a give-and-go with classmate Kristy Coppes. Pucillo received the return pass and hit a cross, which deflected off a WSU player in the box. Senior Mandy Smith gathered the ball and fired from just inside the box. She beat WSU goalie Randi Freeman with a blast to the lower right corner of the goal, and the Falcons had the lead. Both Pucillo and Coppes picked up assists on Smith's goal, which came at the 63:20 mark.
BGSU doubled its lead just 4:26 later. Smith played a nifty through-ball to Coppes, who had a step on her defender as she sped down the middle of the box. But, the defender dragged Coppes down from behind, and a penalty kick was awarded. Senior Beth Wechsler took the PK, and converted, putting the ball into the right side of the net.
The Falcons had taken control of the match, and the Raiders rarely got the ball over the midfield line in the latter half of the second stanza. But, WSU's first scoring chance in quite some time resulted in a goal with just 5:18 remaining.
Amy Franks played a pass to Chianese, who was streaking down the left side of the field. Chianese's far-post shot cut the Falcon lead in half.
That goal broke the BGSU defense's scoreless streak at 212:03, and a personal shutout streak of 266:55 for Flanders. The latter mark is a new school record.
The Falcons were able to prevent the visitors from getting the equalizer, and BGSU had its seventh win of the season.
BGSU is four games over .500 for the first time in school history. Seven different players have scored one match-winning goal apiece for the Falcons this year.
"We had a much-improved second-half performance," said BGSU head coach Andy Richards. "The coaching staff asked the team at halftime to make little improvements in every area of the game, and we knew that the effect of those improvements could lead to a victory.
"And, the team responded. We played more quickly, we had more pressure on them defensively, we played with better pace and determination, and, most importantly, we finished our chances.
"We got a good goal from Mandy, who just put a nice finish to that play, and a good penalty kick by Beth Wechsler, who stuck it away with some authority.
"We had some very nice movement that led up to the PK -- some sharp passes, good movement off the ball, and a good run into the box by Kristy Coppes.
"Erika Flanders, once again, was superb. She made two crucial stops (with the score 0-0) that kept us in the game. She had a nice reaction save, and a double-save at the feet of a striker. Sometimes, a lot of what Erika does goes unnoticed, but I thought today that she had another great game.
"We got a good effort from a number of players, and are very pleased. It is nice to put a win streak together, and now we look forward to the weekend action."
Wright State outshot the Falcons, 10-6, for the match, and the Raiders had a slim 5-4 edge in shots on goal. Flanders made four saves, while Freeman made one stop at the other end. (BGSU had one shot on goal blocked off the line by a WSU defender.)
The Falcons had a 10-3 advantage in corner kicks, while WSU committed 15 fouls to BG's eight.
BGSU is now 4-1-1 at Cochrane Field this season. The four wins matches the school mark for most home wins in a single season. Interestingly, last year's team, which set a school record with 10 overall wins, is the only squad in the five-year history of the program to win fewer than four contests at home (3-5 at Cochrane in 2000).
The Falcons, who are 3-0 on the current five-match homestand, will face several tough tests this weekend. BGSU will return to MAC play Friday (Oct. 12), hosting Eastern Michigan in a 3:00 p.m. match at Cochrane Field. Then, the Brown and Orange will close the homestand with a 1:00 p.m. contest vs. Central Michigan Sunday. The latter match will be "Senior Day," with the Falcon senior class being honored prior to the BGSU-CMU contest.
