Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Head To Northern, Western
September 24, 2001 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 24, 2001
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
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The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, after finally falling from the ranks of the unbeaten, will make the first Mid-American Conference road swing this weekend. The Falcons (3-2-2, 0-1-1 MAC) of head coach Andy Richards will venture to DeKalb, Ill., for a Friday (Sept. 28) night match vs. Northern Illinois University. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. locally (5:00 p.m. Eastern) at Huskie Soccer Field.
Following the NIU contest, the Brown and Orange will head to Kalamazoo, Mich., to face Western Michigan University in a Sunday (Sept. 30) tilt. Kickoff is set for noon at the WMU Soccer Complex.
The Falcons' win at Ohio State Tuesday (Sept. 18) gave the team an undefeated record through five matches for the first time in school history. But, the Brown and Orange then suffered back-to-back losses - to Iowa State (4-1, Sept. 21) and Buffalo (2-1 in OT, Sept. 23) - for the first time since early October of last year.
HEAD COACH ANDY RICHARDS: Andy Richards is in his second year as a head coach, and has a record of 13-12-3 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 of 2000.
Ashlee Orr was named the BGSU assistant coach in late August of 2000.
UNBEATEN STREAK ENDS: As mentioned, the Falcons began the season with a five-match unbeaten streak ... that streak was the best-ever start in the five-year history of the women's soccer program ... additionally, BG's five-match unbeaten streak tied the school record, originally set in 1997-98 (last two matches of '97, first three of '98).
THE OPPONENTS: Northern Illinois brings a 1-5-1 overall record and a 1-2-0 MAC mark into Friday's contest vs. BGSU. Last week, the Huskies lost a 4-0 decision to Central Michigan Monday (Sept. 17), before posting a 5-3 win at Akron Friday (Sept. 21). Then, NIU dropped a 2-0 decision at Kent State Sunday (Sept. 23). The Huskies have been shut out six times in seven matches this year. A goal by sophomore Katie Klaas at UA broke a scoreless streak of 484:10 for the team. Klaas and senior Becca Bleyer each have two goals and four points on the year, while sophomore Akiko Iwabuchi has started all seven matches in goal and has a 1.99 GAA. Last year, the Huskies went 4-14-1 overall and 2-8-1 in the MAC. Head coach Frank Horvat is 70-88-5 in his ninth year, all in DeKalb. The NIU athletic web site is www.niu.edu/athletics.
Western Michigan checks into the week with an overall mark of 4-3-0, and the Broncos will take a perfect 2-0 MAC record into a Friday (Sept. 28) match at Toledo. After starting the season at 0-2, WMU has won four of the last five matches, including two league wins over the weekend. Last week, after a Tuesday home loss to Valparaiso (2-1), the Broncos picked up road wins at Kent State Friday (2-1) and Akron Sunday (6-1). WMU, after totalling 27 goals last season, already has scored 23 goals this year. Junior Kersten Conklin has a team-high 12 points on the year, while classmate Mary Gignac is tied with Conklin for the team lead with four goals. Senior goalkeeper Megan Ramey has started all seven contests and has a 1.45 GAA. Last season's team went 10-9-2 overall, 5-4-2 in the MAC and advanced to the semifinals of the league tournament. Mike Haines, 30-31-5 in his fourth year with the Broncos, is 62-34-8 in his sixth season as a collegiate head coach. The school's athletic web site is www.wmubroncos.com.
THE SERIES: BGSU trails Northern Illinois by a 4-1 margin in the all-time series between the teams. The Huskies won a 6-0 decision at Cochrane Field in the Falcons' first season (Sept. 14, 1997), then captured a 4-2 win in BGSU the following year (Oct. 9, 1998). Tracy Gleixner and Beth Wechsler each had a goal and an assist for the Brown and Orange. Later that season, NIU ended the Falcons' MAC Tournament run with a 2-1 win in overtime in the semifinal round (Nov. 6, 1998). Michelle Hoyng had an assist in that match. The Falcons' lone win came in the only previous meeting in DeKalb, a 3-2 verdict on Sept. 18, 1999. Jill Conover had a pair of goals in that win, while Leslie Hepfinger added an assist. NIU came to BG and posted a 4-2 victory last year (Sept. 29, 2000). Wechsler scored one of the Falcons' goals in that match.
Western Michigan also holds a 4-1 advantage over BGSU in the all-time series, but the Falcons' lone win came in last year's MAC Tournament. BG had a 2-1 victory in the semifinal round (Nov. 3, 2000), with goals from Tracy Gleixner and Susan Wallace. Mandy Smith had an assist in that win. WMU has won all four regular-season meetings, including a 4-2 decision on Oct. 5, 1997, and and a 4-1 win on Oct. 22, 1999, both in Kalamazoo. Smith scored BG's lone goal in the latter meeting. WMU also had a 4-2 win at Cochrane on Oct. 4, 1998, and a 2-1 victory in BG last Oct. 1. Gleixner had a goal in the 1998 match, while Beth Wechsler had an assist. Smith scored BG's goal in last year's loss.
RECAPPING LAST WEEK: The Falcons went 1-2 last week ... BG won at Ohio State Tuesday night (Sept. 18) by a 2-0 score, getting goals from junior Tracy Gleixner and freshman Kristy Coppes ... junior Erika Flanders posted her third shutout of the season, making nine saves ... in a neutral-site match Friday (Sept. 21), the Falcons lost for the first time this season ... Iowa State beat BG, 4-1, in Libertyville, Ill. ... Coppes scored the Falcons' lone goal ... Sunday (Sept. 23), Buffalo came to Cochrane Field and recorded a 2-1 overtime victory ... senior Beth Wechsler scored the BG goal, on a free kick ... Flanders had 13 saves in the match.
COPPES TIES RECORD: Freshman forward Kristy Coppes scored goals in last week's first two matches, moving her streak to four consecutive contests with a goal ... that ties the school record, originally set by Tracy Gleixner during her freshman season (Oct. 1-16, 1998) ... Coppes was held without a goal vs. Buffalo.
INSTANT OFFENSE: Junior Tracy Gleixner made her first appearance of the season in the Ohio State match, and promptly scored what proved to be the winning goal ... Gleixner, who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in the spring, came off the bench at OSU and scored a goal late in the first half ... she had been in the contest for just over four minutes before scoring her goal ... that goal was the 18th of Gleixner's Falcon career, tying her for the school record with Michelle Lisy (1997-2000).
ROAD SWEET ROAD? The Falcons will be looking to continue a run of recent road success this weekend ... BGSU is unbeaten over the last four road matches (3-0-1), dating to last season ... that streak ties the school record, set in 2000 ... in fact, in the last calendar year (since Sept. 15, 2000), the Falcons are 6-1-2 in road matches and 7-3-2 in all contests away from Cochrane Field.
ANOTHER SHUTOUT FOR FLANDERS: Junior goalkeeper Erika Flanders posted her third shutout of the season in the win at Ohio State ... she made nine saves in that contest ... she is one shutout away from tying her own single-season mark, which she set last year ... the shutout was the ninth of her career, extending her own record ... the second-place total on the career shutout list is two.
CAREER SHUTOUTS (Complete-Match)
CAPTAIN'S LOG: Seniors Leslie Hepfinger, Mandy Smith and Beth Wechsler are BGSU's tri-captains for the 2001 season.
CHANGES ON SCORING LISTS: Several current Falcons are moving up the school's career scoring lists ... junior Tracy Gleixner, as mentioned, has tied Michelle Lisy (1997-2000) at the top of the goals list ... both players have 18 ... junior Jill Conover is third on that list, with 16 goals ... Conover and senior Beth Wechsler each had an assist last week ... Conover now has 19 career assists, good for second on that list (behind Janice Mentrup's [1997-2000] 23), while Wechsler is third with 16 ... Conover now has 47 career points, moving just a single point behind Lisy ... Gleixner is third with 44 career points ... all three lists follow:
BGSU CAREER SCORING LEADERS (as of Sept. 24, 2001) Points G- A=Pts. Michelle Lisy 18-12=48 Jill Conover * 14-19=47 Tracy Gleixner * 18- 8=44 Janice Mentrup 7-23=37 Beth Wechsler * 7-16=30 Stephanie Heller 10- 9=29 Krista Shamblin 10- 4=24 Ashley Enser 6- 9=21 Autumn Harris 7- 4=18 Mandy Smith * 3- 9=15 Desiree Erb 5- 4=14Goals Assists Michelle Lisy 18 Janice Mentrup 23 Tracy Gleixner * 18 Jill Conover * 19 Jill Conover * 14 Beth Wechsler * 16 Stephanie Heller 10 Michelle Lisy 12 Krista Shamblin 10 Ashley Enser 9 Janice Mentrup 7 Stephanie Heller 9 Autumn Harris 7 Mandy Smith * 9 Tracy Gleixner * 8 * current team member
NOTING THE FALCONS: Freshman Katie Piening and junior Susan Wallace each picked up their first points of the season last week ... Piening got her first career point with an assist at Ohio State, while Wallace had an assist in the Iowa State match ... freshman goalkeeper Ali Shingler saw her first collegiate playing time vs. Iowa State, making two saves in a scoreless 16:29 ... the loss to Buffalo gives the Falcons an all-time record of 5-6-5 in overtime matches, including a 2-4-1 mark at Cochrane Field ... the Falcons have been outshot in six of this year's seven matches ... BGSU has been outshot by a 137-70 margin on the year, and the opponents have an 80-33 advantage in shots on goal ... but, BGSU has outscored opponents, 11-9, this season ... junior Erika Flanders has made 69 saves on the year (and Shingler has two), while opposing 'keepers have a total of 22 stops ... already, Flanders is more than halfway to breaking her own record for saves in a season ... she set the mark with 118 saves last year ... Flanders owns the school's career records for wins (18), saves (278), complete-match shutouts (nine) and goals-against average (1.61).
