Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Home For Two Matches This Weekend
October 22, 2002 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 22, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, having clinched a berth in the Mid-American Conference Tournament, now set their sights on trying to earn a top-four seed and a home match in the league tourney quarterfinals. The Falcons (9-6-2, 6-3-1 MAC) of head coach Andy Richards will close the league schedule with a pair of home matches this weekend, beginning with Friday's (Oct. 25) match vs. Western Michigan University. Kickoff for that contest is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at BGSU's Cochrane Field. The match is the second half of a Falcon soccer doubleheader at Cochrane, which sees the BG men take on IPFW at 1:00 p.m.
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Following the WMU tilt, the Brown and Orange will host Northern Illinois University in Sunday (Oct. 27) action, beginning at 1:00 p.m. BGSU then will close the regular season with a non-league match at Wright State University on Friday, Nov. 1, before opening MAC Tournament play with a quarterfinal match on Tuesday, Nov. 5. The site and start time for the tourney match has not yet been determined.
HEAD COACH ANDY RICHARDS
Andy Richards has performed one of the top coaching jobs in the MAC, if not the Midwest, this season. Richards is in his third year as a head coach, all at BGSU, and has an overall record of 26-26-5 heading into the WMU match. Richards, who came to BG after five years as an assistant coach at Oregon State University, was hired in April of 2000.
Ashlee Orr is in her third season with the Falcon program as well. Orr was named the BGSU assistant coach in late August of 2000.
LAST WEEKEND
The Falcons earned a pair of wins, downing visiting Valparaiso by a 3-0 score Friday (Oct. 18) before earning a 2-1 overtime win at Buffalo Sunday (Oct. 20) ... freshmen Samantha Meister and Britt Anderson scored goals in each match, while sophomore Katie Piening added a goal in the VU match ... Meister's second goal of the weekend was the OT winner at UB ... senior Erika Flanders made five saves to earn the shutout vs. Valparaiso, and made four stops in the win over the Bulls.
BGSU CLINCHES MAC TOURNAMENT BERTH
The Falcons' win at Buffalo clinched a berth in the MAC Tournament for the Brown and Orange ... BGSU, picked to finish ninth in the preseason coaches poll, currently sits in fourth place ... the Falcons can finish no lower than sixth, and still could finish as high as second ... the Falcons have 19 points in league play, breaking the school record of 16 set in 2000 (BG went 5-5-1 that year) ... BGSU is one point behind third-place Ohio and five points behind second-place Ball State (teams earn three points for a win and one for a tie) ... the Falcons are five points ahead of fifth-place Eastern Michigan, but the Eagles have only one MAC match remaining ... the only teams with a chance to catch BG are Western Michigan (13 pts., two matches remaining) and Marshall (11 points, three matches left) ... with a win or a tie vs. Western Michigan, BGSU would assure itself of no lower than a fourth-place finish, and would clinch the first home MAC Tournament match in school history ... even with a loss to the Broncos, BGSU still could earn a top-four finish with a win or a tie vs. NIU ... the Falcons need just one point in the remaining two matches to clinch no worse than a tie for fourth, and BGSU holds the tiebreaker over Marshall by virtue of a win in the head-to-head meeting ... the top-eight teams in the regular-season standings qualify for the MAC Tournament, with the top-four teams earning home-field advantage for the quarterfinal round ... Miami has clinched the regular-season title and the top seed for the tournament.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons, as mentioned, are 9-6-2 overall and 6-3-1 in MAC play ... BGSU has scored 24 goals and allowed 20 through the first 17 contests ... sophomore Kristy Coppes has scored eight of the Falcons' goals this year, and leads the team with 17 points ... freshmen Samantha Meister and Julie Trundle have 11 and 10 points, respectively, while senior Jill Conover and freshman Britt Anderson are tied for fourth with seven points apiece ... another freshman, Leslie Dawley, has a team-high five assists, while Trundle has four ... senior Erika Flanders has played every minute (1574:58) in goal, and has 103 saves and a goals-against average of 1.14.
FLANDERS NAMED SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF WEEK
Senior Erika Flanders was named the MAC's Female Scholar-Athlete of the Week, the conference office announced Tuesday (Oct. 22) ... Flanders earned the honor for the second time in her career ... she made a total of nine saves, allowing just one goal, as BGSU went 2-0 last weekend ... more information on Flanders can be found later in this release ... in the classroom, she maintains a 3.27 cumulative GPA as an art education major.
THE OPPONENTS
Western Michigan will enter the weekend with a record of 6-7-1, and the Broncos are 4-4-1 in MAC action heading into the BGSU match ... last weekend, WMU dropped a pair of 3-1 home contests, to Ball State Friday (Oct. 18) and Miami Sunday (Oct. 20) ... Western is 2-4-1 on the road, and 2-2-1 in MAC road matches ... freshman Andrea Tyler leads the team in both assists (seven) and points (13), while senior Kersten Conklin is second with 11 points ... Conklin has a team-high four goals ... freshman Kate Perz was WMU's starting goalkeeper until suffering a lacerated spleen in the Eastern Michigan match (Sept. 29) ... junior Marjie Fleshman has taken her place, and is 2-4-0 with a 1.93 GAA ... last year, WMU finished 8-11-0 overall and placed seventh in the MAC with a 6-6 mark ... head coach Mike Haines has a record of 40-46-6 in his fifth year with the Broncos ... he has an overall head-coaching mark of 72-49-9 in his seventh season ... the team's web address is www.wmubroncos.com.
Northern Illinois brings a 5-10-0 overall record into the week, and the Huskies will take a 3-7-0 MAC mark into a Friday match at Toledo ... NIU has dropped the last four contests, including home matches to Miami (1-3) and BSU (0-1) last weekend ... junior Tiffany Anderson paces the team with four goals and eight points, while freshman Chanelle Crosby has seven points on the year ... junior Leigh Steigerwald has seen the bulk of the playing time in goal, and is 4-7 with 87 saves and a 1.38 GAA ... in 2001, NIU finished 3-14-1 overall and placed 11th in the MAC with a 3-9-0 conference mark ... Frank Horvat is in his 10th year as an NCAA Division-I head coach, all with the Huskies, and has a record of 77-107-5 ... NIU's athletic web site is www.niu.edu/athletics.
THE SERIES
BGSU trails Western Michigan by a 5-1-0 count in the all-time series between the schools, and the Broncos have won both previous meetings at Cochrane Field ... WMU won a 4-2 decision in BG four years ago (Oct. 4, 1998) and a 2-1 match in the 2000 regular-season meeting (Oct. 1, 2000) ... the Falcons' lone win came in the 2000 MAC Tournament, a 2-1 victory in the semifinal round in Buffalo, N.Y. ... Tracy Gleixner and Susan Wallace scored the BGSU goals that day, and Gleixner also scored a goal in the 1998 meeting.
Northern Illinois holds a 4-2-0 lead over the Falcons in that series ... both of BGSU's wins have come in DeKalb, a 4-2 decision last year (Sept. 28, 2001) and a 3-2 win two years prior (Sept. 18, 1999) ... Jill Conover scored a pair of goals in the 1999 meeting, while Beth Rieman had two goals and two assists last year ... NIU has a 3-0 record at Cochrane Field, with a pair of 4-2 wins (Oct. 9, 1998, and Sept. 29, 2000) after a 6-0 decision in the teams' first meeting (Sept. 14, 1997) ... Gleixner had a goal and an assist in the 1998 match ... NIU posted a 2-1 OT win in the MAC Tournament semifinals at Athens, Ohio, in 1998.
SUCCESS IN EVEN YEARS
In the six-year history of the BGSU women's soccer program, the Falcons have had most of their success in the even-numbered years ... the Brown and Orange failed to qualify for the MAC Tournament in 1997, 1999 and 2001 ... but, the Falcons will participate in the league tourney in 2002, marking the third appearance in school history ... the Falcons advanced to the semifinals in 1998, losing in overtime to eventual tourney champion NIU ... BGSU also made the tournament in 2000, and advanced all the way to the championship match before losing, again in OT.
ROAD SWEET ROAD?
If the Falcons do earn the right to host a MAC Tournament match, Andy Richards may want to put his team on a bus and drive them around for a while before kickoff ... the Falcons' win at Buffalo gives BGSU a 5-1-2 record in away matches this season ... and, the Brown and Orange finished the road portion of the MAC schedule with a 5-0-1 mark ... BG has broken the school records for wins in each category ... both the 1998 (4-5-0) and 2000 (4-3-1) teams won four total road matches, and that 2000 squad held the old record of three MAC road victories, having gone 3-1-1 ... BGSU's only road setback this year came at the hands of Cincinnati, currently ranked 21st in the nation by Soccer Buzz.
LOSSES TO STRONG OPPONENTS
While the BGSU players and coaches would like to win every match, the team's six losses this year have not exactly come to soccer weaklings ... the Falcons have suffered MAC losses to Miami, Ball State and Ohio - the three teams currently above them in the standings ... BG's non-conference setbacks have come to Michigan State at home, UC on the road and Missouri in neutral-site action ... those six opponents have a combined record of 67-19-8, for an aggregate winning percentage of .755 ... UC, Miami, MSU and Mizzou all are ranked in their respective regions.
MEISTER TIES SCHOOL RECORD
Freshman Samantha Meister was sidelined for seven matches with a broken nose, but has returned with a vengeance ... Meister scored a goal in each of last weekend's two matches ... she has found the back of the net in four consecutive matches, tying the school record ... Tracy Gleixner (Oct. 1-16, 1998) and Kristy Coppes (Sept. 7-21, 2001) also hold a share of that record ... Meister has nine points in the last four matches, and now has a total of 11 points in just 10 contests this season ... Meister has scored eight points in only six MAC matches.
COPPES, GLEIXNER STILL TIED AT THE TOP
Sophomore Kristy Coppes and senior Tracy Gleixner remain tied for the BGSU career lead in goals scored, with 20 apiece ... Coppes scored her 20th career goal in just her 33rd match in the Brown and Orange, at Central Michigan (Oct. 11).
CONOVER IS RIGHT BEHIND THEM
Senior Jill Conover is in third place on the BGSU career goals list ... the native of Grand Island, N.Y., has 19 career goals, just one behind the co-leaders ... Conover holds the school career records for points (62), assists (24) and match-winning goals (7).
FLANDERS FLAWLESS VS. VALPO
Senior goalkeeper Erika Flanders made five saves to earn the shutout vs. Valparaiso ... for Flanders, the shutout was her sixth of the season, extending her own school record ... she posted four shutouts in both 2000 and 2001 ... Flanders, who holds every BGSU goalkeeping record, now has 16 shutouts in her career ... she has two career shutouts against both Marshall and Kent State, and has blanked 12 other teams once each.
MORE ON FLANDERS
Erika Flanders moved past the 400-save mark for her career in the Marshall match ... through the UB match, the senior now has a career total of 439 saves ... the second-place GK on the BGSU career list, Kit Gazley, had a total of 76 saves ... in fact, Flanders has more career saves than all of the other goalies in school history combined (280).
MAC WINS
BGSU has set new records for MAC wins (six) and points (19) ... for the first time in school history, the Falcons will finish with a winning record in MAC matches ... the 2000 team went 5-5-1 to hold the old records for wins and points (16) in conference action ... last year's BG squad went 2-9-1.
HEADS-UP FOR ANDERSON
Freshman Britt Anderson scored a goal in both the Valparaiso and Buffalo matches, giving her a total of three goals on the season ... all three goals have come on headers, and all three have been BG's first goal of the match ... she had the match-winning score vs. both Valpo and Kent State (Sept. 29).
TRUNDLE, DAWLEY HELP OUT
Freshman Julie Trundle and Leslie Dawley are ranked one-two on the Falcons in assists ... Trundle had the first two-assist match of her career in the Valpo contest, and added another assist at UB ... Dawley had an assist in each of those matches to up her team-leading total to five this season ... Trundle now has four assists this year ... each player currently has a three-match point-scoring streak.
THEY START YOUNG
All 10 freshman field players on the BGSU roster have started at least one match this season ... in fact, of the 21 players who have seen action for the Falcons this year, a total of 19 have made at least one start ... freshman Keeley Dayton earned her first collegiate point with an assist vs. Valparaiso ... Dayton became the eighth different freshman to score a point this season.
MEET THE NEW KIDS
The Falcons' starting lineup has featured at least three freshmen in each of this season's 17 matches, and at least four frosh in each of the last 16 matches ... head coach Andy Richards has started six freshmen in five matches, five freshmen seven times and four freshmen on four occasions (Pitt, Miami, Ohio and Cincinnati) ... as mentioned, a total of 10 different freshmen - every frosh field player - have started at least one match this year.
CAPTAIN'S LOG
Senior goalkeeper Erika Flanders is BGSU's team captain for the 2002 season.
NOTING THE FALCONS
BGSU now has a season-long four-match unbeaten streak ... the school record is five matches, set early last season (Aug. 31-Sept. 18, 2001) ... here's a statistical note that would seem to indicate the Falcons' depth and balance this season ... in the first 17 matches of the year, BGSU's players in the starting lineups have accounted for 10 goals and 15 assists ... the Falcon substitutes have accumulated 14 goals and 15 assists on the year ... BGSU now holds a 3-2-1 lead over Buffalo in the all-time series between the teams, and the Falcons are 1-0-1 in the matches played at UB ... both road matches have gone to overtime, as the teams battled to a 1-1 tie at RAC Field two years ago (Oct. 20, 2000) ... the Falcons have allowed a total of 20 goals this season, but only 14 over the last 15 matches ... senior Erika Flanders and the BGSU defensive corps have posted six shutouts and allowed the opponent a single goal on five other occasions during that 15-match span ... BG's total of 22 shot attempts vs. Valpo set a season high ... the Falcons' total of nine shots on goal fell just one shy of that season high (10 at Akron) ... VU's nine total shot attempts was a season-low total for a Falcon foe ... a total of 16 different players have registered at least one point on the season ... that total includes eight freshmen ... the frosh have combined for 11 of BG's 24 goals and 20 of the team's 30 assists ... only three players - Flanders, junior Kasey Freeman and freshman Julie Trundle - have started all 17 matches ... sophomore Kristy Coppes, BG's leading scorer overall, also leads the team in scoring in MAC matches ... she has nine points in conference play, one ahead of both Trundle and freshman Samantha Meister ... as mentioned earlier, Flanders holds the school goalkeeping records in every career category, including wins (31), saves (439), shutouts (16) and goals-against average ... BGSU now has an all-time record of 45-60-9 as a varsity program ... all-time, the Brown and Orange squads have posted records of 22-29-2 at home, 19-25-7 on the road and 4-6-0 in neutral-site contests ... also, in the Falcons now have an all-time record of 6-8-9 in overtime matches ... BGSU is 3-0-7 in road OT matches, and the Falcons have a 3-1-2 mark in overtime contests with non-MAC opponents.
