Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Face Miami In Friday's Semifinal Round
November 07, 2002 | Women's Soccer
Nov. 7, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, after posting a double-overtime victory in the quarterfinal round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament, now prepares for a matchup with the tournament's top seed in the semifinal round. The Falcons (12-7-2 [7-4-1 MAC]) of head coach Andy Richards, seeded fourth for the tournament, will face Miami University in Friday (Nov. 8) action. Kickoff for that contest is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at the Miami Soccer Field.
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The semifinal winners will square off in Sunday's (Nov. 10) championship match, which will kick off at 1:00 p.m., also at the Miami Soccer Field. The BGSU-MU winner will meet the winner of Friday's first semifinal contest, between #2 Ball State and #3 Ohio. The BSU-Ohio match is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for the 2002 MAC Women's Soccer Tournament will be sold at the entrance to the Miami Soccer Field prior to each match. Gates will open 1 1/2 hours prior to the first match each day. Tickets will cost $5.00 for adults and $2.00 for students. There is no pre-sale of tickets.
Semifinals - Friday, November 8 (at Oxford, Ohio) #2 Ball State vs. #3 Ohio, 11:00 a.m. #4 Bowling Green at #1 Miami, 2:00 p.m.Championship - Sunday, November 10 (at Oxford, Ohio) Semifinal winners, 1:00 p.m.
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 29-27-5 heading into the MU 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 TIME OUT
On an emotional day at Cochrane Field Wednesday (Nov. 6), freshman Julie Trundle scored on a penalty kick in the second overtime to lift the Falcons to a 2-1 victory over fifth-seeded Buffalo in the MAC Tournament's quarterfinal round ... after UB took a 1-0 lead early in the second half, the Falcons got the tying goal from sophomore Kristy Coppes at the 62:17 mark ... freshman Samantha Meister assisted on the goal ... then, after a UB foul in the box, Trundle converted the PK at 105:20 ... senior captain Erika Flanders made seven saves in goal to earn the victory.
BGSU IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT
The Falcons are appearing in the MAC Tournament for the third time in the team's six years, having also qualified in 1998 and 2000 ... in 1998, the sixth-seeded Falcons travelled to #3 Eastern Michigan for the quarterfinal round and posted a 1-0 victory ... Cari Combs scored the lone goal off an Autumn Harris through-ball at the 71:51 mark ... Michelle Lisy made 10 saves in net to earn the shutout in the upset win ... the Falcons then faced second-seeded Northern Illinois in the semifinal round in Athens, Ohio ... BGSU took the lead at the 28:19 mark on a Leah Rosner goal ... but, the Huskies tied the match with just 8:22 left in regulation, then scored at the 117:58 mark of the second overtime stanza ... the Falcons could not score in the remaining 2:02 (the overtime was not sudden death), and the Huskies captured the win en route to the MAC Tournament title ... Lisy again made 10 saves in goal, and she was joined by Rosner on the all-tourney team.
In 2000, the seventh-seeded Falcons again headed to Ypsilanti for the opening round ... BGSU posted a 2-1 victory over the #2-seeded Eagles ... Ashley Enser headed home a cross from Tracy Gleixner with 11:51 left in the first half, with Jill Conover also assisting on the goal ... then, with just 1:31 left in the match, Conover took an errant EMU pass and blasted a shot just below the crossbar ... EMU would cut the lead in half just 29 seconds later, but the Falcons held the Eagles off the scoreboard for the final minute ... Erika Flanders made seven saves to earn the win ... in the semifinal round in Buffalo, N.Y., the Falcons topped #6 Western Michigan by a 2-1 count ... Gleixner started the scoring at the 33:36 mark ... WMU tied the score at 1-1 late in the first half, but Susan Wallace scored what would prove to be the winning goal, heading in a cross from Michelle Lisy with just under 15 minutes left in the second half ... a goal at the 111:57 mark gave Miami a 1-0, double-OT win in the championship match ... Flanders made 10 saves, several of the spectacular variety, in that contest ... Flanders, Stephanie Heller and Beth Wechsler all were named to the All-Tournament Team.
MAC TOURNAMENT FACTS
ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons, as mentioned, are 12-7-2 overall, and BGSU finished MAC play with a 7-4-1 league record ... BG has scored 38 goals and allowed 25 through 21 contests ... sophomore Kristy Coppes has scored 12 of the Falcons' goals this year, and leads the team with 26 points ... freshmen Julie Trundle and Samantha Meister have 18 and 17 points, respectively, while senior Jill Conover (10 points) is fourth on the team and freshman Britt Anderson (nine points) round out the team's top-five scorers ... Meister is second on the team with six goals, while Trundle has five and Anderson and Conover four apiece ... Trundle has a team-high eight assists ... senior Erika Flanders has played every minute (1950:18) in goal, and has 129 saves and a goals-against average of 1.15.
THE OPPONENT
Miami has an overall record of 16-2-2, and the RedHawks won the MAC's regular-season title with a league mark of 11-1 ... in the tourney quarterfinal round, MU posted a convincing 5-1 win over Central Michigan, the lone MAC team to defeat the 'Hawks to date this season ... MU is 7-1-2 at home this year, with the loss coming to CMU (3-2, Oct. 4) ... individually, senior Danielle Berkemeier, the MAC's Player of the Year, leads the team with 15 goals and 35 points ... classmate Andrea Cunningham, last year's league P-O-Y, has 12 goals and 29 points in 2002 ... sophomore Ashley Swinehart has 17 points, including a team-high seven assists, while redshirt junior Danielle Altiero has 16 points on the year ... in goal, freshman Leigh Terry has a 12-2-1 record and a GAA of 0.84 ... head coach Bobby Kramig has a record of 73-41-7 in his sixth year as MU's women's coach ... he is 86-44-7 in his seventh season as a women's head coach, and also coached the Miami men's team for 16 years ... the team's web address is www.MURedHawks.com.
THE SERIES
BGSU trails Miami by a 7-0 count in the all-time series between the schools ... MU has won all three previous meetings in Oxford ... the RedHawks have won the last two overall matches by a 3-0 score, including this year's regular-season meeting at Cochrane Field (Sept. 20, 2002) and last year's contest at the Miami Soccer Field (Oct. 28, 2001) ... MU has posted three one-goal victories in the series, including one in the MAC Tournament Championship match two years ago (Nov. 5, 2000) ... MU won that match by a 1-0 score in the second overtime period ... the RedHawks have won two other regular-season matches in BG, by scores of 2-1 (Oct. 30, 1998) and 4-1 (Oct. 6, 2000) ... Tracy Gleixner had the Falcon goal in that 1998 match ... MU has also posted victories in Oxford by scores of 3-2 (Oct. 11, 1997) and 3-1 (Oct. 3, 1999).
RECORD-SETTING SEASON
The Falcons have set a school record for wins, and enter the Miami match with a total of 12 this season ... the 2000 team (10-10-1) held the old record ... BGSU, picked to finish ninth in the MAC's preseason coaches poll, finished fourth in the league standings ... BGSU is currently five games over the .500 mark for the first time in school history ... the Falcons will end the season with a winning record, also for the first time in program history.
MAC WINS
In addition to the record for overall wins, BGSU also set new marks for MAC wins (seven) and points (22), shattering the old records (5-5-1, 16 pts. in 2000) ... for the first time in school history, the Falcons have finished with a winning record in MAC matches ... last year's BG squad went 2-9-1.
HOME WINS
The 2002 Falcons also set a record for home wins, as Wednesday's victory was the fifth of the season at Cochrane Field ... four of the five previous BG teams won four matches at home ... this year's edition of the Brown and Orange went 5-5-0 in home contests.
ROAD SWEET ROAD?
Andy Richards' Falcons certainly have had success on the road this season ... BGSU ended the regular season with a record of 6-1-2 in away matches ... 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, ranked 21st in the nation by Soccer Buzz before dropping out last week.
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 are participating 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, to Miami ... in the regular season, BG is 5-21-4 (.233) in MAC play in the odd-numbered years, and 16-14-3 (.530) in even years.
ONE TRUNDLE STREAK ENDS, ONE CONTINUES
Freshman Julie Trundle saw one of her school-record streaks come to an end, but another continue in Wednesday's win over Buffalo ... Trundle did not record an assist vs. UB, ending her streak of consecutive matches with at least one assist at five ... but, Trundle's match-winning goal extended her streak to seven matches with a point ... she now has 13 points over the last seven matches, on three goals and seven assists ... Trundle now has 18 points on the season, good for second on the team ... she leads the Falcons with eight assists this year, just one away from the school record ... Trundle had 13 points in MAC contests, just one point behind team leader Kristy Coppes.
SAM FINDS THE SCORESHEET
Freshman Samantha Meister was sidelined for seven matches with a broken nose earlier this season, but has provided stellar play since her return ... Meister assisted on BGSU's first goal vs. Buffalo, giving her a total of 15 points over the last eight contests ... Meister, who set a school record with a goal in five consecutive matches in October, now has 17 points in only 14 contests this year ... she scored 10 points in just eight MAC matches.
COPPES TIES SEASONAL GOALS RECORD
Sophomore Kristy Coppes tied the BGSU record for goals in a season, scoring her 12th goal of the year in Wednesday's win over Buffalo ... Coppes already had owned a share of the record, having scored 12 goals last fall ... senior Tracy Gleixner originally set the mark with a 12-goal season in 1998 ... Coppes increased her school mark for career goals, scoring her 24th goal in just her 40th career match as a Falcon ... she is just the second player in school history to reach the 50-point plateau for her career, and now has 52 points in her BG tenure, 13 points behind senior Jill Conover's school-record total.
CHANGES AT THE TOP OF CAREER SCORING LIST
Perhaps the school record for career goals should be written in pencil, or at least in erasable ink ... with her goal at the 72:22 mark of the Western Michigan match (Oct. 25), senior Jill Conover reached the 20-career goal plateau, tying her for the BG record with sophomore Kristy Coppes and senior Tracy Gleixner ... but, just over 14 minutes later, Coppes scored to set a new record ... she added to her brand-new mark just over two minutes later, scoring in the final minute of that match ... Coppes also found the net vs. both Wright State and Buffalo, upping her career total to 24 goals ... Conover still holds the school career records for points (65), assists (25) and match-winning goals (seven).
CONOVER SETS ANOTHER RECORD
Senior Jill Conover already owns several BGSU records, and has set yet another one ... Conover played in the 79th match of her career Wednesday ... Ashley Enser (1997-2000), Janice Mentrup (1997-2000) and Beth Wechsler (1998-2001) all played in 78 career matches in the Brown and Orange ... senior Erika Flanders has now played in 77 matches, starting them all ... she is tied for second in career matches started, and is just one away from first place ... Mentrup started 78 career contests, while Wechsler made 77 starts.
LOSSES TO STRONG OPPONENTS
While all teams would like to win every match, BGSU's seven losses this year have not exactly come to soccer weaklings ... BG's most recent loss, to NIU, marked the first time this season the Falcons have fallen to a team with a losing record ... BG's other three MAC losses came to Miami, Ball State and Ohio, the three other teams that earned first-round home matches for the league tournament ... BG's non-conference setbacks have come to Michigan State at home, UC on the road and Missouri in neutral-site action ... not counting NIU (6-12-0), the other six opponents have a combined record of 81-25-12, for an aggregate winning percentage of .737 ... MSU and UC both have been ranked among the top-25 in the nation by Soccer Buzz, and the Spartans, Bearcats, Miami and Mizzou all are ranked in their respective regions.
MORE RECORDS FOR FLANDERS
Senior Erika Flanders already owns every goalkeeping record in BGSU history, but has broken one of her own marks yet again ... for the fourth consecutive year, Flanders has set a new single-season saves record ... she now has 129 saves in 2002, topping her total of 127 stops last year ... Flanders has set a new seasonal record for minutes played, with 1950:18 (breaking her mark of 1834:23 in 2000) ... she also has lowered her goals-against average to 1.15 and increased her saves percentage to .838 ... Flanders is on pace to break her own marks in those categories (1.37 GAA and .808 saves pct. in 2000) ... she finished the MAC schedule with a solid 1.06 GAA in league matches ... Flanders made 75 saves in those 12 contests, with a saves pct. of .852 and five shutouts.
FLANDERS SHUTS 'EM OUT
Senior goalkeeper Erika Flanders made nine saves to earn the shutout vs. WMU on Oct. 25 ... for Flanders, the shutout was her seventh 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 17 shutouts in her career ... she has two career shutouts against both Marshall and Kent State, and has blanked 13 other teams once each.
STILL MORE ON FLANDERS
Through the UB match, senior Erika Flanders now has a career total of 465 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).
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 ... eight different frosh have scored at least one point this season ... the Falcons' starting lineup has featured at least three freshmen in each of this season's 21 matches, and at least four frosh in each of the last 20 matches ... head coach Andy Richards has started five or more freshmen on 15 occasions.
CAPTAIN'S LOG
Senior goalkeeper Erika Flanders is BGSU's team captain for the 2002 season.
NOTING THE FALCONS
Sophomore Kristy Coppes now has 26 points this season, tied for the second-highest total in BG history ... she has matched her scoring output from last season, and is three points away from Tracy Gleixner's school-record total of 29 points, amassed in 1998 ... Coppes has a school-record four match-winning goals this season ... her career total of five MWGs places her second behind senior Jill Conover's seven ... the Falcons' seven-goal margin of victory vs. Western Michigan (Oct. 25) matched the second-highest figure in school history, and was by far BGSU's most lopsided win in a MAC contest ... BG downed Youngstown State by nine goals last year (10-1; Oct. 3, 2001), and the Falcons also posted a seven-goal win over Robert Morris (Sept. 6, 1998) ... in fact, prior to the WMU contest, BG had never led by more than three goals in a MAC match ... the old school record for margin of victory in a MAC match was three, in 3-0 wins over Ball State (Oct. 8, 2000), Akron (Oct. 5, 2001) and Marshall (Oct. 4, 2002) ... here's a statistical note that would seem to indicate the Falcons' depth and balance this season ... in the first 21 matches of the year, BGSU's players in the starting lineups have accounted for 20 goals and 25 assists ... the Falcon substitutes have accumulated 18 goals and 18 assists on the year ... the Falcons scored a total of six first-half goals in the first 17 matches this season ... BGSU equalled that total with six first-half markers in the next three matches ... a total of 17 different players have registered at least one point on the season ... that total includes eight freshmen ... the frosh have combined for 18 of BG's 38 goals and 30 of the team's 43 assists ... only three players - senior Erika Flanders, junior Kasey Freeman and freshman Julie Trundle - have started all 21 matches ... sophomore Kristy Coppes, BG's leading scorer overall, also led the team in scoring in MAC matches ... she had 14 points in conference play, one ahead of Trundle and four in front of freshman Samantha Meister ... as mentioned earlier, Flanders holds the school goalkeeping records in every career category, including wins (34), saves (465), shutouts (17) and GAA ... Trundle's goal vs. Buffalo came on the Falcons' first penalty-kick attempt of the season, and the first since Oct. 9 of last year ... the Falcons now have an all-time record of 7-8-9 in overtime matches, including a 2-1-2 mark this year ... both of this year's extra-time wins have come vs. Buffalo ... 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 ... the Falcons have posted two wins over the same team (UB) for just the third time in school history, having taken two victories vs. Kent in 1998 and Eastern Michigan in 2000.
