Bowling Green State University Athletics
Conover's Goal Sinks Zips, 2-1
September 27, 2002 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 27, 2002
AKRON, Ohio - Jill Conover's goal with just 6:36 remaining in the second half lifted the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team to a 2-1 win over the host University of Akron Friday night (Sept. 27). The Mid-American Conference match was held at Lee Jackson Field.
The win lifts the Falcons' records to 4-4-1 overall and 2-2-0 in MAC action, while the Zips drop to 3-5-1 and 0-4-1, respectively.
Conover had a goal and an assist on the night, setting a school record and extending another. The senior picked up her 24th career assist on freshman Julie Trundle's first-half goal, making Conover the all-time assist leader in school history. The three points on the night give Conover a total of 60 points as a Falcon, increasing her own BGSU record.
Trundle got the Falcons on the board at the 14:03 mark with a blast that eluded the valiant effort of UA goalkeeper Meghan McCarthy. Conover played a ball to the left side of the field to Trundle, whose blistering shot was ticketed for the upper right corner. McCarthy made an acrobatic leap to get a hand on the ball, but could not deflect it enough to keep it out of the net.
UA equalized at the 32:21 juncture on a goal by Abby Holzworth. An Akron crossing attempt squirted through the hands of BG senior Erika Flanders and trickled to Holzworth, who deposited the ball into the empty net.
The score remained deadlocked until Conover converted the match-winning score. Freshman Natalie Sampiller played the ball forward, and classmate Britt Anderson flicked the ball to a streaking Leslie Dawley. The freshman played the ball from the right side to Conover in the center of the pitch, and she put the ball under the sliding McCarthy.
"We got the win, and that's the most important factor," said BGSU head coach Andy Richards. "We looked at the stats from the Ball State game, and we had outshot Ball State, but we still lost the game. The most important stat, and it's a cliche', is goals. And, we managed to get two tonight, and I'm delighted we won.
"There's a sense of relief as well, but I'm also pleased, because a win is a win, and we need wins to get to the postseason.
"I've seen a couple of great goals this season, and that goal from Julie Trundle tonight was as good a goal as I've seen. Julie drives a wonderful cross in from the left wing, and we've talked to her about hitting shots with the same kind of power and precision. And, as soon as that ball left her boot, I knew it was going in unless the 'keeper would make a miraculous save. The keeper did very well to get a hand on it, but that was a great goal.
"Julie Trundle is a great player, and she's getting the rewards for her hard work.
"Jill Conover got the winner from a nice piece of play. Natalie Sampiller had a good clearance out of the back, Britt Anderson helped it on, and Leslie Dawley showed why she's playing when she plays with that determination. She played it across to Jill, and that's why Jill is the leading point-scorer in our program. Jill, in front of the goal in those situations, is going to score. She is extremely valuable to us because she can finish those chances. She showed great composure in a situation in which other players might have lost their heads.
"Natalie showed tremendous leadership out of the back; she's growing with confidence in every game. Julie, of course, played very well. Leah Eggleton again was a constant menace to the opposing midfield. She fights and scraps and does everything you want of a central midfield player.
"I thought Britt Anderson came on and did a great job for us, holding the ball up top. She helped us cement the win. I thought, tactically, as a team we did very well being a goal up with six minutes left on the clock. If you look at the game of soccer, so often it seems a team who has just conceded a goal will go down and score a goal. We dealt with that situation very well, and it's encouraging to see that kind of progress being made.
"There are a number of other players who played very well. Susan Wallace worked very hard, and Jenny Berlovan and Megan Rapp did a nice job for us. I said to the team at the end, though, in order for us to dominate games or win comfortably, we need to have all 11 players playing well at the same time. I felt tonight we had four or five players playing well at a time, and it was always a different four or five. We struggled to get consistency.
"I think a win is a fair result for us. I think we had more pressure on them and more chances. But, we've got to get that consistency, so that we have a majority of players on the field playing well at all times.
"Akron is a very good team, and I thought they were a good team last year. They are very well-coached, very disciplined and their work rate is excellent. They will get a MAC win this season; I just praise the skies that they didn't get one against us tonight."
BGSU will return to Northeast Ohio Sunday afternoon (Sept. 29) to face Kent State University. That match is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m.
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