Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Gearing Up For Stretch Run
October 14, 2003 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 14, 2003
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, after splitting a pair of Mid-American Conference road matches last weekend, will briefly step outside of league play for a midweek contest ... the Falcons of head coach Andy Richards (6-7-1, 4-3-1 MAC) will conclude a five-match road swing with a Wednesday (Oct. 15) match at Michigan State University ... that contest is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. at MSU's Old College Field ... the Falcons are 3-1-0 to date on the current road stretch.
Then, the Falcons will return home, and return to MAC play, with a Friday (Oct. 17) contest vs. the University at Buffalo ... kickoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at Cochrane Field ... the Brown and Orange will conclude the weekend with a Sunday (Oct. 19) match against league-leading Kent State University ... that match, the second half of a soccer doubleheader at Cochrane, is scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. start.
HEAD COACH ANDY RICHARDS
Andy Richards is in his fourth season as a collegiate head coach, all with the Falcons, and has an overall record of 35-35-6 ... he has led BGSU to the two finest seasons in school history to date ... last season, Richards performed one of the top coaching jobs in the MAC, if not the Midwest, guiding the Brown and Orange to a 12-8-2 record and a fourth-place MAC finish ... Richards, who came to BG after five years as an assistant coach at Oregon State University, was hired in April of 2000 ... he led his first Falcon team all the way to the championship match of the MAC Tournament.
Ashlee Orr is in her fourth season with the Falcon program as well ... Orr was named the BGSU assistant coach in late August of 2000 ... Darin Karbler is in his second season as a volunteer assistant coach.
LAST TIME(S) OUT
The Falcons split a pair of MAC road matches over the weekend ... on Friday (Oct. 10), BGSU saw an eight-match MAC road unbeaten streak come to an end with a 2-0 loss at Western Michigan ... two days later (Oct. 12), sophomore Samantha Meister scored a school-record four goals, the last coming in overtime, as BGSU won a 4-3 contest at Northern Illinois ... sophomore Julie Trundle had assists on each of the last two goals, as Meister headed home her corner kicks ... senior Jenifer Kernahan got the win in goal with 47:15 of shutout ball.
SAMANTHA MEISTER NAMED MAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
BGSU sophomore Samantha Meister has been named the Mid-American Conference Women's Soccer Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday afternoon (Oct. 13) ... Meister, as mentioned, set a school single-match record with four goals in Sunday's (Oct. 12) win at Northern Illinois ... she earns the honor for the first time in her Falcon career ... Meister is the second consecutive Falcon to earn league P-O-W honors, as junior Kristy Coppes was last week's winner ... more information on Meister can be found elsewhere in this release.
KRISTY COPPES NAMED TO NATIONAL TEAM OF THE WEEK
BGSU junior Kristy Coppes received a national honor Wednesday (Oct. 8), as she was named to the Soccer America National Team of the Week ... Coppes became only the second player in the seven-year history of the program to earn national team-of-the-week accolades ... Erika Flanders was named to both the SA and the Soccer Buzz teams in the opening week of the 2001 season ... the Soccer America National Team of the Week is comprised of 11 players from around the country, chosen on the basis of their play the previous week ... Coppes had the match-winning goal at Ball State (Oct. 3), then scored two more times in BG's comeback win at Miami (Oct. 5), becoming the school's career scoring leader in the process.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
BGSU returned 16 letterwinners, including a whopping 10 starters, from last year's team ... the Falcons have won five of the last seven matches, and are 6-3-1 since beginning the 2003 season with four losses ... junior Kristy Coppes, the team's leading scorer in each of her first two seasons at BGSU, is tied for the 2003 team lead with seven goals and 15 points ... sophomore Samantha Meister, after her four-goal outburst at NIU, also has seven goals and 15 points on the year ... sophomore Julie Trundle is third with six points, including a team-leading four assists, while senior co-captain Carrie Richards has five points, including two goals ... Ali Shingler has seen the bulk of the time in goal, and is 5-7-1 with a goals-against average of 2.16 ... head coach Andy Richards has seven newcomers on the 26-player roster.
THE OPPONENTS
Michigan State will bring an overall record of 7-6-0 into Wednesday's BGSU match ... the Spartans are 3-5-0 in Big Ten Conference play ... MSU is looking to snap a four-match losing streak, with the last three setbacks coming by one goal ... State, 5-2 at home this year, lost to Purdue (2-1, Oct. 10) and Indiana (3-2 in OT, Oct. 12) at Old College Field over the weekend ... individually, senior Tiffany Laskowski leads the Spartans in goals (five), assists (five) and points (15) ... junior Abby Shephard has 12 points on four goals and four helpers, while sophomores Emma Harris and Erin Konheim have 11 and 10 points, respectively ... senior Stacy Heller has played all but 10:40 in goal this year, and has three shutouts and a GAA of 1.16 ... MSU returned 20 letterwinners, including nine starters, from last year's team that went 12-7-2 overall and advanced to the NCAA Tournament ... head coach Tom Saxton has a record of 121-111-19 in his 13th season, all with the Green and White ... the school's athletics web site is www.msuspartans.com.
Buffalo is 8-6-1 overall heading into the week, having already topped the team's win total for all of last season ... the Bulls will bring a MAC record of 4-4-1 into Friday's match at Cochrane Field ... UB has won three of the last five matches, all in MAC play, with the two setbacks coming in overtime ... last weekend, the Bulls suffered a double-OT loss to Ball State (2-1, Oct. 10) before bouncing back for a 3-1 win over Miami (Oct. 12) ... UB is 3-3-1 on the road this year, including 2-1-1 in league play ... senior Emily Russell leads the MAC in scoring, with 14 goals and 31 points ... sophomore Natalia Crofut has 12 points, including five goals, while senior Nicole Olszewski's 10 points include a team-high four assists ... in net, redshirt sophomore Anna-Lesa Calvert has a 7-6-1 record and a 1.26 GAA ... UB finished with a 7-8-5 record last year, tying for fifth place in the MAC with a 5-5-2 league record ... head coach Jean-A. Tassy has a record of 83-63-17 in his ninth year with the Bulls ... he is 204-150-31 in his 24th season overall ... Tassy returned 21 total letterwinners, including nine starters, from a year ago ... the school's athletics web site is www.buffalobulls.com.
Kent State has nearly doubled last year's victory total ... the Golden Flashes have an overall record of 11-1-2, and KSU leads the league with a record of 8-0-1 heading into Friday's (Oct. 17) match at second-place Eastern Michigan ... after starting the year with a tie and a loss, the Flashes won the next 10 matches before tying Miami, 0-0 in double OT, Friday (Oct. 10) ... two days later, KSU downed visiting Ball State by a 1-0 count ... the Flashes are 4-1-0 on the road, including 3-0 in MAC play, heading into the EMU match ... Lauren Caminati, one of 10 seniors on the roster, leads the team with eight goals, five assists and 21 points ... another senior, Lauren Covey, has 14 points on five goals and four assists ... a pair of freshman, Alicia Fernandez and Shannon Lynn, have split time in goal, with each having played in eight matches ... Fernandez is 6-1-1 with a GAA of just 0.42, while Lynn is 5-0-1 with a GAA of 0.68 ... head coach Rob Marinaro welcomed back 15 letterwinners, including eight starters, from last year's 6-10-2 team ... the Flashes, who have already clinched a MAC Tournament berth and a top-four seed, finished 11th in the MAC a year ago, with a 3-6-2 mark ... Marinaro has a record of 23-22-4 in his third season, all in Kent ... the school's athletics web site is www.kent.edu/athletics.
THE SERIES
The Falcons trail Michigan State by a 4-1-1 margin in the all-time series between the teams ... the Spartans came to Cochrane Field and posted a 4-0 win in the 2002 season opener (Sept. 1, 2002) ... BGSU is 0-1-1 in road contests vs. MSU, including a 1-1 tie in the teams' last meeting at Old College Field (Sept. 2, 2001) ... Nikki Pucillo had an assist on BGSU's lone goal in that match, while Erika Flanders made a school-record 17 saves in goal ... the Falcons' lone series win was a 3-2 overtime affair on Aug. 27, 1999, at Cochrane.
The Falcons hold a 4-2-1 series advantage against Buffalo ... BGSU won a pair of 2-1, extra-session matches last year ... Britt Anderson and Samantha Meister scored goals in the Falcons' road OT win in the regular season (Oct. 20, 2002), while Kristy Coppes and Julie Trundle scored in the double-OT victory at Cochrane Field in MAC Tournament action (Nov. 6, 2002) ... the Falcons are 3-2-0 in home matches vs. UB ... each of the last four series meetings has required overtime.
BGSU also leads Kent State by a 4-2-1 margin in that series ... last Sept. 29, Britt Anderson's header was the only goal in a 1-0 Falcon road win ... BGSU is 2-1-1 in home contests vs. the Flashes, but KSU won the most recent meeting at Cochrane Field, 1-0 in OT on a wintry day two years ago (Oct. 26, 2001) ... BG won a 1-0 overtime contest at KSU on Aug. 29, 1997, in the first match in the history of both programs.
THAT'S A MAC RECORD: MEISTER SCORES FOUR GOALS IN WIN AT NIU
Sophomore Samantha Meister scored all four goals as the Falcons rallied from a two-goal deficit with less than 22 minutes left for a 4-3 overtime win at Northern Illinois Sunday (Oct. 12) ... Meister scored her second goal with 21:53 remaining in the second half, then scored the tying goal with just 6:18 left ... she headed home the winner with 9:14 gone in the OT ... the four goals not only set a school single-match record, but also set a MAC record for goals in a league match ... since the inception of MAC women's soccer in 1997, three other players have scored four times in a match, but all did so in non-league contests ... Meister also set a school record for points in a match, with eight.
MAC RECORD BOOK -- GOALS IN A MATCH
(since the league began sponsoring women's soccer prior to the 1997 season)
4 - Samantha Meister (Bowling Green) vs. Northern Illinois; Oct. 12, 2003 4 - Kelly Posey (Marshall) vs. Youngstown State; Aug. 25, 2000 4 - Courtney Carey (Miami) vs. Youngstown State; Sept. 19, 1999 4 - Amanda Brown (Toledo) vs. St. Francis; Sept. 6, 1999 Four Buffalo players (including one with five goals) and one NIU player scored four goals in a match, but all came prior to September of 1994.
HAVE A YEAR
Sophomore Samantha Meister was injured in only her third career match, and missed seven contests early last season with a broken nose ... upon her return, she scored her first collegiate goal in her fourth match back, at Central Michigan on Oct. 11, 2002 ... in 22 matches over the next calendar year (plus one day), Meister scored a total of 13 goals ... she has been at her best in MAC play, having scored 11 goals in her last 13 league regular-season matches in that time ... this season, all seven of Meister's goals have come in the eight MAC contests.
WONDER TWIN POWERS
The Falcons have arguably the best one-two scoring punch in the Mid-American Conference ... junior Kristy Coppes and sophomore Samantha Meister each have seven goals and 15 points on the season ... a total of six MAC players have at least seven goals to date in 2003, but the Falcons are the only school with two such players.
FALCONS FINALLY FALL ON ROAD: MAC-RECORD UNBEATEN STREAK SNAPPED
The Falcons' 2-0 loss at Western Michigan Friday (Oct. 10) snapped BGSU's MAC road unbeaten streak at eight regular-season contests ... the Brown and Orange had gone 7-0-1 in that span ... the Falcons went 5-0-1 in league road regular-season contests last year, and opened the 2003 portion of the MAC road slate with wins at Ball State and Miami ... the last BGSU MAC road loss in regular-season play came at BSU, 3-0, in the team's final match of the 2001 season (Nov. 1, 2001) ... that completed an 0-2 weekend which saw BG lose to both Miami and BSU by identical scores ... prior to the recently-snapped streak, BGSU's longest MAC regular-season road unbeaten streak was four, set at the start of the 2000 league schedule (Sept. 15-Oct. 20, 2000) ... the Falcons began what Andy Richards and Company hope will be another lengthy road unbeaten streak, with Sunday's (Oct. 12) overtime win at Northern Illinois.
COMING BACK FROM TWO GOALS DOWN
A team coming back from two goals down is relatively rare ... in fact, in 133 matches in the history of the BGSU women's soccer program, only six times has a team gone ahead by two goals and failed to win the match ... it has now happened, however, in each of the last three meetings between BGSU and Northern Illinois ... two years ago, the Falcons got a pair of goals and an assist from Beth Rieman to erase a two-goal NIU lead en route to a 4-2 BG win ... then, last year, the Huskies spoiled BGSU's 'Senior Day' with a furious rally in the final 18:25 of the match, coming from two down for a 3-2 win over the Falcons ... Sunday, of course, Samantha Meister scored four goals, including the last three of the match, in BG's 4-3 overtime win.
ANOTHER SUNDAY, ANOTHER COMEBACK
The Falcons have fallen behind by two goals in each of the last three matches, and BGSU has come back to win two of those contests on consecutive Sundays ... on Oct. 5, the Brown and Orange rallied from a 2-0 hole for the program's first-ever win over Miami ... then, seven days later, Samantha Meister's four-goal outburst brought BG back from deficits of 2-0 and 3-1 at Northern Illinois.
KERNAHAN BREAKS INTO WIN COLUMN
Senior goalkeeper Jenifer Kernahan picked up her first collegiate win on Sunday (Oct. 12) at Northern Illinois, playing 47:15 of shutout relief in net ... Kernahan has now played a total of 118:51 this season, without allowing a goal ... Kernahan, the starting catcher on the Falcon softball team, is in her first season with the women's soccer program ... her two saves vs. the Huskies upped her season total to nine.
COPPES SETS BGSU CAREER SCORING RECORD
Junior Kristy Coppes scored three goals in the Falcons' 2-0 weekend to begin October, getting the winner at Ball State and scoring BGSU's first two tallies (in a span of just 4:39) in the comeback win at Miami ... Coppes' first goal at MU tied her with Jill Conover (65 points from 1999-2002) for the BGSU career points record, and her second goal vs. the RedHawks gave her sole possession of the record ... Conover was in attendance at the match in Oxford, by the way ... Coppes now has 31 goals in her career, extending her own school record ... and, she now has a career total of 67 points as a Falcon.
THAT'S ANOTHER RECORD
The Falcons set a school record for shots on goal in a match, with 20 at Northern Illinois ... BGSU twice had had 19 shots on goal, in home wins vs. Robert Morris (Sept. 6, 1998) and Youngstown State (Oct. 3, 2001).
TRUNDLE, MEISTER ON CAREER LISTS
With her four-goal day at NIU, sophomore Samantha Meister made a big jump on several BGSU career lists ... she now has 13 goals in her career, moving her from seventh place into sole possession of fifth place on the BGSU list ... Meister now has 32 points, after just 28 career contests, to move into a tie for sixth on that school career list ... classmate Julie Trundle's two assists in the NIU match give her a total of 12 in her career, tying her for firth ... Trundle has six career goals (T-11th), and now has 24 total points as a Falcon, a total that deadlocks her for ninth in school history.
MORE ON MEISTER'S RECORDS
Prior to Samantha Meister's four-goal match vs. NIU, the school record for goals in a match was three, on four occasions ... Kristy Coppes has had a pair of hat tricks, while former Falcons Tracy Gleixner and Krista Shamblin each found the back of the net three times in a game as well ... Meister's eight points broke the old record of seven ... Kerry McKee (Nov. 2, 1997), Jill Conover and Coppes (both Oct. 3, 2001) each had seven points in wins over Youngstown State.
ROAD SWEET ROAD?
The Falcons are now 8-1-1 in the last 10 MAC regular-season road contests ... in the history of the Falcon program, BGSU is now 15-15-5 in MAC regular-season road matches ... the Falcons are just 10-23-3 all-time in home MAC regular-season action, however.
