Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
MICHIGAN STATE
Late Goal Gives Spartans 3-2 Win
October 15, 2003 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 15, 2003
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Emma Harris scored with 12:38 left to break a 2-2 tie and lift host Michigan State University to a 3-2 win over the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team in non-league action Wednesday (Oct. 15) at Old College Field.
With the victory, the Spartans improve to 8-6-0, while the Falcons drop to 6-8-1 on the season.
Sophomore Britt Anderson and junior Kristy Coppes scored for the Falcons, with sophomore Samantha Meister drawing the primary assist on both BGSU goals.
Michelle Perun and Andrea Sied scored first-half goals for the hosts, with Sied's goal coming on a penalty kick just before halftime.
Senior Jenifer Kernahan, making her first career start for the Brown and Orange, made 12 saves in goal. MSU's Stacy Heller made two stops to earn the win.
The Falcons got on the board first, on BGSU's first shot attempt of the match. BGSU won a throw-in near the MSU bench, and the throw went to junior Beth Rieman. Rieman played the ball forward to Meister, who made a nifty trap, took the ball toward the penalty area and slid a pass across to Anderson.
Anderson showed some speed, taking a few dribbles to her left to gain some separation from the Spartan defender, and fired a shot past Heller into the upper left corner. The Falcons were on the scoreboard at the 8:35 mark.
The Spartans answered just under five minutes later. Perun took a corner kick, which Kernahan punched away. But, the ball rebounded directly to Perun, who was moving in on Kernahan's right. She trapped the ball and fired it in the near side of the net to equalize matters.
The score remained 1-1 until just 1:18 before halftime. Kernahan and a Spartan attacker went up for a cross and collided, and a penalty kick was awarded. Sied converted the PK to give the hosts a 2-1 advantage at the intermission.
The Falcons came out shooting as the second half began. Meister whistled a shot just over the bar with only 21 seconds gone in the half, and Coppes was thwarted on a semi-breakaway five minutes later. The home team held off the Falcon onslaught in the first few minutes of the half, but the BGSU efforts paid off with under 30 minutes left in the match.
Anderson stole an attempted MSU clearing ball near midfield, and one-timed the ball to Meister on the left side as BG quickly went on the attack. Meister, working against her defender, pulled the ball back to the right and, in one motion, played a through-ball that found Coppes streaking down the center of the box. Coppes slid the ball past Heller into the lower-right corner of the net.
The Spartans got what proved to be the winning goal when Erin Konheim's left-side cross found Harris in the box. Harris stopped the ball, wheeled and fired a low shot into the near (left) side of the goal. BGSU could not get the tying goal in the waning moments.
The Spartans held a 24-14 advantage in total shots, and MSU had 16 shots on goal to the Falcons' four. BGSU had a total of 13 saves, including one 'team save' when senior Kasey Freeman cleared a shot off the goal line early in the second half.
The Falcons return home, and return to Mid-American Conference play, with a Friday (Oct. 17) contest vs. the University at Buffalo. Starting time is 4:00 p.m. at Cochrane Field.
NOTES
QUOTING HEAD COACH ANDY RICHARDS
"I was exceptionally pleased with the performance today, and very proud of the team and the manner in which they played. I certainly don't think a 3-2 result was indicative of the play."
"We scored two tremendous goals which were of the highest caliber. One, from Britt (Anderson), was a great strike from the edge of the 18-yard box which fizzed -- that's right, fizzed -- into the top corner. And then, we got a nice combination between Sam (Meister) and Kristy (Coppes) for the second goal. Their three goals, I was disappointed with, really."
"The penalty kick right before halftime was a dubious call that changed the whole nature of the game. But, I was very pleased with the way we responded today. We went ahead early, and after falling behind, 2-1, we came back to tie it up. Once again, we showed great character, and I was pleased with the performance."
"I thought Jen Kernahan had a solid game in goal for us. The whole of the midfield was very creative and very purposeful, going forward. And, really, it was just a good all-around effort from the whole team. We talked at the end about the fact that we should be pleased with the performance, and not be worried about the result. This was a Big Ten team on their own field, who were looking to waste time (holding the ball in the corner) at the end of the game in order to cling to the victory."
"At the beginning of last season, we lost to them at home, 4-0. We talked before today's game about showing what kind of progress we've made. And, we've definitely made strides since that time. I hope we continue to do so, as we look toward the end of the season with great confidence."
