Bowling Green State University
Kent State
Falcons Fight First-Place Flashes To Scoreless Draw
October 19, 2003 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 19, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team battled the Mid-American Conference's first-place team, Kent State University, to a scoreless draw Sunday afternoon (Oct. 19) at Cochrane Field.
Following the match, the Falcons are now 6-9-2 overall and 4-4-2 in MAC play, while the Golden Flashes are 11-2-3 and 8-1-2, respectively.
In an intense match in front of a large crowd, no striker could put a shot past Falcon goalkeeper Ali Shingler or KSU 'keeper Alicia Fernandez. Shingler made seven saves en route to her third complete-match shutout of the year. Fernandez made four stops, and had some help from her teammates, as KSU defenders blocked two Falcon shots on the goal line.
KSU's Lauren Caminati had the first strong scoring chance of the afternoon, redirecting a cross from point-blank range seven-and-a-half minutes into the match, but Shingler was in position to make the save.
Late in the first half, Falcon sophomore Julie Trundle fired a shot that seemed ticketed for the far (right) post, but Fernandez made a nice leaping save to keep the match scoreless.
Early in the second half, BGSU sophomore Ashley Wentzel took a corner kick that found the head of classmate Samantha Meister. Meister's shot was blocked off the line by a KSU defender. Meister had another header saved by Fernandez approximately eight minutes later.
With just over 11 minutes remaining in the second half, the Falcons had another good scoring opportunity. Meister came down the right side of the field and slid a cross through the mouth of the goal, but no one was there to get a foot on it. Trundle tracked down the ball on the left side of the goal and slid a pass to sophomore Leah Eggleton, whose shot eluded Fernandez but was blocked by a defender.
The teams battled through a pair of 10-minute sudden-death overtime periods, with Shingler forced to make two saves in the first extra session, and Fernandez making one stop in the second OT.
 Ali Shingler had seven saves to record her third complete-match shutout of the season  |
|
BGSU concludes MAC play with a pair of road contests next weekend, taking on Ohio Friday (Oct. 24) and Marshall Sunday (Oct. 26).
NOTES
SUNDAY'S MAC SCORES
MAC STANDINGS
(through matches of Sun., Oct. 19)
Team (Overall) MAC Pts. Kent State (11-2-3) 8-1-2 26 Eastern Mich. (8-6-3) 7-1-2 23 Ball State (8-6-2) 6-4-1 19 Western Mich. (7-7-1) 6-4-0 18 Central Mich. (7-6-2) 5-4-1 16 Buffalo (9-7-1) 5-5-1 16 Akron (6-7-1) 5-5-0 15 Bowling Green (6-9-2) 4-4-2 14 Ohio (6-9-1) 4-5-1 13 Miami (5-8-2) 4-6-1 13 Toledo (7-9-0) 4-6-0 12 Marshall (2-13-1) 2-8-0 6 Northern Ill. (3-12-1) 1-8-1 4 (teams earn three points for a win, one for a tie)
QUOTING BGSU COACH ANDY RICHARDS
"Come the end of the season, every point is important, and (earning points in MAC games) is the be-all and end-all. I thought it was another good performance. We've had three of them this week, but not gotten a win to show for them."
"I've drawn a parallel to the beginning of the season. We lost our first four games, and we just couldn't get a win. Then, we got a tie vs. Central Michigan, and it kind of sent us on a little run. I'm hoping the same thing can happen after today's result. Every now and again in sports, you need a positive result to stop the rut. I hope it spurs us on to win some matches and get into the postseason, and see what happens from there."
"In the last two weekends, we have had three MAC overtime games, including one against the first-place team and one vs. the last-place team. It just goes to show how much parity there is in this league. Only two of our 10 MAC games have been decided by as many as two goals. You can never relax in any game in this league, no matter the opponent, the score or the time left."
"We now have a big weekend coming up as we make a push to qualify for the MAC Tournament. This team is working hard, and could use some good positive support as we go into big games at Ohio and Marshall."
"It was a very tight game today, and that's why we didn't make as many (lineup) changes as normal. In a game like today, you need to keep players on the field who are in the rhythm of the game. That's one reason we did not substitute as often as we usually do. Another reason was that I thought that every player on the field played magnificently for us today."
"Natalie (Sampiller) had a wonderful game, and Leah (Eggleton) did a nice job in her first game back since her injury. Ashley Wentzel did an awesome job. Ali (Shingler) shut out the first-place team for 110 minutes, Molly (Breman), Britt (Anderson), Sam (Meister) ... I could name everyone who played today. They all did a great job for us. It's a team sport. Everyone is going to get their chance, and when you get your chance, you have to grab it with both hands."
"Kasey Freeman showed a great job of leadership for us today. She came out (late in the first half), and Megan Rapp came on and did a great job for us. As a result, Kasey did not get back into the game. But, when the overtime started, there she was in the middle of our huddle, urging us on. She showed great leadership skills. Kasey, obviously, would have liked to see more minutes today. But, she put aside her own disappointment, wasvery supportive and urged the team on. She saw the big picture."
"Obviously, we are disappointed that we didn't win today. But, both teams had chances to put the game away. We, the coaching staff as well as the players, are giving 100 percent. We have to look at it as a point earned in MAC play, and go into next weekend and see what we can do about earning a spot in the postseason."
