Big Comeback Gives Falcons First-Ever Win Over Defending MAC Champ Miami, 3-2

Sunday, October 5

Oxford, Ohio

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

MIAMI (OH)

Big Comeback Gives Falcons First-Ever Win Over Defending MAC Champ Miami, 3-2

October 05, 2003 | Women's Soccer

Oct. 5, 2003

Final Stats

OXFORD, Ohio - It was an historic weekend for the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team.

After beating the team picked to win the 2003 Mid-American Conference Tournament championship on Friday, the Falcons posted a road victory over the MAC's defending regular-season and tournament champs Sunday afternoon (Oct. 5), with a 3-2 triumph over Miami University. The Falcons came back from a 2-0 deficit with under 25 minutes to play to pick up the win at the Miami Soccer Field.

The Falcons, who won at Ball State Friday, improve to 5-6-1 overall with the win over MU, and BGSU is now 3-2-1 in MAC play. The RedHawks drop to 4-6-1 and 3-4-0, respectively.

Sophomore Julie Trundle's bending corner kick capped the BG comeback. Her high, sailing kick headed toward the far post of the goal, sailing over a group of players, as MU goalkeeper Megan Ortner attempted to punch the ball away. But, the ball hit off Ortner's hands, hit the inside of the post and went into the corner of the goal with just 5:26 left in the second half.

Junior Kristy Coppes had the other two BGSU goals, in a span of just 4:39. Her first goal came only 1:32 after Miami had gone ahead by a two-goal count.

With her first goal, Coppes tied the school record for career points, a record which she owned outright after her second goal of the day (and third of the weekend). She now has a total of 67 career points as a Falcon.

Miami held advantages of 18-6 in shot attempts and 7-2 in corner kicks, but neither team could find the back of the net until early in the second half. The RedHawks' Aimee Prevallet sent a shot toward goal, where teammate Ashley Swinehart was able to get a foot on the ball and redirect it past redshirt sophomore Ali Shingler. That goal came at the 53:38 mark.

Nearly 12 minutes later, the host team struck again. Tricia Gill brought the ball down the right side, and pushed a pass to Katie Gray. Gray chipped a shot over Shingler and inside the far post to give the RedHawks a two-goal lead at 65:05.

Less than two minutes after Gray's goal, though, Coppes went to work. Junior Katie Piening headed the ball to sophomore Britt Anderson. Anderson, with her back to the goal, controlled the ball before flicking it over her left shoulder into the path of Coppes, who deposited the ball into the back of the net.

When Coppes picked up a pass from Piening and scored at the 71:16 mark, the match was tied, setting the stage for Trundle's winning goal.

Miami had an 8-3 advantage in shots on goal. Shingler made five saves, while Ortner was not credited with a save in the RedHawk net.

The Falcons will look to continue the momentum of the weekend wins as the team returns to the road next weekend. BGSU will play a Friday (Oct. 10) match at Western Michigan before heading to Northern Illinois two days later.

NOTES

Sunday's match marked BGSU's first-ever win over Miami in nine tries ... in fact, the Falcons had not scored a goal against the RedHawks since the teams' regular-season match in 2000 ... when junior Kristy Coppes scored BGSU's first goal Sunday, it snapped a Falcon scoreless streak of 515:18 against the RedHawks ... Ashley Enser had been the last Falcon to score a goal vs. MU ... in between Enser's goal on Oct. 2, 2000, and Coppes' first goal Sunday, Miami had scored 16 consecutive goals in the series.

BGSU extended its current MAC road unbeaten streak to eight regular-season matches, the school record by far ... the Falcons went 5-0-1 in league road regular-season contests last year ... the last BGSU MAC road loss in regular-season play came at Ball State, 3-0, in the team's final match of 2001 (Nov. 1, 2001) ... that completed an 0-2 weekend which saw the Falcons lose to both Miami and BSU by identical 3-0 scores ... this weekend, the Falcons won at both Muncie and Oxford for the first time in program history ... prior to the current 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).

As mentioned above, Kristy Coppes has become the school's all-time scoring leader ... Coppes' two goals vs. Miami were the 30th and 31st of her Falcon career, extending her own school record in that category ... Coppes now has a total of 67 career points, moving her past Jill Conover (65 points from 1999-2002) into first place on the BGSU points list.

BGSU's win marked only the second time in program history that the Falcons had rallied from a two-goal deficit to post a victory ... the Brown and Orange came back from 2-0 down to pick up a 4-2 win at Northern Illinois on Sept. 28, 2001 ... Beth Rieman, then a freshman, had two goals and an assist in that NIU match ... the Falcons had rallied from a two-goal deficit to force a tie on one occasion ... on Oct. 10, 1999, BGSU trailed at Marshall by a 3-1 score, before Michelle Lisy scored twice in the final 3:18 of regulation.

The Falcons' Sunday victim, Miami, has been the MAC Tournament champion and an NCAA qualifier in each of the last three years, as well as winning the 2002 MAC regular-season title ... the win came two days after the Falcons won at Ball State, last year's second-place team in the MAC race and the league coaches' preseason pick to win the MAC Tournament in 2003.

QUOTING HEAD COACH ANDY RICHARDS
"This was a tremendous victory today, not only because we beat the reigning MAC champions on their own field, but because we came back from a 2-nil deficit and wrapped it up in the final 20 to 25 minutes of the game."

"It's a cliche' in soccer that 2-0 is the most dangerous score, because often a team relaxes (with that lead), and that's definitely what happened today. We felt like Miami relaxed a little bit after they scored their second goal. But, it's not just the relaxation of one team, it's the ability of the other team to take advantage of that and come back. When you go down, 2-0, obviously you're not feeling your most confident. But, for us to come back and get that (first) goal was a huge impetus."

"On the first goal, Kristy did what Kristy Coppes does best, which is put the ball in the back of the net. On our second goal, Lindsay Carter played a wonderful ball down to Katie Piening. Katie strode inside the 18-yard box with a strong run, and pulled the ball back for Kristy. And, there was Kristy to get another goal. It was very similar to the second goal at Ball State (Friday)."

"Katie Piening was again involved on the final goal. She got in behind and was just about to take a shot when they tackled her. The ball went out for a corner, and Julie played a wonderful ball. It was pretty ironic, because Miami scored a goal just like Julie's in the MAC Tournament semifinal game last year."

"I am extremely proud of every player within the program today. Obviously, (I'm pleased with) the goalscorers. But, Katie Piening had a tremendous game. Natalie (Sampiller) was as solid as anything in the back. Lindsay Carter had a magnificent game, making a goal-saving tackle right at halftime, and then having a goal-line clearance in the second half. But, everyone played well. It was a great performance that showed wonderful character."

"Really, though, the origins of this weekend's victories came in practice beginning Monday. We were disappointed after the Toledo game, and we put the team to work, and they responded very well. You can throw your hands up after a loss and say 'we're no good,' or you can get down to work and try to put things right. To the credit of our team, we got to work, and that's where every single person played a part. Not just the goalscorers or the defenders, but all 26 members of the program contributed to Friday's victory and today's victory through their hard work. I'm absolutely delighted; it was a wonderful victory today, and hopefully we can continue this success and hard work and get some more MAC victories."