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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
ARIZONA STATE
Falcons Fall To Nationally-Ranked ASU, 5-1
August 31, 2003 | Women's Soccer
Aug. 31, 2003
HONOLULU, Hawai'i - Nationally-ranked Arizona State University took a 3-0 halftime lead en route to a 5-1 victory over the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team Saturday night (Aug. 30). The neutral-site match, part of the OHANA Hotels No Ka Oi Tournament, was held in Honolulu, Hawai'i.
The Falcons' lone goal came off the boot of junior Kristy Coppes early in the second half. For Coppes, the goal was her 25th as a Falcon, extending her own school record. Sophomore Ashley Wentzel assisted on the play.
Redshirt sophomore Ali Shingler suffered the loss in her first collegiate start in net.
The Sun Devils (2-0-0) got on the board at the 4:38 mark fof the first half, as Brittany Cooper scored on a direct kick. Cooper then set up Amy LePeilbet, a two-year performer with the U.S. U-21 National Team and a Soccer America preseason All-American selection, for a 2-0 ASU lead with 24:35 gone. Courtney Crane gave the Devils a three-goal lead at the 33:59 juncture, before Coppes got the Falcons on the board at 47:39.
Manya Makoski, another U-21 National Team veteran, restored ASU's three-goal lead at 65:36, before Crane scored her second of the match with 7:47 remaining.
Shingler made five saves in her complete-match effort. For the Sun Devils, Kelly Fitzgerald made one save in a scoreless first half of action, while Hilary Wilson did not make a save while allowing the Coppes goal in the final 45 minutes.
The Falcons return to action Sunday night (Aug. 31), taking on the host University of Hawai'i. Kickoff for that match is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. HST (10:00 p.m. Eastern).
NOTES
QUOTING BGSU COACH Andy Richards
"We kind of got off to a rough start, letting in a goal from a free kick after five minutes. And, a couple of other defensive mistakes -- another one from a set piece that led to the second goal, and a fast transition for the third goal -- put us in a hole. We didn't play terribly well in the first half, and perhaps showed Arizona State a bit too much respect."
"We changed some things at halftime, came out very well, and gave them a bit of a fright when we got a goal from Kristy Coppes. An exquisite through-ball from Ashley Wentzel split the defenders and put Kristy in. She had a nice first-time touch, and then finished left-footed past the 'keeper."
"After that goal, we had a period when we played very well. They did score a fourth off a set piece and then a fifth late in the game. Take nothing away from our team, though, they played very well against a very, very good Arizona State team that is ranked in a polls and returned 11 starters."
"They (ASU) are a very strong team. They didn't miss many of their chances. But, give credit to Ali Shingler, who played 90 minutes tonight and did an excellent job. She certainly kept the score down, and was a huge plus for us."
"Some other plusses included the performance of Natalie Sampiller. Keeley Dayton did a very good job for us up front. And, it was nice to see some contributions from two freshmen, Lindsay Carter and Karen Brown, who got a few minutes toward the end. Kristy had a great goal, and Ashley had a wonderful assist, but the whole team played well. There were no bad performances; the girls really did an excellent job, particularly in the second half, once we got over our fear of playing against such a great team."
"Obviously, we're never happy with a loss, but I was proud with the way we performed. Hopefully, we will learn some things from today's performance and cut out some of the silly defensive mistakes that helped to gift-wrap some of the Arizona State goals. Now, we look forward to playing Hawai'i tomorrow."
