Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
AKRON
Falcons Beat Zips In Dramatic Fashion, 2-1
September 19, 2003 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 19, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Sophomore Ashley Wentzel's goal with just 44 seconds remaining gave the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team a come-from-behind win, 2-1, over the University of Akron Friday afternoon (Sept. 19). The Mid-American Conference match was held at BGSU's Cochrane Field.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 2-5-1 overall and 1-1-1 in MAC play, while the Zips fall to 2-4-1 and 1-2-0, respectively.
Sophomore Samantha Meister also scored for the Falcons, who found the back of the net twice in the final 14 minutes of the second half.
The teams played over 63 minutes of scoreless ball before the visiting Zips got on the board. In the first half, the Falcons had a good scoring chance early, but Wentzel's shot was tipped over the crossbar by UA goalie Crystal Tabor with less than two minutes elapsed. That was arguably the Falcons' best chance of the first 45 minutes.
In the second half, the Brown and Orange had another chance with approximately 15 minutes gone. A Zip defender slipped and fell, and sophomore Julie Trundle took the ball into the penalty area from the left side. She slid a pass across the box toward classmate Leah Eggleton, who got off a shot in traffic that was blocked by Tabor. Meister and junior Kristy Coppes attempted to poke at the rebound in the crowded penalty area, but could not get the ball past the UA 'keeper.
Then, two minutes later, the Zips headed the other way on a counterattack. Beth Riggs played the ball to Tashina Alden, near the BG end line to Falcon goalie Ali Shingler's left. Alden slid the ball across the box to a sliding Mirka Mohs, who poked the ball into the lower right corner of the net. The goal gave the visitors a lead with just 26:39 remaining.
The Falcons, who outshot Akron by a 16-10 margin for the match, kept applying pressure at the other end, and finally broke through with just under 14 minutes remaining. Freshman Lindsay Carter took a corner kick, and the kick found Meister for a header. Tabor got a piece of the ball, but could not stop the shot, and the teams were even at 1-1.
Akron had a dangerous chance just one minute after the Falcon goal. Jeannie Stuckey's shot squirted through Shingler's hands and rolled toward the goal, but it bounced off the far (left) post before a BG defender knocked it out of play.
Falcon sophomore Keeley Dayton got the winning play started. Dayton won the ball in front of the Falcon bench, and her pass found Trundle heading down the left side. Trundle entered the penalty area and sent a crossing ball toward the far post. Sophomore Britt Anderson and a UA defender went up for the ball, but neither could get a head on it. The ball slid toward a charging Wentzel, who knocked it home at the back post.
BGSU held a 9-3 advantage in shots on goal in the match. Shingler made two saves in earning the win, while Tabor had seven stops. BGSU held a 10-3 advantage in corner kicks.
The Falcons will step outside of MAC play for a Sunday (Sept. 21) home match, taking on Wright State in a 3:00 p.m. start at Cochrane Field.
NOTES
QUOTING BGSU COACH ANDY RICHARDS
"This was a thrilling victory, very exciting for everybody, with the winning goal coming so late in the game. But, also, it was a victory that Bowling Green thoroughly deserved. We had a number of chances, and we perhaps should have scored more goals. With a bit of composure in front of the goal, we would have scored more. But, we created a lot of opportunities, had the multitude of possession, and were a little unfortunate to go one (goal) down."
"I was extremely happy for Ashley Wentzel to get not only the winning goal, but also her first collegiate goal. And, I was also very impressed by the performance of Molly Bremen. They have both improved tremendously over their year-plus at Bowling Green. They haven't necessarily always started, but they've made tremendous improvements, and have really put right some of the things we have pointed out to them for improvement. I'm really impressed with both of them, and delighted for them, because they are the epitome of the progress this program is making. Ashley grabbed the headlines today, but that is not always the case. And, Molly got her first start of the season, and totally deserved it."
"We got a tremendous service from Lindsay Carter from the corner into the penalty area for Sam Meister's goal. And, we got great work by Keeley Dayton and Julie Trundle on the second goal, for keeping the ball alive and putting that great serve in for Ashley to get that exciting winner."
"What was most pleasing today was that we managed to compete for the full 90 minutes. And, we just kept doing the right things. Eventually, doing the right things on enough occasions will produce good results. For example, Sam Meister won us a corner (prior to) the first goal by getting the ball into a danger area, and just trying to win a corner out of that situation. On the second goal, Keeley Dayton did a good job of keeping the ball in play, and Julie Trundle produced an excellent service into the danger area, and Ashley Wentzel got on the end of it. That's the most pleasing thing from a coach's point of view, that today we earned the victory through being competitive, but also because we kept doing the right things."
"As I've preached to the team all along, we have to get the little things right. If you get the little things right, and keep trying to do the right thing, you'll end up getting what you deserve. And, we deserved the victory today. There were some tremendous performances today, and I'm very pleased to get the first MAC win of the season."
