Two Coppes Goals Help BGSU Past Wright State, 3-0

Sunday, September 21

Bowling Green, Ohio

3:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Wright State

September 21, 2003 | Women's Soccer

Sept. 21, 2003

Final Stats| Photo Gallery

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Junior Kristy Coppes scored a pair of goals as the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team recorded a 3-0 win over Wright State University Sunday afternoon (Sept. 21). The non-conference match was held at BGSU's Cochrane Field.

With the win, the Falcons improve to 3-5-1 on the season, while the Raiders drop to 2-5-1.

Sophomore Britt Anderson also found the back of the net for the Falcons, while goalkeepers Ali Shingler and Jenifer Kernahan combined for the shutout.

A total of 21 different Falcons saw action in the match, as the home team held a clear advantage in time of possession. Nevertheless, the Raiders had the first serious scoring chance of the match. With less than 10 minutes gone, WSU's Jen Hansen came down on the left side on a semi-breakaway and unloaded a shot that was ticketed for the far (right) corner. Shingler made a diving save, deflecting the ball just wide of the right post.

The Falcons got on the board with just under 20 minutes elapsed. With BGSU working for a shot at the top of the penalty area, a Falcon pass took a fortuitous bounce off of the referee and bounded to sophomore Samantha Meister. Meister's quick pass sent Coppes in alone on WSU starting 'keeper Steph Comisar. Coppes took one dribble and put the ball past Comisar into the lower left (far) corner of the net. Meister drew the lone assist on the play.

BGSU struck again after a short corner kick, with Anderson picking up her first goal of the season. Fellow sophomores Julie Trundle and Leah Eggleton assisted on the goal, which came at 36:38, less than a minute-and-a-half after Anderson had checked into the match.

Sophomore Britt Anderson scored her first goal of the year in the WSU match (photo by J.D. Pooley)

Coppes closed the scoring just two minutes into the second half, as the Falcons caught WSU goalie Emily Flohre out of position. Florhe had come out of her net to try to grab a rolling BGSU cross, but Eggleton beat her to the ball. Eggleton's attempted cross was blocked, but junior Jenny Berlovan picked up the deflection near the 18-yard line on the right side. Berlovan's cross found Coppes in the center of the box, and the junior tapped the ball into the open net.

Meanwhile, at the other end, Kernahan kept the Raiders off the scoreboard to preserve the shutout. The Falcons held a deceptive 16-14 advantage in total shots, including a 9-5 margin in shots on goal. WSU had the final six shots of the match, over the last seven minutes.

Shingler and Kernahan each worked 45 minutes of scoreless play. Shingler was called upon to make just one save, while Kernahan had four saves in the second half.

For the Raiders, three goalies saw time in the match. Comisar allowed two goals and made two saves in the first half, while Flohre had three saves and allowed one goal in 34:02 of work. BethAnn Meyer made one save in a scoreless 10:58.

The Falcons will return to action Friday (Sept. 26), playing a non-league match at Valparaiso. Then, the Brown and Orange will return home for a Sunday (Sept. 28) match against Mid-American Conference rival Toledo.

NOTES

With her two goals Sunday, junior Kristy Coppes increased her school-record total to 28 goals for her career ... Coppes now has 61 points in her career, good for second in BGSU history ... she trails school record-holder Jill Conover (65 points from 1999-2002) by just four points.

Coppes had the match-winning goal Sunday, her second of the season and the seventh of her career ... she is now tied with Conover for first place on that Falcon career list.

Coppes' multi-goal match was the sixth of her career, but the first of the season for a Falcon player.

The Falcons now hold a 3-0 advantage in the all-time series with Wright State ... BGSU posted a one-goal win two years ago (2-1; Oct. 9, 2001), a two-goal victory last year (3-1; Nov. 1, 2002) and a three-goal win Sunday.

Senior Jenifer Kernahan made the first four saves of her collegiate career, and was in on her first shutout as well ... Kernahan, the starting catcher on the Falcon softball team, made her women's soccer debut Wednesday (Sept. 17) at Detroit, but did not face a shot on goal in her 12:37 of action.

Two Falcons registered their first points of the season, as sophomore Britt Anderson scored BG's second goal of the match, and junior Jenny Berlovan had an assist on the Falcons' final goal of the day ... Anderson and Berlovan bring the total to 14 different Falcons who have scored at least one point in 2003.

Redshirt sophomore Kylene Newell played the final 10:58 of the contest ... for Newell, the playing time was her first since the 2001 season ... originally a walk-on to the Falcon program, she played in one match in her inaugural season of 2001, but did not see match action last fall.

After beginning the home portion of the schedule with a pair of losses, the Falcons are now 3-0-1 in the last four matches at Cochrane Field, and will take a three-match home winning streak into next Sunday's Toledo match.

The Falcons' three goals vs. Wright State set a season high ... BGSU had scored two goals on three prior occasions in 2003.

Sophomore Julie Trundle's assist on classmate Britt Anderson's goal was the 10th of her career ... Trundle now ranks fifth on the BGSU career assists list ... with 20 career points, she is 12th on that school list.

Sophomore Samantha Meister's assist in Sunday's match moved her career point total to 22 ... she now ranks ninth in school history on that list.

QUOTING BGSU COACH ANDY RICHARDS
"It was a great victory today. It is especially pleasing to see the signs that all the things we've worked on in practice this season are finally coming through, and we're really making progress on the field. It was nice to see some defensive solidarity, with a shutout that was well-earned by (Ali) Shingler, (Jenifer) Kernahan and the entire defense."

"Also, it was great to see us start to break out, a little bit, up front with some more goals. We got a good goal by Kristy (Coppes) early in the game to get us going. It was nice to see her get another one. And then, we got a beautiful piece of creativity from Leah (Eggleton) and Julie (Trundle), which set up Britt (Anderson) for her goal. That was just a great piece of recognition on their part that the two-person corner was on, and then the great serve by Julie led to Britt's first goal of the season. It was good to see."

"We challenged the team at halftime to see if they could put the game away as early as possible. Two-nil in soccer is often a dangerous score; we wanted to get a third goal as fast as we could, and we did a good job of getting it within two minutes of the restart."

"We're delighted with the win and the shutout, and, as I mentioned, we're delighted with the signs that all the work the team has put into our practices is paying off."

"It was nice to see Jenny Berlovan get an assist today. She has continued to work hard and have a great attitude even though she hasn't started the last few games. She continues to be very positive, and has kept her work rate up. She came out and had a very good second half."

"Special mention goes out to Kylene Newell. She played the last 10 or 12 minutes of the game, which was the first action she's seen in a couple of years. Kylene is a kid who always gives 100 percent effort, is always a positive influence and is a real team player. I can't speak highly enough of her. I know she doesn't get the amount of playing time that she would like, but she has been very positive, and it was wonderful to see her take her chance when she came on. She didn't just play, she put in a very credible performance, and it warms the heart of a coach to see a player put the work in, stay positive, and take advantage of her opportunities when they come around."

"It was a great team performance today, and nice to get a shutout. We've put a couple of good weekends together now, and we look forward to going to Valparaiso Friday, and of course to the big match against Toledo next Sunday."