Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
EASTERN ILLINOIS
EIU Downs Falcons, 4-2
September 05, 2003 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 5, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Lindsey Holcomb's goal midway through the second half broke a 2-2 tie and propelled Eastern Illinois University to a 4-2 win over the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team Friday afternoon (Sept. 5). The non-conference match was held at BGSU's Cochrane Field.
The win lifts the Panthers to 2-1-0 on the young season, while the Falcons drop to 0-3-0.
Junior Katie Piening and senior co-captain Carrie Richards each scored their first goal of the season for the Falcons. Junior Kristy Coppes picked up an assist on Piening's goal, while sophomore Megan Rapp assisted on the Richards tally.
Lindsay Dechert got the win in goal for EIU, making five saves in her complete-match effort. Ali Shingler made six saves in her 79-plus minutes of work for fhe Falcons, while Allie Failor played the final 10:25 of the match and did not face a shot on goal.
The Panthers broke on top with nearly 27 minutes elapsed. Beth Liesen, EIU's career goals leader, made a long run down the field, but saw her crossing attempt blocked. The ball caromed right back to Liesen, however, who took several dribbles toward the center of the field and fired it into the net.
The visitors doubled the lead on a Abby Bohnenstiehl goal at 36:25, but Piening struck for her goal just 22 seconds later. The Falcon junior took a right-side cross from classmate Coppes, and struck a shot that curved into the right side of the net. The ball glanced off the goalpost and into the net, cutting the EIU lead to a single goal heading into halftime.
The Falcons equalized with just over three minutes gone in the second half. Off a corner kick, Rapp's pass found Carrie Richards on the right side of the 18-yard box. Richards' shot deflected off a body in traffic, and eluded the dive of Dechert.
Holcomb broke the tie at the 64:09 mark, with Liesen drawing the assist after finding Holcomb with a cross from the right side. Then, Trisha Walter provided some insurance for the visitors, lifting a shot that went just over the outstretched arms of Shingler and nestled just under the crossbar. Sharyne Connell assisted on the final goal of the match.
The Falcons will open Mid-American Conference play Sunday (Sept. 7), hosting Eastern Michigan University in a noon match at Cochrane.
NOTES
QUOTING BGSU COACH ANDY RICHARDS
"It was quite a game. I think if you were neutral, you would have enjoyed it. It was a pretty open and exciting game, with a lot of back-and-forth play, and the shots were very even at 22-20. It could have been one-each after three minutes, as they hit the crossbar and we had a great chance early on. I actually enjoyed the game, it was fun to watch. But, obviously from our point of view, it was disappointing."
"We created a ton of chances, and had we capitalized on those chances it would have been a different game. We had 22 shots, and we only got seven of them on target. That doesn't say a lot for our accuracy or our composure near the goal."
"But it was pleasing in that created a lot of chances. One day we'll do what Eastern Illinois did and take advantage of those chances. It's not all doom and gloom, though; at least we created opportunities, and a variety of different opportunities."
"You've got to give credit to our girls. When they went down, 2-0, they could have packed it in, but they came right back and scored less than a minute later. That was a great goa; the strike from Katie Piening was outstanding. That was as good a goal as I have seen -- the way she bent the ball just inside the right post -- and Katie deserves that for all of her hard work."
"It was also nice to see Carrie Richards get her first goal of the year. We got the ball in the danger area, and she was there to finish it off. It wasn't a textbook goal, but it was a goal borne of effort, and that's what we need right now."
"We got some other good performances today. Megan Rapp came on after halftime and played very well in the second half. Karen Brown got a little more time than in the previous two games and did very well. And, I was delighted with the 10-plus minutes we got from Allie Failor. She was a commanding presence in the back, and she took on a great cross and made a stop which was as good a piece of defense as we had in the 90 minutes today."
"The story of the game, however, is that we were too sloppy in the back, and we didn't take our chances. Had we done one of those things, we would have had a much better result today."
"While we are disappointed in the results so far, we have played three very teams. Two of them made the NCAA Tournament last year, and we played the third on their home field after travelling halfway around the world. We have played a lot of players and given a lot of players a chance to show what they can do. And, most importantly, we are 0-0 in the MAC. This is a very good team that we have, and it's a winning team. We just need to start improving on the field. But it will come, sooner rather than later."
