Falcons, Broncos Battle to 2-2 Tie in Senior Day Thriller

Sunday, October 24

Bowling Green, Ohio

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

WESTERN MICHIGAN

October 24, 2004 | Women's Soccer

Oct. 24, 2004

Final Stats

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Trailing by a pair of goals with less than 14 minutes remaining in regulation, the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team battled back to post a 2-2 tie against Western Michigan University Sunday afternoon (Oct. 24). The Mid-American Conference match was held at BGSU's Cochrane Field.

The result leaves the Falcons with an overall record of 6-10-2, and a MAC mark of 4-5-2. The visiting Broncos are now 11-4-3 and 6-3-3, respectively.

Juniors Julie Trundle and Britt Anderson scored for the Falcons, with Anderson's goal coming with only 3:02 left in regulation. Sara Cultra and Chelsea McNally had the Bronco goals.

The Falcons outshot Western, 22-13, including 7-1 in the overtime periods. BGSU also had 12 corner kicks to the Broncos' zero on the day. WMU was whistled for 29 fouls to BGSU's 17.

The tie, combined with Sunday's other results around the MAC, leaves the Falcons in a ninth-place tie in the league standings with Toledo and Northern Illinois. All three teams have 14 points, trailing eighth-place Buffalo by two and seventh-place Miami by three. The Falcons head to Toledo on Thursday (Oct. 28) for a 3:00 p.m. match, with the winner qualifying for the MAC Tournament and the loser eliminated from tourney contention. Should BG and UT play to a tie on Thursday, UB would qualify for the league tournament.

In a very physical match before by far the largest home crowd of the season, the Broncos struck first, on the first shot of the match.

The visitors had the ball in the BG end before a Falcon defender cleared the ball out of the penalty area. The ball went to WMU's Lisa Witt, who played a high ball over the BGSU defense. The Falcons' attempt at an offsides trap was unsuccessful, leaving several Bronco attackers racing in all alone on BG goalkeeper Ali Shingler. Witt's ball found the head of Cultra, and Cultra blooped the ball over Shingler and into the net. Western led with just 4:18 elapsed.

The second shot of the match did not come until exactly 12 minutes later, as the Broncos's Andrea Tyler was stopped by Shingler on a breakaway attempt.

Each team had three shots in the first half, but neither team had a strong scoring chance the rest of the way before the intermission. The Falcons' lone shot on goal in the first 45 minutes came on a long try by junior Samantha Meister with just 33 seconds remaining until the break.

The teams came out firing in the second half. With less than five minutes gone, Falcon senior Kristy Coppes rifled a shot that WMU starting goalie Kate Perz was able to tip over the crossbar. Then, less than three minutes after that shot, Coppes was at it again, as her volley off a Lindsay Carter corner kick whistled just over the bar.

The Broncos' scoring chances were few and far between in the early going of the second half, but the visitors managed to capitalize on one of those chances. Michelle Palazzolo took a free kick from the left side of the field, just next to the 18-yard box, and her kick found McNally. McNally's one-timer gave the Broncos a 2-0 lead with 30:52 remaining in the match.

Just a minute after that goal, junior Molly Bremen took the ball along the end line and slid a pass to Coppes, whose shot hit the post. Then, several minutes later, freshman Gina Rossi's shot hit the side of the netting, just wide.

The Broncos then had the next four shots over a four-minute span, including a shot by Katie Ruzinsky that was blocked on the goal line by a Falcon defender, and a pair of shots that were saved by Shingler.

Then, with just 13:23 left, the Falcons finally got on the board, with three juniors involved in the scoring play. Anderson slid a pass forward to classmate Ashley Wentzel, who played a right-side cross to Trundle in the center of the field, about 15 yards out. Trundle settled the ball and lofted a well-placed ball into the upper right corner of the net. Trundle's first goal of the season cut the WMU lead in half and brought the crowd back to life.

With 3:04 left in the second half, Kate Perz was issued a red card for verbal abuse of an official. Lea Perz, Kate's sister, replaced her in goal, and was greeted by a BGSU free kick just outside the 18-yard box. On that free kick, the Falcons' play ended with Anderson blasting the ball into the net for her third goal of the season and a tie score. Fellow juniors Bremen and Leah Eggleton assisted on Anderson's goal.

BGSU nearly ended the match a minute later, but Lea Perz stopped a Coppes shot from point-blank range with just 1:55 left in regulation.

Perz made another save of a Coppes shot early in the first overtime, as the Falcons held a 3-0 advantage in shots in that 10-minute period. In the second OT, however, Anderson nearly ended the contest on several occasions.

With just over a minute elapsed in the second overtime, an Anderson header off a Wentzel corner kick sailed wide. Then, with 5:23 remaining, another Anderson header was ticketed for the lower right corner, but Lea Perz was able to make an acrobatic diving save.

During another Falcon flurry less than a minute later, Perz made another stop of an Anderson header. This time, the 'keeper deflected the hard shot into the air, then bobbled the ball before grabbing it as she was prone on the goal line.

Coppes and Anderson combined for 13 of BG's 22 shots in the match, with Anderson taking seven shots. Anderson took five of BGSU's seven shots in the extra 20 minutes, including all four Falcon shots in the second OT.

BGSU had 10 shots on goal to the Broncos' seven. Shingler made four saves in her complete-match effort, while Kate Perz made three stops in 86:56 of work. Lea Perz, despite playing just 23:04, faced five shots on goal, stopping four. Both the Falcons and the Broncos were credited with one 'team save.'

As mentioned, the Falcons will travel to Toledo for a Thursday (Oct. 28) match, with the winner heading to the MAC Tournament. BGSU closes the regular season with a Saturday (Oct. 30) contest at Wright State. Should the Brown and Orange qualify for the MAC Tournament, the team would be on the road for a quarterfinal match on Tuesday, Nov. 2.

MAC UPDATE
Sunday's Results:

  at BGSU 2, WMU 2 (2-OT)
  at Miami 3, Central Michigan 1
  at Buffalo 2, Ohio 0
  at Toledo 2, Northern Illinois 0
  at Akron 0, Ball State 0 (2-OT)
  at Kent State 2, Marshall 0
  at Michigan State 1, Eastern Michigan 0 (non-conference)

MAC Standings:

 1. Kent State     7-2-3, 24
    Ohio           7-2-3, 24
 3. Central Mich.  6-3-3, 21
    Western Mich.  6-3-3, 21
 5. Eastern Mich.  6-3-2, 20
    Ball State     5-2-5, 20
 7. Miami          5-4-2, 17
 8. Buffalo        5-6-1, 16
 9. Bowling Green  4-5-2, 14
    Toledo         4-5-2, 14
    Northern Ill.  3-4-5, 14
12. Akron          1-9-2,  5
13. Marshall       0-10-1, 1

NOTES

Sunday's match was 'Senior Day' for the BGSU program, as the seven players in their final season in the program were recognized in ceremonies prior to the match ... those seven seniors are Jenny Berlovan, Kristy Coppes, Jenifer Kernahan, Kylene Newell, Katie Piening, Nikki Pucillo and team captain Beth Rieman.

Junior Britt Anderson was involved in the scoring of both Falcon goals Sunday ... Anderson's three-point match was her second of the season and the third of her career ... she has now moved into second place on the 2004 Falcons with 11 points this fall.

Anderson's goal was the 10th of her BGSU career, moving her into a tie for sixth place on the Falcon career goals list ... she now has 29 career points to place her in a tie for ninth in school history.

Junior Leah Eggleton's assist ws her eighth of the season, all coming in the last nine matches ... Eggleton's season total is just one shy of Jill Conover's BG record, set in 2000 ... Eggleton has 15 career assists to rank fifth in school history.

Junior Ashley Wentzel picked up an assist for the second consecutive match ... she now has five assists this season, tying her BG best, and has 13 career helpers to rank sixth in BGSU history.

Molly Bremen assisted on the Falcons' second goal Sunday, giving her totals of five assists and nine points on the season ... Bremen, a junior, entered the 2004 season looking for her first collegiate point ... she currently ranks third on the Falcons in scoring, and is tied for second in assists.

The Falcons had 12 corner kicks Sunday, while allowing the Broncos zero ... it marked the fourth time this season that BGSU did not allow the opponents a single corner ... BGSU now has a total of 131 corners this year, and the Falcons have shattered the school mark of 104 corner kicks.

BGSU currently averages 7.28 corner kicks per match, a pace that would obliterate the current school record of 5.32 CKs (set in 1999) ... Falcon opponents have taken just 48 corners, an average of 2.67 per match, which would break those BG records by large margins (current records are 77 CKs, a 3.50 avg., in 2002).

QUOTING BGSU COACH ANDY RICHARDS
"With our result today, and the other results around the league, we now know that we have to win at Toledo to get into the MAC Tournament. So, our fate is still in our hands, and that is all we can ask for."

"We were extremely appreciative of the support we had at the game today. I would like to thank everyone who came today, and they should know that they played a part in our comeback. Once Julie (Trundle) got that goal, their support and enthusiasm gave us some impetus and helped us get back in the game. They should be applauded for their support, and we hope that those fans will come back for some games next year."

"We got a great goal from Julie Trundle. Her first of the season came at a very opportune time, and gave us 14 minutes to try to claw our way back into the game. We did that with Britt Anderson's goal on a well-worked free kick. That is something we have worked on many times in practice. From a coaching point of view, it is nice when you see something that you've worked on on the practice field pay dividends in a game."

"Obviously, Julie and Britt should get some accolades for their goals. Also, though, I thought Leah Eggleton was just inspirational once again. She is a magnificent player who plays with her heart on her sleeve. She has really given us a tremendous amount of energy and quality in the second half of the season."

"Any soccer fans out there who want to see a great game should be at Scott Park on Thursday at three o'clock. I'm sure it will be a very interesting and hard-fought game."