Bowling Green State University Athletics
Rivals Meet With Tourney Bid on the Line
October 26, 2004 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 26, 2004
Complete Release & Statistics (7 pages) in PDF Format
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team has one Mid-American Conference match remaining in the 2004 season, and to say that there is a lot riding on that match is an understatement ... the Falcons of head coach Andy Richards (6-10-2, 4-5-2 MAC) make the short trip north for a Thursday (Oct. 28) match vs. the arch-rival University of Toledo, with a berth in the MAC Tournament on the line ... kickoff for that match is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at UT's Scott Park ... then, on Saturday (Oct. 30), the Brown and Orange will close the regular season with a non-conference match at Wright State University, beginning at 7:00 p.m. at Alumni Field.
WINNER TAKE ALL
There is a little extra incentive for both teams any time Bowling Green and Toledo meet, in any sport ... but, in women's soccer, there has never been more riding on the BG-UT match than in 2004 ... both the Falcons and the Rockets enter Thursday's play with MAC records of 4-5-2, and 14 points ... the two teams, along with Northern Illinois, currently are deadlocked for ninth place, three points behind seventh-place Miami and two in back of eighth-place Buffalo ... eight teams will qualify for the MAC Tournament ... teams earn three points for a win and one for a tie ... nine of the league's 13 teams have completed MAC regular-season play, with BG, UT, Eastern Michigan and Miami the only teams with a league match remaining (EMU is at Miami Friday) ... the BGSU-Toledo winner will qualify for the MAC Tournament, while the loser will be eliminated from league tourney contention ... should the Falcons and Rockets play to a tie, Buffalo will earn the final tournament spot ... BG can finish as high as the seventh seed, as the Falcons hold the tiebreaker over Miami by virtue of a 2-0 win in the teams' head-to-head meeting (Oct. 8) ... the top-four teams in the final regular-season standings will host teams five through eight in the quarterfinal round on Tuesday, Nov. 2 ... the four winners will convene at the site of the highest remaining seed for the semifinals (Nov. 5) and championship (Nov. 7) ... the complete standings, with MAC record, points and remaining MAC regular-season matches ...
Team MAC Pts. Remaining MAC Matches Kent State 7-2-3 24 ------ Ohio 7-2-3 24 ------ Central Michigan 6-3-3 21 ------ Western Michigan 6-3-3 21 ------Eastern Michigan 6-3-2 20 1 (@Miami Friday) Ball State 5-2-5 20 ------ Miami 5-4-2 17 1 (vs. Eastern Michigan Friday) Buffalo 5-6-1 16 ------
Bowling Green 4-5-2 14 1 (@Toledo Thursday) Toledo 4-5-2 14 1 (Bowling Green Thursday) Northern Illinois 3-4-5 14 ------ Akron 1-9-2 5 ------ Marshall 0-11-1 1 ------
SPOOKY!
Halloween is coming up, and in the spirit of the holiday, we point out a few eerie similarities between the 2004 Falcons and last season's Bowling Green team ... this release is dated October 26, and the Falcons have a MAC record of 4-5-2 entering the final league regular-season match ... last Oct. 26, BGSU also had a 4-5-2 conference record, and also had one MAC match remaining ... last year, just like this year, the Falcons needed a win in that final match to earn a MAC Tournament berth ... on Oct. 26, 2003, the Brown and Orange got a Samantha Meister goal in overtime for a 4-3 win at Marshall ... that win, combined with an Akron loss to Miami, gave the Falcons the eighth and final seed in the 2003 league tourney ... the Falcons then proceeded to become the lowest seed to advance to the MAC Tournament's championship match.
COMING BACK FROM TWO GOALS DOWN
For the first time this season, the Falcons overcame a two-goal deficit in Sunday's (Oct. 24) 2-2, double-overtime tie with Western Michigan at Cochrane Field ... in 160 matches in the history of the BGSU women's soccer program, only eight times has a team gone ahead by two goals and failed to win the match ... it has happened during the month of October on seven of the eight occasions, including three times in October of 2003 ... the complete list follows...
TWO-GOAL COMEBACKS
(one team led by two goals, but did not win)
OPPONENT DATE WHO LED FINAL SCORE at Western Mich. Oct. 5, 1997 BGSU, 2-0 WMU, 4-2 at Marshall Oct. 10, 1999 MU, 3-1 Tie, 3-3 (2-OT) at Northern Ill. Sept. 28, 2001 NIU, 2-0 BGSU, 4-2 Northern Illinois Oct. 27, 2002 BGSU, 2-0 NIU, 3-2 at Miami Oct. 5, 2003 MU, 2-0 BGSU, 3-2 at Northern Ill. Oct. 12, 2003 NIU 2-0, 3-1 BGSU 4-3 (OT) at Marshall Oct. 26, 2003 MU, 2-0 BGSU, 4-3 (OT) Western Michigan Oct. 24, 2004 WMU, 2-0 Tie, 2-2 (2-OT)
-30-
In journalistic style, the number thirty is one way to signify the end of a press release ... at the end of the Falcons' Friday (Oct. 22) match vs. Northern Illinois, the number held some additional significance ... BGSU's 2-1 win over the Huskies was the team's 30th home win in school history ... it also was the Falcons' 30th MAC win, and was the 30th one-goal victory in BGSU history ... should the Falcons win both of this week's matches, BG would pick up the 30th road win in history on ... October 30th.
THANKS, SENIORS
Sunday's match was 'Senior Day' at Cochrane Field, as the seven players in their final season in the BGSU 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.
HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE (FINALLY!)
Believe it or not, Friday's Falcon win was BGSU's first-ever home victory over Northern Illinois in five tries ... in fact, the home team had never won a match in the series prior to Friday ... NIU holds an overall series lead of 5-4-0 (including one neutral-site match).
MEISTER'S MILESTONES
Junior Samantha Meister scored the match-winning goal against NIU Friday ... the goal was her fourth of the season, the second-highest total on the Falcons ... Meister now has 20 career goals, and has surpassed the 50-point mark for her career ... she ranks third in BGSU history in scoring, as her total of 51 points places her behind only teammate Kristy Coppes (100 points) and Jill Conover (65 points from 1999-2002) ... Meister has moved into a tie for second on the career goals list ... Conover and Tracy Gleixner (1998-2002) each had 20 goals in the Brown and Orange ... Coppes leads that category with 47 career goals.
AGAINST THE HUSKIES...
Several Falcons have had some success in matches vs. Northern Illinois over the years, as evidenced by the following ...
CORNERING THE MARKET
The Falcons have taken 131 corner kicks this season, and have shattered the old school single-season record in that category ... the old record was 104, by the 2000 squad ... this season's team is averaging 7.28 corners per match, a pace that would obliterate the current school record (5.32) ... BG has had more corner kicks than the opponents in 17 of this year's 18 matches ... Falcon foes have taken a total of 48 CKs in 2004, an average of 2.67 per match, which would break those BG records by large margins.
NO LOITERING ON THIS CORNER
The Falcons took 12 corner kicks Sunday, while holding Western Michigan to exactly zero ... it marked the fourth time this season that BGSU did not allow the opponents a single corner.
EGGLETON ADDS AN ASSIST (OR EIGHT)
Junior Leah Eggleton picked up an assist in the WMU match ... she now has a team-high total of eight assists on the year, all coming in the last nine matches ... Eggleton's season total is just one shy of Jill Conover's school record, set in 2000.
ALWAYS THERE TO HELP
A total of six current Falcons rank among the school's top-10 in career assists ... junior Julie Trundle (19) is ranked third on that list, while classmate Leah Eggleton (15) is now fifth ... junior Ashley Wentzel (13) ranks sixth ... still another junior, Samantha Meister, along with seniors Katie Piening and Nikki Pucillo, each have 11 career assists to tie for eighth in BGSU annals ... Jill Conover holds the record, with 25.
A FEW MORE NOTES FROM LAST WEEKEND
HEAD COACH Andy Richards
Andy Richards is in his fifth season as a collegiate head coach, all with the Falcons, and has an overall record of 43-50-10 ... Richards has led BGSU to the three finest seasons in school history over his first four years ... last fall, he guided the Falcons to the championship match of the MAC Tournament for the second time in his four seasons ... BGSU has advanced to the semifinals of the league tourney in three of his four campaigns to date ... Ashlee Orr is in her fifth season as an assistant coach for the Brown and Orange, while Eric Golz is in his first fall on Richards' staff.
THE OPPONENTS / THE SERIES
Toledo enters the week with an overall record of 7-7-3, and the Rockets, like BGSU, have a MAC ledger of 4-5-2 heading into Thursday's match ... UT played the same opponents as the Falcons last weekend, dropping a 3-1 decision to Western Michigan, but rebounding for a 2-0 win over Northern Illinois ... junior Kelly Langenbeck leads the team with six goals and 14 points, while senior Rebecca Hollis, a co-captain along with Langenbeck, has 11 points, including four goals ... in goal, sophomore Jen Whipple has played in all 17 matches, and has 82 saves and a 1.37 goals-against average ... last year, the Rockets of head coach Brad Evans finished 8-11-0 overall and 5-7-0 in MAC play ... the school's athletics web site is http://utrockets.collegesports.com.
Wright State has an overall record of 8-7-2, and the Raiders finished Horizon League play with a 3-3-1 mark ... WSU snapped a three-match losing streak with a pair of double-overtime matches last weekend, tying Ball State (1-1) and downing IPFW (1-0) ... freshman Desire Morris leads a balanced scoring attack with four goals and 11 points ... in net, sophomore Steph Comisar has 71 saves, five shutouts and a GAA of just 0.97 for coach Scott Rodgers ... last year, the Raiders were 8-10-1 overall and 3-3 in HL play ... the school's athletics web site is wsuraiders.com.
The Falcons and Toledo are tied, 3-3-1, in the all-time series, and the Rockets left Cochrane Field with a 1-0 overtime win last year (Sept. 28, 2003) ... BGSU has a 3-1-0 record in road matches vs. UT, though, and the Falcons are 3-0-0 at Scott Park, including a 1-0 win on a Julie Trundle goal two years ago (Sept. 6, 2002) ... in fact, the home team has not won since the teams' inaugural meeting, at UT's Glass Bowl on Sept. 20, 1997 ... every match in the series has been decided by one goal or less ... the Falcons hold a 3-0-0 lead over Wright State in that series, including a 3-0 home win last year (Sept. 21, 2003) ... Kristy Coppes scored two goals, while Britt Anderson picked up the third tally in that win ... in the lone previous match in Dayton, BG won a 3-1 match two years ago (Nov. 1, 2002) on goals by Coppes, Keeley Dayton and Samantha Meister.
