Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
TOLEDO
Falcons are Tourney Bound After 3-0 Win at Toledo
October 28, 2004 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 28, 2004
TOLEDO, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, on the strength of three second-half goals, posted a 3-0 road victory over the University of Toledo Thursday afternoon (Oct. 28). The Mid-American Conference match was held at UT's Scott Park.
With the victory, the Falcons are now 7-10-2 overall, and BGSU finishes MAC play with a 5-5-2 mark for the second consecutive year. The win earned the Falcons a berth in the MAC Tournament, and BG will hit the road to face either Kent State University or Ohio University in quarterfinal-round action on Tuesday (Nov. 2). UT drops to 7-8-3 overall and 4-6-2 in the MAC.
Senior Kristy Coppes scored the first goal of the match, early in the second half, while sophomore Lindsay Carter picked up the first two goals of her collegiate career. Ali Shingler earned the shutout win in net.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in the first half, although the Falcons had several chances in the opening 45 minutes. Junior Samantha Meister blasted a shot that sailed high with approximately 20 minutes elapsed, and classmate Molly Bremen's long shot clanged off the crossbar with just over 19 minutes left before halftime.
Toledo's best chance in the first half came when Kelly Langenbeck got free on the right side of the 18-yard box. But, Langenbeck's hard shot was corralled by Shingler.
The action picked up in the second half. The Falcons had a chance when junior Ashley Wentzel played a nifty cross into the box. But, Meister couldn't quite connect on the pass. Just over a minute later, UT's Robin Davidson settled a crossing pass in the six-yard box at the other end of the field, but her shot was wide.
Less than four minutes after that, Toledo had another grade-A chance, when the Rockets' Rebecca Hollis took a right-side cross and one-timed a ball that went just wide, keeping the match scoreless.
With just under 32 minutes left in the match, Meister took a pass from Coppes and uncorked an absolute blast from approximately 30 yards out. It was all UT 'keeper Jen Whipple could do to get to the ball, and Whipple made a nice diving save to deflect the ball over the crossbar.
Two minutes later, Coppes took another shot, off a ball played by junior Julie Trundle, but Whipple was equal to the task. But, Coppes, BG's career scoring leader, would not be held scoreless for much longer.
Trundle took a corner kick, which the Rocket defense cleared. The ball was settled by freshman Danielle Cygan, who was on the right side of the field, in front of the BGSU bench. Cygan lofted a cross over the Rocket defense, and Coppes was on the other end of that ball. Coppes took the pass on the left side of the net, with a sliding one-timer into the lower left corner of the net. The Falcons were on the board at the 62:01 mark.
Several minutes later, junior Natalie Sampiller nearly doubled the Falcons' lead, but Whipple was able to leap and block her long shot.
After a Rocket foul, Trundle played a left-side free kick into the box. Carter, running onto the ball from the right, headed the cross into the left side of the net for her first collegiate goal. Trundle drew the lone assist on the play, which came with 18:23 left in the half.
Carter struck again less than eight minutes later. This time, the cross came from the right side, from junior Molly Bremen. In traffic in the box, Carter was able to get her head on the ball, which deflected off a Rocket defender and into the net.
The Rockets kept the pressure on, but Shingler and the BG defense kept the home team off the scoreboard, withstanding an offensive onslaught in the final minute to preserve the shutout.
BGSU had a 15-6 shots advantage, including a 9-3 edge in shots on goal. Shingler made three saves to earn the shutout, while Whipple had six stops.
The Falcons will close the regular season with a Saturday night (Oct. 30) match at Wright State University, before beginning MAC Tournament play three days later.
NOTES AND MORE NOTES
QUOTING BGSU COACH Andy Richards
"We're incredibly excited, and feel a certain sense of relief, with the win today and the berth in the MAC Tournament. We're excited to be there, but we fully deserve it, especially based on our performance today. Particularly in the second half, we were just a little too much for Toledo today. Any time you beat your rival, it's a great day. When you beat them on their field, it's even better, and when it puts you in the tournament, you really can't ask for much more than that."
"We got three good goals today, and another shutout for Ali Shingler, which was good. It was another credible team performance; everyone played their part and worked very hard. We had some first-half struggles, with the amount of players that Toledo was putting behind the ball defensively. At halftime, we talked about that, made some adjustments and it worked well for us."
"The first goal was a result of what we had talked about, as Danielle Cygan got the assist on Kristy's (Coppes) 14th goal of the year. And, for Lindsay Carter to get a couple of goals is very exciting as well."
"It is a great result, a great day, and it gives us an opportunity to start all over again in the conference tournament. Everyone is 0-0 in the conference tournament, and we will work to prepare for that game over the next couple of days."
