Falcons to Face Western in MAC Tourney Semifinal

Nov. 4, 2004

Complete Release & Stats (8 pages) in PDF Format
BGSU Statistics (1 page) in PDF Format
WMU Statistics (1 page) in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, having pulled a quarterfinal-round upset in the Mid-American Conference Tournament, will head to Athens, Ohio, for Friday's (Nov. 5) semifinal round ... the Falcons of head coach Andy Richards (8-11-2 [5-5-2 MAC]), the eighth seed for the eight-team tournament, will meet fourth-seeded Western Michigan University in the first match of the day, scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. ... the other semifinal match, beginning at 2:00 p.m., will pit third-seeded Central Michigan University against the host school, second-seeded Ohio University ... the two semifinal winners will meet in a noon contest on Sunday (Nov. 7) to decide the tournament title ... all three weekend matches will be held at Chessa Field ... the Falcons were the lone road team to win in Tuesday's (Nov. 2) quarterfinal round, with a 2-1, double-overtime win at top-seeded Kent State University ... BGSU is looking to make it to the league tournament's championship match for the third time in Richards' five seasons.

THEY DID IT AGAIN
For the second time in as many seasons, the Falcons entered the MAC Tournament as the eighth and final seed ... last year, BGSU became the first-ever eighth seed to advance past the first round, with a 2-1 upset of top-seeded Eastern Michigan in the quarterfinals ... the 2003 Falcons advanced all the way to the final ... the 2004 BGSU team repeated history, with another 2-1 road win over the top seed, this time in double overtime at Kent State ... in fact, in the 49 matches in MAC Tourney history (through Tuesday's quarterfinals), the lower team has pulled the upset on 17 occasions ... the Falcons have been that team six times, including five under head coach Andy Richards ... last year's team, obviously, was the biggest Cinderella in MAC Women's Soccer Tournament history ... the 2000 squad was seeded seventh, but won a pair of matches and lost the championship match in overtime ... the 1998 team was the sixth seed, but picked up a quarterfinal win.
MAC TOURNAMENT UPSETS

#8 Bowling Green 2, #1 Kent State 1 (2-OT) - 2004 QF
#8 Bowling Green 2, #1 Eastern Michigan 1 - 2003 QF
#8 Bowling Green 0, #5 Central Michigan 0 - 2003 SF %
#7 Bowling Green 2, #2 Eastern Michigan 1 - 2000 QF
#7 Ohio 1, #2 Kent State 0 - 2003 QF
#7 Bowling Green 2, #6 Western Michigan 1 - 2000 SF
#6 Bowling Green 1, #3 Eastern Michigan 0 - 1998 QF
#6 Western Michigan 2, #3 Central Michigan 1 - 2000 QF
#5 Ohio 2, #4 Buffalo 1 (2-OT) - 1999 QF
#5 Central Michigan 2, #4 Ball State 0 - 2003 QF
#4 Miami 2, #1 Buffalo 0 - 2000 SF
#4 Central Michigan 2, #1 Ohio 1 (4-OT) - 2001 SF
#3 Eastern Michigan 2, #2 Western Michigan 1 - 1997 SF
#3 Miami 2, #2 Central Michigan 1 - 1999 SF
#3 Miami 4, #2 Eastern Michigan 1 - 2001 SF
#3 Ohio 1, #2 Ball State 0 - 2002 SF
#2 Northern Illinois 2, #1 Ohio 1 (3-OT) - 1998 Champ.
% BGSU advanced on penalty kicks

BGSU'S MAC TOURNAMENT FACTS

The Falcons are competing in the MAC Tournament for the fifth time in the team's eight-year history, and BGSU has made the tourney for the third consecutive year, the longest such run in school annals ... the Falcons are now a perfect 5-0-0 in the tournament's quarterfinal round ... two of the previous four Falcon teams to qualify for the tourney bowed out of the tourney in the semifinal round, with two of Andy Richards' first four teams making it all the way to the championship match.

BGSU are now 6-4-1 all-time in MAC Tournament matches ... the Falcons' tourney winning percentage of .591 is the third-best among MAC schools, trailing only Miami (11-1-1, .884) and Northern Illinois (5-1-0, .833).

As mentioned earlier, the Falcons are now a perfect 5-0-0 in MAC Tournament quarterfinal matches ... BGSU was the lower seed in four of those five matches, and the Falcons have been the lower-seeded team in 10 of the 11 tourney matches all-time ... BG again will be the lower seed on Friday against Western Michigan.

Only six times has a team seeded five or more spots lower than the opponent won a match, and the Falcons have been the victor in five of those matches ... prior to the win by last year's eighth-seeded team, BGSU's seventh-seeded squad in 2000 had pulled the biggest upset in tourney history, with a first-round win at EMU.

BGSU enters the semifinal round of the MAC Tournament for the fifth time in school history ... ironically, BGSU's two lowest-seeded teams prior to this year have made the deepest runs in the league tourney ... the 2000 team, seeded seventh, and last year's eighth-seeded team each advanced all the way to the championship round before succumbing ... in 1998, BGSU was seeded sixth, but won a quarterfinal match before losing in the semis ... in 2002, the Falcons earned the highest-ever seed in school history -- fourth -- and won the lone home tourney match in BG annals before losing in the next round.

In each of the Falcons' four previous tourney trips, BGSU has been eliminated by the eventual tournament champion.

Nine of BGSU's 11 MAC Tournament matches have been decided by one goal or fewer, including all five quarterfinal round wins ... the lone exceptions have been the 2002 semifinal loss to Miami (3-0) and last year's championship-match setback to Western Michigan (4-1).

The Falcons are now 2-1 against the #1 seed in MAC Tournament play ... BGSU is 1-1 against both the #2 and #3 seeds over the years, and the Falcons are 0-1 vs. the fourth seed, heading into Friday's match against #4 WMU ... the Falcons have been the lower-seeded team in 10 of the previous 11 league tourney matches, and BG will be the lower seed again on Friday vs. Western.

Falcon head coach Andy Richards now has a MAC Tournament record of 5-3-1 ... he trails only Miami's Bobby Kramig (11 tourney wins) on the MAC coaches' tournament victories list ... NIU's Frank Horvat and Ohio's Stacy Strauss each have five league tourney wins as well.

BGSU'S MAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY (6-4-1)
Home: 1-0 // Away: 4-2 // Neutral: 1-2-1 // OT: 2-2-1

1998 (#6 seed)
  QF  A  def. #3 Eastern Michigan, 1-0
  SF  N  lost to #2 Northern Illinois, 2-1 (OT)

2000 (#7 seed)
  QF  A  def. #2 Eastern Michigan, 2-1
  SF  N  def. #6 Western Michigan, 2-1
  Ch. N  lost to #4 Miami, 1-0 (2-OT)

2002 (#4 seed)
  QF  H  def. #5 Buffalo, 2-1 (2-OT)
  SF  A  lost to #1 Miami, 3-0

2003 (#8 seed)
  QF  A  def. #1 Eastern Michigan, 2-1
  SF  N  tied #5 Central Mich., 0-0 (2-OT) %
  Ch. A  lost to #3 Western Michigan, 4-1

2004 (#8 seed)
  QF  A  def. #1 Kent State, 2-1 (2-OT)

H/A/N - Home/Away/Neutral
Neutral sites: 1998 - Athens, Ohio; 2000 - Buffalo, N.Y;
  2003 - Kalamazoo, Mich.
% BGSU advanced, 4-3, on penalty kicks

THIS SOUNDS FAMILIAR
For the second straight season, the Falcons had a 4-5-2 MAC record heading into the final league regular-season match ... and, for the second consecutive year, BGSU needed a road win in that contest to qualify for the MAC Tournament ... last season, 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 ... this year, BG got three second-half goals to down host Toledo, 3-0, and qualify for the tournament ... now, for the second-straight year, the eighth-seeded Falcons have advanced to the semifinals of the league tourney.

COPPES CONTINUES TO CONNECT, EXTENDS SINGLE-SEASON GOALS RECORD
Senior Kristy Coppes has set a new BGSU single-season goals record ... she scored the first goal of the match in the Falcons' 2-1 victory at Kent State Tuesday (Nov. 2) ... that goal was her 15th this season, extending her own mark ... Tracy Gleixner had set the record with 12 goals in 1998, and Coppes matched that mark as both a freshman (2001) and sophomore (2002), before breaking the record this year.

COPPES CLIMBS CAREER CHARTS, SURPASSES CENTURY MARK
Senior Kristy Coppes now has 49 goals in her BGSU career ... she is the school's all-time goals leader, 29 ahead of the second-place Falcons on that list ... Coppes is tied for third place on the MAC's career goals list, deadlocked with Eastern Michigan's Jessica Hupe ... the two share the active career lead, as Hupe scored a goal in the Eagles' MAC Tournament loss at Ohio Tuesday ... Coppes now has 104 career points, nearly 40 points more than any other player in school annals, and has moved into a tie for fifth place on that MAC chart ... the lists follow ...

MAC CAREER RECORDS
GOALS
60 - Danielle Berkemeier, Miami (1999-2002)
58 - Andrea Cunningham, Miami (1999-2002)
49 - Kristy Coppes, Bowling Green (2001-SA)
49 - Jessica Hupe, Eastern Michigan (2000-SA)
46 - Paula Listrani, Buffalo (1997-2000)
46 - Christel Schiering, Ohio (2000-03)

POINTS
148 - Danielle Berkemeier, Miami (1999-2002)
141 - Andrea Cunningham, Miami (1999-2002)
116 - Paula Listrani, Buffalo (1997-2000)
115 - Jessica Hupe, Eastern Michigan (2000-SA)
104 - Kristy Coppes, Bowling Green (2001-SA)
104 - Christel Schiering, Ohio (2000-03)
101 - Amanda Kulikowski, Eastern Michigan (1998-2001)

FIVE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT Kristy Coppes

Senior Kristy Coppes is the first player in school history to hit double digits in goals in each of her four seasons ... Coppes is just the third player in MAC history to score at least 10 goals in each of four seasons, joining Miami teammates Danielle Berkemeier and Andrea Cunningham (1999-2002).

Only four times in BGSU history has a player scored 12 or more goals in a season, and Coppes has been that player on three of the four occasions.

Coppes has added another record to her long list ... believe it or not, the school's career scoring leader did not own the BGSU single-season scoring record until Tuesday ... Coppes scored the first goal of the KSU match, giving her 31 points this year ... Tracy Gleixner had 29 points in the 1998 season ... Coppes had 26 points in both her freshman (2001) and sophomore (2002) campaigns.

Coppes' match-winning goal at Toledo (Oct. 28) was her fifth of the season, breaking her own school record in that category ... she had four MWGs in the 2002 season ... Coppes has increased her career total to 13, six ahead of the next person on the BG list.

Coppes currently is second in the MAC with 15 goals on the season, and also ranks second in goals per match (0.71) ... she is tied for second in points (31) and is fourth in points per match (1.48).

AN OCTOBER (AND NOVEMBER?) TO REMEMBER
At first glance, the Falcons' current overall record of 8-11-2 may not seem like anything special ... but, that record - and the fact that BGSU is one of only four MAC teams still playing - looks much better when considering the Falcons' state at the end of the month of September ... BGSU went that entire month without a win (0-7-1), and the team was 1-8-1 overall when October began ... BGSU was 0-3-1 in league play at that time ... but, the Falcons proceeded to have the winningest month in school history, going 6-3-1 (5-2-1 in MAC play) ... BGSU had won five matches in a month three times (5-3-1 in Sept. of 1998, 5-4-1 in Sept. of 2002, 5-3-1 in Oct. of 2002) ... and, the Falcons are now 1-0-0 in November.

NOTES FROM THE KENT STATE MATCH

Kent State held a 21-9 advantage in shots on Tuesday, including an 11-6 margin in shots on goal ... the Flashes' 21 shot attempts marked the highest total by a BG opponent this season, and KSU's 12-shot advantage was the widest margin by which the Falcons have been outshot in 2004 ... the Flashes' shots-on-goal total was the most against BG since the season opener (13 SOG by Duquesne on Aug. 27).

Junior Britt Anderson has now scored a goal in each of her three matches at the Kent State Soccer Field ... as a freshman, her header proved to be the lone goal in the Falcons' 1-0 win at KSU (Sept. 29, 2002) ... Anderson scored one of BGSU's goals in the 4-2 regular-season loss at Kent last month (Oct. 15, 2004), before netting the match-winner Tuesday.

The Falcons now lead Kent State, 5-3-2, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU is 3-2-0 in road matches vs. the Golden Flashes ... five of the 10 series meetings have gone to overtime, with the Falcons owning a 2-1-2 record in those five matches ... Tuesday's match marked the first time the teams had met in the league tourney.

The Falcons' overtime win was the team's first since last year's final MAC regular-season match, a 4-3 win at Marshall (Oct. 26, 2003) that propelled the Brown and Orange into the 2003 league tournament ... BGSU is now 1-0-2 in overtime matches this season, 2-2-1 in MAC Tournament OT contests and 10-11-14 all-time in overtime ... BG has played in one MAC Tournament overtime match in each of the five years the team has qualified for the tourney ... the Falcons are 2-0-1 in the team's last three OT tournament contests.

SHINGLER STOPS SHOTS
Redshirt junior Ali Shingler made a career-high 10 saves in the win at Kent State ... her previous high had been eight saves, amassed on four occasions.

TRUNDLE LENDS AN ASSIST

Junior Julie Trundle had assists on both BGSU goals at Kent State Tuesday ... the multi-assist match was her second this season and the fifth of her career ... Trundle has seven assists this season, ranking her second on the team ... she has nine total points on the year, with seven of those coming over the last five matches.

Trundle now has 22 career assists to rank third in school history ... just a junior, she is only three away from equalling the school record ... Jill Conover (1999-2002) holds that record, with 25 career assists, while Janice Mentrup (1997-2000) had 23 in her Falcon career.

Trundle is the first Falcon to pick up at least seven assists in each of three different seasons.

Trundle has tied a BGSU career record ... she assisted on the winning goal Tuesday, bringing her total to eight career match-winning assists ... that total deadlocks her with Conover for the most in school annals.

ALWAYS THERE TO HELP
A total of six current Falcons rank among the school's top-10 in career assists ... junior Julie Trundle (22), as mentioned, 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.

CORNERING THE MARKET
The Falcons have taken 143 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 6.81 corners per match, a pace that would obliterate the current school record (5.32) ... BG has had more corner kicks than the opponents in 19 of this year's 21 matches ... Falcon foes have taken a total of 58 CKs in 2004, an average of 2.76 per match ... by contrast, the Falcons have had more than 58 corners in each half (75 in the first half, 62 in the second).

CARTER USES HER HEAD
Sophomore Lindsay Carter is usually one of the smallest players on the field, but she has been at her best in the air as of late, and the results have been positive for the Falcons ... the 5-foot-2 Carter scored the first two goals of her collegiate career in Thursday's (Oct. 28) 3-0 win at Toledo, a victory which clinched a MAC Tournament berth for the Brown and Orange ... then, after sitting out the Wright State match, Carter was back at it Tuesday ... she headed junior Julie Trundle's crossing ball, directing it right to the foot of senior Kristy Coppes for the first goal of the MAC Tournament match at KSU ... the assist was Carter's first of the season.

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 45-51-10 ... 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 OPPONENT / THE SERIES
Western Michigan enters the semifinal round of the MAC Tournament with an overall record of 11-5-4, and the Broncos finished the regular season in a third-place tie in the MAC, with a league ledger of 6-3-3 ... Western, the fourth seed for the tourney, enters the BGSU match with a three-match winless streak ... there are two ties in that streak, though, including a 2-2 deadlock with fifth-seeded Ball State in Tuesday's quarterfinals ... WMU advanced on penalty kicks, by a 4-3 count ... senior Sara Cultra leads a balanced scoring attack with 15 points, while three players have 14 points each ... junior Chelsea McNally, one of those three players, has a team-high six goals ... in goal, junior Kate Perz is 6-2-2 with 61 saves and a goals-against average of just 1.06 ... her sister, freshman Lea Perz, is 3-2-2 with a 1.36 GAA ... last year, the Broncos went 14-8-1 overall (8-4-0 MAC) and won the MAC Tournament title under head coach Mike Haines ... the school's athletics web site is www.wmubroncos.com.

The Falcons trail Western Michigan, 7-2-1, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU has won the lone previous neutral-site match with the Broncos ... that match came in the 2000 MAC Tournament in Buffalo, N.Y., a 2-1 Falcon win in the semifinal round ... the teams have split their two previous league tourney meetings, with Western winning last year's championship match, 4-1, in Kalamazoo ... in this year's regular-season meeting, the Falcons rallied from a two-goal deficit with less than 14 minutes remaining in regulation for a 2-2 tie at Cochrane Field (Oct. 24, 2004) ... juniors Julie Trundle and Britt Anderson scored the Falcons' goals, while Cultra and McNally had the Bronco goals.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Bowling Green State University Athletics

Falcons to Face Western in MAC Tourney Semifinal

Related News

Related Videos