Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU Announces 2004 Schedule
May 26, 2004 | Women's Soccer
May 26, 2004
Complete Release (2 pages) in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Click here for the most up-to-date 2004 BGSU women's soccer schedule
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Bowling Green State University women's soccer head coach Andy Richards and his assistant, Ashlee Orr, have announced the team's schedule for the 2004 season. The Falcons are slated to play a total of 20 regular-season matches, including nine at Cochrane Field. BGSU's first three contests of the season will be at home, including just the second home tournament in program history.
"Once again, we have given ourselves a challenging schedule, which is always helped by the ever-competitive Mid-American Conference," said Richards, entering his fifth season as the Falcons' head coach. "With so many tough games within the MAC, it is always easy to put together a competitive schedule."
The Falcons begin the season with two matches against a pair of Western Pennsylvania teams, taking on Duquesne and Pittsburgh in the Falcon Classic on August 27 and 29. Mid-American Conference member Eastern Michigan rounds out the four-team field.
Then, the Brown and Orange will play a home contest vs. Michigan State on Sept. 3. The Falcons' non-league slate also includes a road match vs. Eastern Illinois (Sept. 5), a 2003 NCAA Tournament qualifier, trips to in-state foes Cleveland State (Oct. 1) and Wright State (Oct. 30), and a pair of matches in the Navy Tournament (Sept. 10-12). In addition to the host Naval Academy, the Falcons also will face Delaware in that tourney.
"Our tournament is one of the highlights of the 2004 schedule," said Richards. "Duquesne is a program that will be much improved, and Pitt is a strong program who will provide some stiff competition.
"Obviously, the MSU game provides another quality opponent on the schedule. The Bowling Green program has played Michigan State every year, and it's nice to keep that tradition going."
The 12-match MAC slate begins with a home weekend vs. Ohio (Sept. 17) and Marshall (Sept. 19). The OU match marks the latest conference opener in the history of the program (the 1998 team's MAC-opening match also fell on Sept. 17).
"This is one of our first schedules in which we haven't had an early MAC game," said Richards. "We get a six-game lead-in to conference play, which we will treat as a mini-season, in which everyone gets some playing time and a chance to prove themselves.
"Then, when we get into the MAC season, we really don't have a break, with all 12 MAC matches in a 13-game stretch. Our league schedule has a nice balance to it, and is very competitive throughout. There are some very tough weekends, and we hope that will be a preparation for the MAC Tournament and beyond."
In addition to Ohio and Marshall, BGSU will also host Miami (Oct. 8), Ball State (Oct. 10), Northern Illinois (Oct. 22) and Western Michigan (Oct. 24) in conference action, while taking to the road to face Central Michigan (Sept. 24), EMU (Sept. 26), Akron (Oct. 3), Kent State (Oct. 15), Buffalo (Oct. 17) and Toledo (Oct. 28). The Falcons, who advanced to the championship match of last year's MAC Tournament, close the league regular-season schedule with a road match vs. the arch-rival Rockets.
"It's nice to play Toledo late in the season," said Richards. "The BG-UT game always seems to have a little extra bite, no matter the sport. And, the MAC race always seems to come down to the final week, so hopefully we will be playing for something special."
The 2004 MAC Tournament begins Nov. 2, with quarterfinal-round action at the sites of the four higher-seeded teams. The four survivors will head to the site of the highest remaining seed for the semifinals (Nov. 5) and championship (Nov. 7). The MAC Tournament winner earns the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
"We are excited about our season, especially with so many upperclassmen," said Richards. "We have one of the best mixes of ability, depth and experience that we've had, and we are looking forward to the fall."
The Falcons posted an overall record of 8-12-3 in 2003, including a 5-5-2 mark in MAC play. BGSU, seeded eighth for the league tournament, advanced all the way to the championship match for the second time in four years. Only two players, senior co-captains Kasey Freeman and Carrie Richards, completed their eligibility with the 2003 squad.
The complete 2004 schedule follows...
2004 BGSU WOMEN'S SOCCER SCHEDULE
August 27 Fri. DUQUESNE & ............ 4:00 29 Sun. PITTSBURGH & .......... 2:00September 3 Fri. MICHIGAN STATE ........ 4:00 5 Sun. at Eastern Illinois ... 1:00 10 Fri. at Navy # ............. 7:00 12 Sun. vs. Delaware # ........ Noon 17 Fri. OHIO * ................ 4:00 19 Sun. MARSHALL * ............ 1:00 24 Fri. at Central Michigan * . 3:00 26 Sun. at Eastern Michigan * . 1:00
October 1 Fri. at Cleveland State .... 7:00 3 Sun. at Akron * ............ 1:00 8 Fri. MIAMI * ............... 4:00 10 Sun. BALL STATE * .......... Noon 15 Fri. at Kent State * ....... 4:00 17 Sun. at Buffalo * .......... Noon 22 Fri. NORTHERN ILLINOIS * ... 3:00 24 Sun. WESTERN MICHIGAN * .... 1:00 28 Thu. at Toledo * ........... 3:00 30 Sat. at Wright State ....... 7:00
November 2 Tue. MAC Tournament Quarterfinals (campus sites) 5 Fri. MAC Tournament Semifinals (site of highest-remaining seed) 7 Sun. MAC Tournament Championship (semifinal site)
All times p.m. and local to site HOME matches held at Cochrane Field * Mid-American Conference match & Falcon Classic # Navy Tournament (Annapolis, Md.)
