Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU Falls to No. 21 Bulls
October 15, 2005 | Men's Soccer
Oct. 15, 2005
BUFFALO, NY - In their first of two hostile environments belonging to ranked opponents, Bowling Green State University (2 -10-1, 0-2-0) while playing long stretches of stellar defense, could not find an answer to No. 21 Buffalo's (11-2-0, 1-1-0) four goal connection.
The physical game, which was delayed four times due to injuries, was opened with coach Fred Thompson and Co. trying a few new wrinkles with Brandon Decker in goal.
Decker would face four shots in his half in net and recorded one save against the Bulls.
The intense match was held scoreless until Lee Catchpole was taken down in the box and awarded a penalty kick which connected with the back right corner of the net. UB did not take the 1-0 league until the 25:24 mark.
A quick goal was scored at 26:49 when Brian Knapp scored from Catchpole's short assist.
The Bulls found the net once more in the first half when Braden Bayer scored the first of his two goals off a rebound from a misaimed header.
BGSU once again decided to shake-up the opponent and in his first appearance of the season Brent Petkus entered into goal.
The game breaking play came as the Falcons offense exploded past the Bulls and Gregory Hennelly found Omari Aldridge just five yards out on the attack. Aldridge's sliding shot hit the top of the cross bar and took a UB bounce out of bounds.
"It could have been a very different game had we converted that shot. With a 3-1 score, the last 11 or 12 minutes could have swung quiet differently," said Thompson.
Although 22 fouls were committed in the second half, the Falcons were not deterred and limited the Bulls to one goal.
After scramble in front of the goal with several players on the ground -including Petkus who looked like a seasoned veteran- a quick shot by Byler give gave the Bulls a lead the Falcons could not recover from.
The Falcons next challenge will come as they travel to face the MAC and Nations' top ranked team, the Zips of the University of Akron. Kick-off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
