Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
MICHIGAN STATE
Falcons' Season Comes to an End, 4-0, vs. MSU
November 11, 2005 | Women's Soccer
Nov. 11, 2005
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NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Michigan State University erupted for four second-half goals, breaking open a scoreless game and giving the Spartans a 4-0 win over the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team Friday night (Nov. 11). The game, a first-round contest in the NCAA Championships, was held at Alumni Field on the Notre Dame campus.
With the loss, the Falcons see the most successful season in school history come to an end with a record of 14-7-2. The Spartans, now 12-5-5, advance to face Notre Dame in Sunday's (Nov. 13) second round. The Fighting Irish defeated Valparaiso, 6-0, in Friday's second match.
The loss also snapped the Falcons' 11-match unbeaten streak, the longest in school history.
The four-goal margin of defeat could not have been more deceiving, as the Falcons dominated the first half of play. Even after the Spartans got on the board with an own goal early in the second half, it was a one-goal game until less than 20 minutes remained in the contest.
In the first half, the Falcons held the ball for the majority of the 45 minutes, and outshot MSU by a margin of 8-1, but could not put the ball past Spartan goalkeeper Nicole Galas. Michigan State's only shot attempt of the half came with just over four minutes gone in the match, as Dana Voorheis took a shot that was right at BGSU `keeper Ali Shingler. The Falcons would not let MSU get another shot for the remainder of the half.
The first of numerous BGSU chances at the other end of the field came less than a minute after Shingler's save. Senior Britt Anderson slid a pass along the 18-yard line to freshman Corbie Yee, but Yee could not get all of the shot, and her roller was off target.
Three-and-a-half minutes later, senior Leah Eggleton sent Yee in with a ball down the left side of the field. Yee took the ball along the end line, and slid a pass along the six-yard box toward senior Samantha Meister. Meister, shadowed by a Spartan defender, made a lunging try for the ball, but poked it wide of net.
Less than a minute later, senior Ashley Wentzel got into the MSU penalty box, but couldn't make connections with Meister in the center of the box. Two minutes later, BG was back at it again, as Eggleton slid a through-ball to Yee on the left side of the field. Yee cut the ball back to her right and took a shot that was blocked by a Spartan defender. The ball caromed back to Yee, whose rebound try was on target, but saved by a leaping Galas.
With 15 minutes gone, Anderson and Yee strung together a series of give-and-go passes that resulted in a Yee left-side cross to Anderson. The senior settled the ball, turned and fired, but the shot was wide right.
In a rare first-half threat by the Spartans, the ball was played forward for Emma Harris, the team's top scorer. But, Shingler broke up the threat, racing out of her net to poke the ball away a split-second before Harris arrived.
With 20 minutes gone, Eggleton received a pass, worked her way past several defenders in traffic, and took a low shot that Galas was able to save. A minute-and-a-half later, it was Yee's turn, as the freshman eluded several players to get through the last line of defense, but her shot was right at Galas, who made a foot save.
With 17 minutes before halftime, junior Lindsay Carter took a Yee pass and fired, but her hard shot from the right-side of the penalty box was wide. Ten minutes later, Wentzel's corner kick found Anderson, but her header went over the crossbar, and the Teams went to halftime locked in a scoreless draw.
In the second half, Shingler made a diving save of a shot by Maureen Pawlek with just over a minute gone. MSU's next threat, however, would break the scoreless tie.
With just over five minutes elapsed in the second half, a BG foul resulted in a Michigan State free kick. Nina Mastracci took the kick, playing a ball into the penalty area. As players from both teams converged on the goalmouth, the ball hit a Falcon defender and rolled just inside the right post. The goal, an own goal, came at the 50:21 mark.
The goal, not surprisingly, provided a momentum shift, giving the Spartans a lift while taking some of the wind out of the Falcons' sails. Still, however, the margin remained at one goal for the next 21 minutes.
The Falcons had a chance soon after the goal, as Anderson played a backheel pass to Meister. But, the senior's long shot was wide.
The Spartans had several scoring chances over the next few minutes, but a Harris header off of a corner kick sailed high, and an Erin Konheim shot was blocked by a Falcon defender several minutes later.
With 18:48 left, however, the Spartans doubled the lead. Kristi Timar played an entry pass to Jenee Witherspoon, who took one touch and put the ball just inside the far (right) post.
With 15 minutes left, the Falcons possessed the ball for a lengthy period of time, stringing together a number of passes. The possession resulted in an Eggleton shot that was wide left.
With less than nine minutes remaining in the match, MSU scored again, as luck was not on BG's side. Harris played a pass from the left side of the box to Voorheis. Voorheis, at the top of the penalty area, tried to shoot, but a Falcon defender blocked the ball a split-second after Voorheis hit it. The ball, however, went directly to a charging Timar on the right side of the box, and Timar fired it into the left side of the net.
Just after that goal, the Falcons' last good scoring chance came when Anderson played a right-side cross to Meister. Meister got her head on the ball, but the shot was right at Galas.
Timar closed the scoring with 6:12 left as the Falcons tried to press forward, stripping the ball from a BG player and scoring on a breakaway.
For the match, the teams each had 14 shot attempts, but MSU enjoyed a 13-6 advantage in the second half. The Spartans had eight total shots on goal to the Falcons' five.
Shingler made a total of four saves in the match, with the last save of her Falcon career a spectacular one. With the contest already decided, Shingler made a diving save to rob Emily Wiegand of a goal in the final minute of play.
At the other end of the field, Galas had five saves to pick up the shutout.
The contest marked the final match for nine Falcon seniors.
NOTES
QUOTING HEAD COACH Andy Richards
"I don't think we deserved to be on the end of a 4-0 loss; I don't think it was as lopsided as that. In the first half, we dominated the play. We just couldn't put the ball in the back of the net. (Michigan State) came out with a lot of renewed vigor in the second half, and got a little bit of fortune on the first goal. Then, their third and fourth goals, I think, were a result of us changing our numbers in the back, and trying to push forward and get a positive result. In an NCAA game, if you're going to lose, you may as well go down fighting. That's my philosophy and that's why we did it."
"It has been a wonderful season. We have achieved a lot more than people may have thought at the beginning of the year, and I'm very proud of everyone. I'm particularly proud of the nine seniors who all ended up on the field tonight. They have done a tremendous job for Bowling Green soccer, and have really elevated the program in the last four years. You can't put into words how far they have taken the program, and it gives us a much better position from which to build, in terms of recruiting and tradition and experience. They have done an awesome job, and I can't find the words to express my gratitude to them."
(On all nine seniors finishing the game on the field at the same time)
"The least I could do is to let them finish their careers on the field at the same time, and what better place to do it than the NCAA Tournament? We are obviously disappointed with the result, but we have to keep it in perspective. We are one of the last 64 teams in the country to be playing, and we are very thankful for that."
(On MSU's first goal, an own goal)
"Sometimes, in a game like that, a little bit of luck can really turn the tide. And, that's why it ended up being such a big goal. The momentum completely shifted, and a little bit of energy went out of us. The (BGSU) team worked very, very well in the first 45 minutes. Had we scored one or two goals, things might have been different, but it just wasn't quite our night."
ADDITIONAL NOTES
(These notes really have nothing to do with Friday's game, so we'll just put them down here, at the bottom of the page)
