Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Head Back to NCAA Tournament
November 12, 2005 | Women's Soccer
Nov. 10, 2005
By JACK CARLE, Sentinel Sports Editor - Bowling Green prevailed last week while playing as the favorite in the Mid-American Conference women's soccer tournament.
The Falcons had all three tournament games on their home field, going 1-0-2 and posting shootout victories in the two games that were tied 0-0 at the end of 110 minutes of play. A 3-2 shootout win over Kent State in the championship game earned Bowling Green an NCAA tournament berth for the second straight year.
On Friday, the Falcons are back in the role of an underdog against Michigan State in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Notre Dame. The BG-MSU match starts at 5 p.m. followed by the host school against Valparaiso at 7:30. Friday's winners advance to a 1 p.m. matchup on Sunday.
"We're certainly the underdog in this situation, which we haven't been in a few games now. Mentally, it will be different for us," BG head coach Andy Richards said. "The kids are really excited. They really feel they have a chance to win this game. They are going into it very positive."
MSU, 11-5-5 overall, defeated BG, 1-0 earlier this season and the Spartans are 7-1-1 all-time against the Falcons.
"When we played them early in the year, that was before we really started to make our major strides," Richards said.
The Falcons will have a different look this time against the Spartans. Senior Leah Eggleton, a steady presence in the midfield, didn't play in the first MSU game because of an injury and senior Julie Trundle, now playing as a defender, was coming off an injury. Also since the first meeting, sophomore Janie Babich has moved into a major role as a defender and Corbie Yee, who was the MAC freshman of the year, has provided a threat up front. Yee is second on the team with six goals.
"We were a different team then ... We pride ourselves on the fact that we make progress during the season," Richards said.
The Falcons started the season 5-6, losing two of its first three MAC games. BG gave up four goals three times and in the six losses were outscored, 18-1.
After a 3-0 loss at Ball State, the Falcons were able to regroup and post a 9-0-2 record. BG has scored 21 goals in the last 11 games while allowing five. The Falcons are 14-6-2 overall, a school-record for wins in a season.
"We just told the kids they had to start believing in themselves. They were good enough to win games, but they have to sort out the consistency factor," Richards said. "Once we started to solve that issue, the results started to come for us.
"We made some personnel changes and the consistency factor is allied to us producing the same lineup each week," he added. "The kids have done a remarkable job of understanding their roles on the team. Everyone is contributing."
Richards and the players hope the experience of playing in the NCAA tournament last season will help on Friday.
"Last year ... we were almost happy with making it to the tournament, just being able to be a part of the NCAA tournament," BG senior goalkeeper Ali Shingler said. "This year, we want to take the next step. We've worked way too hard to sit down now.
"If we can go out there and beat some teams in the NCAA, which I definitely think we are capable of, I think we'll really put BG on the map."
Shingler and her teammates must contain forward Emma Harris, a senior who has scored in each of MSU's last four games against BG. Harris has 13 goals this season and has scored 29 in her career.
The Spartans are also a solid defensive team having allowed only 19 goals in 21 games with 10 shutouts. Goalkeeper Nicole Galas has a 0.87 goals-against-average with an .839 save percentage.
"Against Michigan State, we've got a legit shot," Richards said. "I can't predict if we'll win, lose or tie on Friday. But I know we'll perform well. The team is playing at a good level right now."
