Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Meet Michigan State in NCAA First Round Friday
November 09, 2005 | Women's Soccer
Nov. 9, 2005
Complete BGSU Notes & Stats (16 pages) in PDF Format
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, after winning the Mid-American Conference Tournament for the second consecutive season, returns to the NCAA Championships ... the Falcons of head coach Andy Richards (14-6-2 [9-2-0 MAC]), for the second-straight year, will meet a Big Ten Conference foe in the national tournament's first round ... BGSU will head to Notre Dame, Ind., to take on Michigan State University in a Friday (Nov. 11) match, with kickoff scheduled for 5:00 p.m. EST at Alumni Field (2,500) ... the BGSU-MSU winner will face either Valparaiso University or the University of Notre Dame ... the Crusaders and Fighting Irish will meet in Friday's second match ... the weekend schedule ...
(at Alumni Field; Notre Dame, Ind.)
First Round - Fri., Nov. 11
Bowling Green (14-6-2) vs. Michigan State (11-5-5), 5:00 p.m.
Valparaiso (12-7-1) at Notre Dame (19-2-0), 7:30 p.m.
Second Round - Sun., Nov. 13
BGSU-MSU winner vs. VU-UND winner, 1:00
LAST TIME OUT
For the second time in less than a week, the Falcons battled to a scoreless tie in MAC Tournament play ... and, for the second time in six days, BGSU advanced via penalty kicks, 3-2 ... the Falcons advanced past Kent State in Sunday's (Nov. 6) league tourney final at Cochrane Field ... senior Julie Trundle converted the decisive PK, just as she had done in the quarterfinal round vs. Toledo (Nov. 1) ... Ali Shingler, who had saved one UT shot during the penalty-kick phase in the quarterfinals, stopped two PK tries by the Golden Flashes on Sunday ... senior Britt Anderson and junior Lindsay Carter made BG's other two successful PKs, just as in the UT match.
FALCONS WIN SECOND-STRAIGHT TOURNAMENT TITLE
Home or away, top seed or eighth seed, it doesn't seem to matter for the Falcons these days ... BGSU won the MAC Tournament title for the second consecutive year ... the 2005 journey had some similarities to the '04 run, with a few differences as well ...
THE TITLES JUST KEEP ON COMING
The Falcons, as mentioned, have won back-to-back MAC Tournament titles, having won the league tourney and advancing to the NCAA Championships for the first time in school history in 2004, and repeating in '05 ... BG has had a successful MAC Tournament history (more on that later in these notes), but that success usually came with the Falcons as a lower-seeded team ... in 2005, for the first time in BGSU annals, the Brown and Orange won the MAC's regular-season title ... the Falcons began MAC play at 1-2, but have not lost since Sept. 30, reeling off a school-record 11-match unbeaten streak.
THE FALCONS / THE MAC IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2005 season marks the Falcons' second-ever trip to the NCAA Championships, and the second in as many years ... last November, BGSU headed to Columbus, falling by a 2-0 count to host Ohio State in the first round ... the Falcons' 2005 trip to the national tourney is the seventh trip for a MAC team ... league schools are 3-6-0 in the NCAAs ... the complete list of MAC results in the NCAA Tournament ...
MAC IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Year MAC School Opponent Result
1999 Eastern Michigan Minnesota L, 0-2
2000 Miami at Michigan L, 3-4 (2-OT)
2001 Miami at West Va. W, 1-0
vs. Dayton L, 0-2
2002 Miami vs. Michigan St. W, 2-1
at Michigan L, 0-4
2003 Western Michigan at Illinois W, 2-0
vs. Purdue L, 2-3
2004 Bowling Green at Ohio State L, 0-2
2005 Bowling Green vs. Michigan State (Friday)
FAMILIAR OPPONENT IN AN UNFAMILIAR PLACE
The Falcons have never played at Notre Dame ... but, BGSU's first-round opponent is a most familiar one ... the Falcons have faced Michigan State more often than any other non-conference foe, as the teams have met in all nine years since BG added varsity women's soccer in 1997 ... the current class of BGSU seniors played their first-ever collegiate match against MSU, as the Spartans downed the Falcons by a 4-0 count at Cochrane Field on Sept. 1, 2002 ... additional series information can be found later in these notes.
WORKING OVERTIME IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT
The 2005 MAC Tournament illustrated the parity among conference teams ... parity often is used as a negative word, but the MAC's talent was evident in the results of this year's tourney ... of the seven league tournament matches last week, only one - BGSU's 2-0 win over Miami - was decided by more than one goal ... four of the seven contests went to overtime, with three requiring penalty kicks after the teams played 110 minutes ... the complete tourney schedule and results ...
Quarterfinals - Tue., Nov. 1 (at campus sites)
at #1 Bowling Green 0, #8 Toledo 0 (2-OT) (BGSU advances on PKs, 3-2)
at #4 Miami 2, #5 Eastern Michigan 1
#7 Kent State 0, at #2 Ball State 0 (2-OT) (KSU advances on PKs, 3-1)
#6 Central Michigan 1, at #3 Western Michigan 0
Semifinals - Fri., Nov. 4 (Bowling Green, Ohio)
#7 Kent State 1, #6 Central Michigan 0 (OT)
at #1 Bowling Green 2, #4 Miami 0
Championship - Sun., Nov. 6 (Bowling Green, Ohio) at #1 Bowling Green 0, #4 Kent State 0 (2-OT) (BGSU advances on PKs, 3-2)
'LINCOLN', 'KENNEDY', 'TOURNEY' AND 'TRUNDLE' ALL HAVE SEVEN LETTERS
(also titled, CONSPIRACY THEORIES)
There were some eerie similarities between the Falcons' 2005 MAC Tournament quarterfinal match vs. Toledo and the championship game against Kent State five days later ... we're not saying outside forces were at work ... but, submitted for your approval, here are some of those similarities ...
MAC TOURNAMENT SUCCESS: FOURTH FINAL FOR FALCONS
WINNING STREAK ENDS, BUT UNBEATEN STREAK CONTINUES
The Falcons' unbeaten streak is now at 11 matches (9-0-2), more than doubling the old school record ... after losing the final two matches of September, BGSU went a perfect 8-0-0 in the month of October ... the old school record was three consecutive wins, amassed on eight different occasions over the years, prior to this year's eight-match streak ... BG teams had posted two five-match unbeaten streaks, most recently in 2002.
FALCONS SWEEP MAC SPECIALTY AWARDS
Members of the BGSU women's soccer program garnered all three of the league's specialty awards at the MAC Tournament banquet on Thursday, Nov. 3 ... senior Samantha Meister was named the 2005 MAC Player of the Year, while Andy Richards picked up the Coach-of-the-Year award ... Corbie Yee was chosen as the MAC Freshman of the Year ... Meister and senior Britt Anderson were named to the All-MAC First Team, while classmate Julie Trundle was selected to the all-league second team ... Yee and Susan Hunter each were chosen to the MAC's All-Freshman Team ... all awards are the result of voting by the league's 12 head coaches.
BGSU GRABS SOME TOURNAMENT HARDWARE, TOO
Four Falcon players were named to the MAC's All-Tournament team after the Brown and Orange captured the title ... seniors Molly Bremen, Ali Shingler and Julie Trundle and freshman Corbie Yee all were named to the team ... the league's all-tournament team consists of 11 players, with no MVP chosen.
OCTOBER (AND NOVEMBER?) SUCCESS
Since mid-October of 2004, the Falcons are 16-2-3 against MAC opposition ... during that time, BGSU is 12-2-1 in regular-season league contests and 4-0-2 in the conference tournament, picking up one regular-season and two tourney crowns along the way.
SENIOR PRIDE
2002: As true freshmen (Shingler was in her second year), the class came to BGSU, joining a team that had made the MAC Tournament just twice in the program's first five years ... the group helped that team finish fourth in the MAC standings, set a school record with 12 total wins, and advance to the league tourney semifinals.
2003: The Falcons were the eighth and final seed for the MAC Tournament, but advanced all the way to the championship match before succumbing.
2004: Last year's team also finished eighth in the regular season, again earning the final berth in the conference tourney field ... but, BGSU outscored opponents, 9-2, en route to three wins and a MAC Tournament championship ... that team made the first NCAA Championships appearance in school history.
2005: This year's team became the first-ever Falcon club to win the MAC regular-season title, finishing the regular season with eight consecutive wins to post a 9-2-0 league mark ... then, BGSU hosted and won the MAC Tournament to advance to the NCAAs for the second consecutive year ... in addition to league wins, the Falcons also have set a school record for overall wins, with 14 to date.
SENIOR MOMENTS
SHINGLER IS TOURNAMENT-TESTED
Ali Shingler will finish her career with a total of five MAC Tournament wins, the most in school history ... she had a record of 5-1-3 in the league tourney, with the Falcons having advanced in eight of the nine matches ... in each of the three ties, Shingler had a shutout and helped the Falcons advance via penalty kicks to the next round ... in 2005, Shingler had three shutouts in as many MAC Tournament matches, with a total of 310 scoreless minutes in tourney play ... she made a total of 12 saves during that time, and also had a total of three more stops during the penalty-kick phases against Toledo and Kent State ... Shingler has posted five of the six MAC Tournament shutouts in BGSU history, and has a monopoly on BGSU's league tourney goalkeeping records.
BGSU GOALKEEPING IN MAC TOURNAMENT Player MP/MS Minutes Svs. GA Shutouts W-L-T GAA Ali Shingler 9/9 880:49 61 7 5 5-1-3 0.72 Erika Flanders 5/5 487:17 32 7 0 3-2-0 1.29 Michelle Lisy 2/2 210:00 23 2 1 1-1-0 0.86 Jenifer Kernahan 1/0 8:03 0 0 0 0-0-0 0.00
SHINGLER NCAA TOURNAMENT-TESTED, TOO
Fifth-year senior Ali Shingler is the only Falcon ever to play goal in an NCAA Championships match, having drawn the start for BGSU's 2004 first-round contest at Ohio State ... in that match, Shingler made nine stops in a 2-0 loss to the Buckeyes.
HEAD COACH ANDY RICHARDS
Andy Richards is in his sixth season as a collegiate head coach, all with the Falcons ... the 2005 MAC Coach of the Year, Richards has led the Brown and Orange to both the MAC's regular-season and tourney titles this fall ... he picked up his 50th career win on Sept. 11 vs. Eastern Illinois, and now has an overall record of 61-58-12, including a MAC Tournament mark of 8-3-3 ... Richards has led BG to the five finest seasons in school history in his tenure, including '05, as he has guided the Falcons to the first regular-season title in BG annals ... he has led the Falcons to the semifinal round of the MAC Tournament on five occasions, to the championship match four times, and, in 2004, to the first league tourney title and NCAA Tournament berth in school history ... Richards and the Falcons have repeated that feat this year, as BGSU won the MAC Tournament crown and will face Michigan State Friday ... Eric Golz is in his second season with the program, and his first as top assistant.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
BGSU enters Friday's Michigan State match with an overall record of 14-6-2, and the Falcons finished MAC play with a 9-2-0 ledger, good for the first league regular-season title in program history ... BG downed Miami, 2-0, in the league tourney semifinal (Nov. 4), to advance to the final ... in that championship match, BG battled Kent State through 110 scoreless minutes, before the Falcons advanced via penalty kicks ... prior to the MU match, the Falcons played two tough matches with arch-rival Toledo in a five-day span ... BG closed the regular-season with a narrow 3-2 road win over UT, and the teams then played to a scoreless, double-overtime tie in the league tourney quarterfinal round, before the Falcons advanced via PKs ... that tie ended the school-record winning streak at eight matches, but the Falcons' unbeaten streak is now at 11, also a school mark ... senior Samantha Meister has a team-high 22 points on the season, while classmate Britt Anderson has 17 ... Meister leads the team with eight goals, while freshman Corbie Yee has six and Anderson five ... senior Julie Trundle has three goals, a team- and MAC-best 10 assists and 16 points, while Yee has 15 points, including a goal and an assist vs. Miami ... junior Lindsay Carter has scored 10 points and freshman Kristin McDonald and senior Ashley Wentzel seven apiece, while senior Leah Eggleton has six ... senior Ali Shingler has started all 22 matches in goal this season, and has 105 saves and a 1.19 goals-against average ... BG returned 15 letterwinners, including eight starters, from last year's MAC Tournament championship team ... the group of returnees includes no fewer than nine seniors, the most in school history ... the senior class has become the first class in school history to qualify for the MAC Tournament in four consecutive seasons, and also the first group ever to make it to the semifinals in every year ... BGSU's recruiting class was rated tops in the MAC by Soccer Buzz.
THE OPPONENT / THE SERIES
Michigan State enters Friday's BGSU match with an overall record of 11-5-5, and the Spartans finished the Big Ten Conference schedule with a 6-2-2 mark, good for a third-place finish ... MSU, the third seed for the league tournament, advanced to the semifinals before losing to eventual BTC tourney champion Wisconsin, 2-1 ... the Spartans are 2-0-2 following a loss this season to date ... the Spartans, like the Falcons, are appearing in the NCAA Championships for the second time in school history ... the first trip to the national tourney came in 2002, where the team suffered a 2-1 loss to Miami out of the MAC ... individually, senior Emma Harris leads the team with 29 points, including 13 goals ... Harris has nearly half of the team's 27 goals this fall ... senior Erin Konheim's 13 points have included seven assists, while classmate Dana Voorheis has 12 points on three goals and six helpers ... in goal, sophomore Nicole Galas has played all but 28 minutes for the Green and White this season ... Galas has 99 saves and a goals-against average of just 0.87 ... she has 10 complete-match shutouts on the year ... head coach Tom Saxton returned 18 letterwinners, including eight starters, from last year's 12-7-1 team ... Saxton, in his 15th season at the Spartan helm, has a record of 149-125-25.
The Falcons trail Michigan State, 7-1-1, in the all-time series between the teams ... as mentioned earlier, MSU is the lone non-conference team that BGSU has faced in every year of the program's existence ... Friday will mark the teams' first neutral-site meeting ... the Spartans have won the last four matches vs. the Falcons, including a 1-0 decision in East Lansing earlier this season (Sept. 9, 2005) ... in that match, Harris scored in the ninth minute while Galas earned the shutout win for the Spartans ... MSU posted a 3-0 win at Cochrane Field last season (Sept. 3, 2004), and a 3-2 victory in Michigan the year prior (Oct. 15, 2003) ... in that '03 matchup, Britt Anderson had a goal and an assist, while Samantha Meister picked up helpers on both BG goals ... the first-ever game for BGSU's current senior class came against MSU on Sept. 1, 2002, a 4-0 win by the Spartans ... the Falcons' lone series win came in the 1999 season opener in BG, 3-2 in OT (Aug. 27, 1999) ... the teams played to a 1-1 tie at Old College Field two years later (Sept. 2, 2001) ... the complete list of series meetings can be found in the pdf.
WE'VE COME FULL CIRCLE
The Falcons began the 2002 season with a home date against Michigan State on Sept. 1 ... the Spartans spoiled BG's opener with a 4-0 win at Cochrane Field ... on that date, however, no fewer than seven members of the current senior class made their respective collegiate debuts ... Samantha Meister, Megan Rapp and Julie Trundle all started the contest, while Britt Anderson, Leah Eggleton, Natalie Sampiller and Ashley Wentzel all saw action off the bench ... Andy Richards' second-half starters included eight frosh ... now, of course, that group has become the most successful class in program history, and heads to Notre Dame, Ind., to meet that same Michigan State program.
WATCH OUT: WINS RECORDS FALLING
DURING THE UNBEATEN STREAK ...
HOME SWEET HOME
STRINGING TOGETHER THE SHUTOUTS
Earlier this season, the Falcons set a school record by putting together a consecutive shutout streak of 445:03 in mid-October ... Ali Shingler was in net for nearly all of that streak, stringing together a total of 432:19 without allowing a goal, also a BGSU record ... Shingler is working on a streak that, while shorter, may be even more impressive ... Shingler and the Falcon defense have gone 347:19 since allowing a goal, with the last 310 minutes of the current streak encompassing the entire MAC Tournament ... Shingler now owns the top-two, and three of the top-four, individual shutout streaks in school history (BGSU individual and team shutout lists on page 7).
PENALTY KICKS NOTHING NEW FOR SHINGLER, FALCONS
The penalty-kick situations in the Toledo and Kent State matches were nothing new for a number of Falcons, including goalkeeper Ali Shingler ... BGSU played to a scoreless draw through regulation and a pair of OT periods vs. Central Michigan in the 2003 semifinals, and the Falcons advanced via PKs on that day ... Shingler was the goalie of record for the Brown and Orange in that match.
WORKING OVERTIME
In a matchup of 2004 NCAA Tournament teams, the Falcons picked up an overtime win over Eastern Illinois Sunday (Sept. 11) at Cochrane Field ... in the history of the BGSU women's soccer program, the Falcons are now 11-11-16 in overtime matches ... BG is just 4-9-8 in home contests that have gone to OT, but the Falcons are unbeaten in the last five overtime contests at Cochrane ... the Falcons have never lost a road overtime match, having gone 5-0-7 on opposing soil ... BGSU is 2-2-1 in neutral-site OT affairs ... overall, the Falcons are undefeated in the last seven overtime matches, having gone 2-0-5 since the last OT loss, to Ohio State on Oct. 31, 2003 ... BG is now 2-2-3 in MAC Tournament contests that require overtime, with BG advancing in all three ties via penalty kicks.
FALCON NOTES AND NUMBERS
