Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Begin 2005 Preseason
August 09, 2005 | Women's Soccer
Aug. 9, 2005
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team is preparing for the 2005 season, the ninth campaign in program history. Members of the Falcon squad report Wednesday (Aug. 10), with a fitness test scheduled for that evening, and practice beginning on Thursday (Aug. 11).
Head coach Andy Richards begins his sixth season at the helm of the Falcons, and welcomes back a total of 15 letterwinners, including eight starters, from last year's team. The 2004 BGSU squad finished 10-12-2 overall, placing eighth in the Mid-American Conference regular-season standings with a 5-5-2 league slate.
When conference tournament time rolled around, however, the Brown and Orange became the lowest seed to win a MAC Tournament title, and BG advanced all the way to the NCAA Championships for the first time in school history.
Richards and assistant coach Eric Golz have a total of nine seniors on the 23-woman roster. A pair of seniors, Natalie Sampiller and Ashley Wentzel, are the team's co-captains for 2005.
Those nine seniors are looking to become the first class in school history to qualify for the MAC Tournament in all four seasons. The rest of the senior class includes Britt Anderson, Molly Bremen, Leah Eggleton, Samantha Meister, Megan Rapp, Ali Shingler and Julie Trundle.
Richards and the Falcons will host Tiffin in an exhibition match on Tuesday, Aug. 23, before beginning the regular season that weekend. BGSU will host Oakland on Friday, Aug. 26, before meeting Wright State on Sunday, Aug. 28.
Following the opening two matches, the Falcons will play three more weekends of non-conference action before diving into the MAC slate on Sept. 23. The 11-match league schedule begins with a weekend trip to Northern Illinois (Sept. 23) and Western Michigan (Sept. 25). BGSU, for the second-straight season, will close the MAC schedule with a road match vs. arch-rival Toledo on Oct. 28.
