Bowling Green State University Athletics
Orange and Brown Hosts No.16 OSU in Home Opener
September 21, 2005 | Men's Soccer
Sept. 21, 2005
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Bowling Green State University will open their home season when Ohio State University and first time opponent St. Mary's College of California visit Mickey Cochrane field on Friday and Sunday, respectively...the match against the Buckeyes will kick-off at 5:00 p.m. while Sunday's match will begin at noon...No. 16 OSU enters the contest with a 5-1-0 record...the Gaels have a 3-2-1 record to date.
Falcon Facts
Two of the Falcons goals have come in the first half while one has been scored in the second...eight of the opponent's goals have come in the second half...Falcon keepers have recorded 33 saves while the opposition has kept 23 shoots out of the net...BGSU has earned 35 corner kicks while holding their opponents to 20...six players have six starts under their belt; four of the six are rookies...senior Omari aldridge leads BGSU in scoring with one goal and two assists...Greg Hennelly and George Davis each have one goal this season...freshman Justin Kim leads the Falcons with two assists.
In the Past Week
BGSU: The Falcons fell to first time opponent University of Maryland Baltimore County in a 2-1 decision...Aldridge scored the first goal of his senior campaign on a header from Kim's direct kick...Brandon Decker made five saves on 11 shots on goal in his first start in goal this season.
OSU: Defeated Cal State Fullerton in OT in Friday's first round action of the Penn State/Nike Classic...posted a 2-1 victory over then-No. 17 UCLA to win the weekend tournament.
SMC: Tied the University of Delaware 2-2...shutout Philadelphia University in a 3-0 decision.
In the past 40 years
The Falcons are 25-9-4 in home openers...123-82-17 in September...191-97-18 at Mickey Cochrane Stadium...have seen just three home losing seasons...has been undefeated at home five times with the last unblemished record in 1994 (9-0-0).
Scouting the Buckeyes
The Ohio State Buckeyes of the Big Ten conference currently hold a 5-1-0 record and are ranked No. 16 in the NSCAA/adidas national poll and No. 11 in three others...the Buckeyes are lead by head coach John Bluem who enters his ninth year...OSU returns 17 letterwinners and nine starters from last year's Big Ten regular season co-champion squad...four of the five Buckeyes which netted goals in last year's match will make the trip to Mickey Cochrane Stadium including offensive threat Taylor Korpieski who rolled one goal past the Falcons...veteran keeper Ray Burse Jr. has a three game shutout streak for the Scarlet and Grey...in six games he has allowed just two goals...in the past two weeks, three Buckeyes have earned national and conference POW honors.
The Series
The Orange and Brown have a 23-9-2 overall record when competing against the Buckeyes...the first meeting came in 1967 when the Buckeyes beat the Falcons in Columbus, 1-3...BGSU has outscored OSU 70-39...BGSU has shutout the Buckeyes 17 times...the highest scoring game between BGSU and OSU was in 2004 when the Buckeyes won in a 7-4 decision...it has been 364 days since the teams have last met.
Scouting the Gaels St. Mary's College of California of the West Coast Conference bring a 3-2-1 record to their first meeting with the Falcons...head coach Steve Rammel's enters his 4th year with the Gaels...SMC returns 18 letterwinners and 10 starters from 2004's 5-10-5 squad...Michael Clegg leads SMC with six goals in five games played on 10 SOG...Carlos Diaz and Alex Christlieb are both responsible for five points this season...the Gaels have utilized the keeper skills of Brian Mason for each of their six games...Mason has been scored on five times and has made 37 saves in 560:00 minutes.
Leading the Flock
Fred Thompson is in his second year as BGSU head coach after serving two seasons as assistant at the University of Evansville and two years at Bellevue Community College...named 2001 NWAACC Coach of the Year...became only the fourth head coach in the 40-year history of the BGSU program after accepting the job in April, 2004...played professionally for eight years...assistant coach Tony Economopoulos is in his third season with the Falcons...served two seasons as assistant coach at Western Illinois University...2002 AFLAC Insurance National Assistant Coach of the Year nominee.
