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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Host Toledo Thursday in Regular-Season Finale
October 25, 2006 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 25, 2006
BGSU Release, Statistics & Last Weekend's Boxscores (10 pages) in PDF Format
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, having clinched a berth in the Mid-American Conference Tournament, has a chance to earn a top-four seed and a first-round home game in that tourney ... but, the task will not be easy ... the Falcons of head coach Andy Richards, the defending MAC regular-season and tournament champions, will close the regular season with a Thursday (Oct. 26) game vs. the arch-rival University of Toledo ... kickoff is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at BGSU's Cochrane Field ... then, on Sunday (Oct. 29), the Brown and Orange will open defense of the MAC Tournament championship with a quarterfinal game in the '06 league tourney ... the opponent, site and starting time for that game all are to be determined.
LAST WEEKEND
The Falcons split a pair of home games over the weekend ... on Friday (Oct. 20), Central Michigan scored a pair of goals just 75 seconds apart to snap a scoreless tie en route to a 3-1 win over the Falcons ... junior Danielle Cygan scored BG's lone goal, on a penalty kick ... Sunday afternoon (Oct. 22), freshman Samantha Bland scored her first collegiate goal with just 47 seconds left in regulation, and sophomore Christy Zabek made seven saves to post the shutout in a 1-0 win over Eastern Michigan.
WHAT'S AT STAKE
The Falcons have clinched a berth in the MAC Tournament for the fifth consecutive year ... but, BGSU could still finish as high as the second seed, or as low as the fifth seed for the league tourney ... the top-four seeds will host tournament quarterfinal games on Sunday (Oct. 29) ... in a nutshell, a win over UT would keep the Falcons at home for the first round, while a loss to the Rockets would send BG on the road ... here are the gory details ...
IT'S A ONE-GAME SEASON: RACE ENTERS FINAL WEEK
Thursday (Oct. 26) marks the final day of the 2006 Mid-American Conference regular-season schedule, and finally, the race is beginning to take shape ... as mentioned, the Falcons could finish anywhere from the second seed to the fifth seed for the league tournament ... teams earn three points for a win and one for a tie ... however, with the weather forcing the cancellation of one regular-season game (the Toledo-at-Buffalo contest of Oct. 13) the final regular-season standings will be determined by winning percentage, not total points ... the Falcons, at 6-4-0 in league action, are currently tied for fourth place with Central Michigan ... however, the Chippewas would win a tiebreaker with the Falcons by virtue of a 3-1 win in the teams' head-to-head meeting on Friday ... the top-eight teams in the final regular-season standings will qualify for the MAC Tournament, which begins on Sunday (Oct. 29) ... BGSU won both the 2004 and 2005 MAC Tournaments after advancing to the league tourney championship game in 2003.
MAC STANDINGS & REMAINING MATCHES
Team MAC Record (Pct.) Remaining Match Ball State 7-2-1 (.750) vs. Miami Toledo 5-2-2 (.667) at Bowling Green Ohio 6-3-1 (.650) vs. Akron Central Michigan 5-3-2 (.600) vs. Eastern Michigan Bowling Green 6-4-0 (.600) vs. Toledo Kent State 5-5-0 (.500) vs. Buffalo Miami 4-4-2 (.500) at Ball State Buffalo 4-5-0 (.444) at Kent State Akron 4-6-0 (.400) at Ohio Northern Illinois 4-6-0 (.400) vs. Western Michigan Eastern Michigan 3-7-0 (.300) at Central Michigan Western Michigan 2-8-0 (.200) at Northern Illinois
SOMETHING ALWAYS ON THE LINE WHEN BG MEETS UT
It seems as if something is always on the line when BGSU meets Toledo ... sure, the importance of getting a win over your arch-rival school always exists ... but, the last three games have had a great deal at stake ... in 2004, the Falcons and Rockets met in the final regular-season game, and BG and UT entered that match in a tie for ninth place ... with the winner earning a trip to the MAC Tournament, and the loser seeing the season come to an end, the Falcons picked up a 3-0 victory at Scott Park (Oct. 28, 2004) ... that win put BG into the league tourney as the eighth and final seed, and the Falcons proceeded to win three games and the tournament ... exactly one year later, on Oct. 28, 2005, BG and UT again met at Scott Park to close the regular season ... this time, the Falcons needed a win to clinch the first regular-season title in school history ... BGSU got that victory, by the slimmest of margins, 3-2, as Falcon goalie Ali Shingler was forced to make a save in the final seconds of the match ... the teams met at Cochrane Field less than a week later (Nov. 1, 2005), in the quarterfinal round of the MAC Tournament ... top-seeded BGSU and eighth-seeded UT battled through 110 minutes of scoreless soccer, before the Falcons advanced to the semifinal round via penalty kicks.
LIVE STATS ON THE WEB
The Toledo match, like all of BG's home contests, is scheduled to have live stats on the web ... fans who can't make it to a match at Cochrane Field can get up-to-the-minute statistics on the web via GameTracker, simply by logging on to BGSUFalcons.com.
THE FALCONS ARE ...
* 89-102-16 all-time, in the 10th season in program history;
* 46-51-11 in Mid-American Conference regular-season matches;
* 31-26-4 overall and 24-11-4 vs. MAC schools over the last two-plus seasons (including regular-season and tournament matches);
* 43-45-8 in home games;
* 38-48-4 in road contests;
* 39-45-7 in the month of October through the years;
* 18-6-1 in October contests since the start of the 2004 season;
* 1-2-0 in games played on October 26 (with the win coming at Marshall, 4-3 in OT, and getting the Falcons into the 2003 MAC Tournament on the last day of the league regular season); and
* 2-1-0 when playing Toledo in the final regular-season game (with the two wins coming at UT's Scott Park in each of the last two seasons).
GOALS ARE AT A PREMIUM
The Falcons have struggled at times to generate offense in 2006, but BGSU has showed signs of coming around in the last few weeks ... at the other end of the field, the Falcon defense is on a pace to set a pair of school records ... currently, BGSU is allowing an average of 1.28 goals per game ... the single-season record is 1.30 goals against, set by last year's team ... in MAC games, the 2006 Falcons have allowed just 1.00 goals per game to date ... the 2002 team currently holds the mark with just 1.08 goals allowed per MAC game.
HEAD COACH Andy Richards
Andy Richards is in his seventh season as a collegiate head coach, all with the Falcons ... the 2005 MAC Coach of the Year, Richards has an overall record of 70-68-12, 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 guided the Falcons to the first regular-season title in BG annals and a second-straight MAC Tournament crown ... he has led BGSU to the semifinal round of the league tourney 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 repeated that feat last year, as BGSU again won the MAC Tournament crown ... Erik Burstein is in his first season with the program, while Ashley Wentzel, a co-captain on the 2005 team, is in her first season as a student assistant coach.
THE OPPONENT / THE SERIES
Toledo is 6-7-4 on the season, and the Rockets have posted a MAC record of 5-2-2 to date ... UT currently sits in second place in the league standings after going 3-1-1 in the last five games ... that includes a win over Eastern Michigan (2-1, Friday) and a tie against Central Michigan (1-1, Sunday) last weekend ... the Rockets are 2-6-1 on the road to date, but 2-1-0 in MAC road matches ... freshman Molly Cornwell leads the team in scoring, with four goals and 13 points on the season ... junior Suzi Siwinski has seven points, including five assists to tie Cornwell for the team lead, while four other Rockets have three goals and six points on the year ... in goal, senior Jen Whipple has played all but three-and-a-half minutes this year, and has a goals-against average of 1.10 and 61 saves ... head coach Brad Evans returned 18 letterwinners, including eight starters, back from last year's team that finished 10-7-2 overall and 5-5-1 in MAC play.
The Falcons lead Toledo, 5-3-2, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU is undefeated in the last three meeting with the Rockets ... the Falcons captured last year's regular-season matchup at Scott Park, 3-2, on the last day of the season to clinch the title (Oct. 28, 2005) ... then, just four days later (Nov. 1, 2005), the teams met again in the MAC Tournament quarterfinals at Cochrane Field, and battled to a double-overtime scoreless tie ... BG advanced to the semifinals via penalty kicks ... as chronicled earlier, the Falcons have never won a home game vs. the Rockets, having gone 0-2-2 ... all four of those games went to overtime.
THE BGSU-TOLEDO SERIES
(BGSU leads, 5-3-2)
Sept. 20, 1997 A^ L 2-3 Sept. 17, 1998 A W 2-1 Oct. 30, 1999 H L 1-2 (OT) Sept. 22, 2000 A W 2-1 Sept. 9, 2001 H T 2-2 (2OT) Sept. 6, 2002 A W 1-0 Sept. 28, 2003 H L 0-1 (OT) Oct. 28, 2004 A W 3-0 Oct. 28, 2005 A W 3-2 Nov. 1, 2005 H%# T 0-0 (2OT) ^ at the Glass Bowl % MAC Tournament Quarterfinal # BGSU advances, 3-2, on PKs
THAT WACKY BG-UT SERIES
In 10 series meetings between BGSU and Toledo through the years, the home team has won only once ... that came in the teams' first-ever meeting, in 1997 ... that game actually was held at the Glass Bowl ... the Falcons are 0-2-2 in home games vs. the Rockets -- with all four games having gone to overtime -- but BG is 5-1-0 all-time in road games vs. the Blue and Gold.
FAMILIAR FACE ON THE OTHER BENCH
Former BGSU women's soccer standout Beth Rieman is in her first season as an assistant coach at Toledo ... Rieman, a 2005 BGSU graduate, was a four-year starter (2001-04) for the Falcons ... the team's captain as a senior in 2004, Rieman helped BGSU to the first MAC Tournament title and NCAA Championships appearance in school history.
HOME IS WHERE THE GAMES ARE
The Falcons' 2006 schedule includes a school record-tying 11 home contests ... BGSU played four of eight non-conference games at Cochrane Field ... additionally, seven of September's nine matches were at home ... after playing just four of 11 MAC matches at home last year, the Falcons meet seven of the 11 league foes inside the friendly confines of Cochrane Field in 2006 ... the Falcons are home for the final regular-season game, against Toledo (Thursday), and a BG win would secure a 12th home game.
LENGTHY STREAK ENDS FOR ZABEK ...
The list of goalkeepers who have never given up a goal in their entire career is undoubtedly a short one ... Falcon sophomore goalkeeper Christy Zabek saw her name removed from that list Friday (Oct. 20) ... Zabek finally saw her shutout streak come to an end in the 3-1 loss to Central Michigan ... CMU's first goal was the first allowed by Zabek in her collegiate career, and snapped her streak at 544:48, the equivalent of over six full games, without having to fish a ball out of the net.
... BUT SHE BEGINS ANOTHER STREAK
Sophomore Christy Zabek bounced back from that 3-1 loss to Central Michigan, picking up the shutout win in a 1-0 victory over Eastern Michigan Sunday (Oct. 22) ... the shutout was her fourth complete-game shutout in five career starts, all coming this season ... Zabek now has a goals-against average of just 0.44 in 606:51 of action this season ... in her career, she has a GAA of only 0.40 in over 673 minutes between the posts ... Zabek has 31 saves this season and 32 in her career.
FALCONS TIE SHUTOUT MARK
BGSU's shutout vs. Eastern Michigan was the Falcons' ninth this season ... that ties the school record set by last year's team ... the Falcons now have 18 shutouts over the last 38 games after posting a total of 34 (4.25 per year) in the first eight seasons in program history.
SENIOR (NOT SENIORS) DAY
Sunday's game vs. EMU marked 'Senior Day' for the BGSU women's soccer program at Cochrane Field ... Lindsay Carter, the lone senior on the team, was be recognized in pregame festivities ... a number of BGSU women's soccer alumnae were on hand for the match ... former BGSU standouts Britt Anderson, Molly Bremen, Kasey Freeman, Nikki Pucillo, Natalie Sampiller, Ali Shingler, Julie Trundle and current Falcon assistant coach Ashley Wentzel all took part in the pregame ceremonies.
A WINNING RECORD IN MAC PLAY
At 6-4-0 with just one game remaining, the Falcons are guaranteed of finishing with a winning record in MAC play for just the third time in the 10-year history of the program ... after going 9-2-0 in league action last year, the Falcons will post back-to-back winning MAC records for the first time ever ... BGSU's only other winning MAC record came in 2002, when the Falcons finished at 7-4-1 ... the Falcons are looking to finish among the top-four teams in the MAC for only the third time (fourth in 2002, first in 2005).
THREE FOR YEE
Sophomore Corbie Yee had a successful weekend, to say the least, at the Kent State Soccer Field on Oct. 13-15 ... Yee had all three of BGSU's goals as the Falcons won a pair of games in Northeast Ohio ... for her efforts, Yee, a Northeast Ohio native herself, was named the MAC Player of the Week on Oct. 16 ... the Berea product scored in overtime to give the Falcons a 1-0 win over the Golden Flashes, then had both goals in a 2-0 victory vs. Buffalo ... Yee, the 2005 MAC Freshman of the Year, currently ranks second on the team with seven points this fall.
WORKING OVERTIME
The win over Kent State (Oct. 13) gives the Falcons an all-time record of 13-11-16 in overtime matches ... believe it or not, BGSU has never lost a road overtime match, having gone 6-0-7 on opposing soil ... a few other Falcon overtime facts ...
• The Falcons are 5-9-8 in home OT games and 2-2-1 in neutral-site overtime affairs;
• Overall, BG is undefeated in the last nine OT matches, having gone 4-0-5 since an OT loss to Ohio State on Oct. 31, 2003 ... the Falcons are unbeaten in the last six home OT matches since that OSU game;
• BGSU is 2-2-3 in MAC Tournament contests that require overtime ... the Falcons advanced via penalty kicks in all three of those ties;
• Four of BG's 13 overtime wins have come at the Kent State Soccer Field ... BGSU has downed the Golden Flashes there on three occasions, and also beat Bucknell in the 2000 Kent Classic.
FALCON NOTES
Freshman Samantha Bland's goal vs. Eastern Michigan was the first of her collegiate career ... Bland, who scored her goal on 'Senior Day' at Cochrane Field, attended the same high school as BGSU's lone senior, Lindsay Carter ... both Bland and Carter attended Darby H.S. in Hilliard, Ohio, and both played club ball for Ohio Premier • the Falcons and Eastern Michigan are now tied, 6-6-1, in the all-time series between the teams ... believe it or not, Sunday's win was BGSU's first-ever home victory over the Eagles ... only four of the 13 series meetings have been held in BG, and the Falcons now have a 1-3-0 mark vs. Eastern at Cochrane Field • that win over EMU was the 70th career win for Falcon head coach Andy Richards ... Richards, in his seventh season as a head coach (all with the Falcons), is now 70-68-12 all-time • junior Danielle Cygan converted a penalty kick for the Falcons' lone goal in the Central Michigan game ... Cygan's PK was the first awarded to the Falcons this season ... the last time a BG player had attempted a penalty kick came on Nov. 6, 2005 ... on that date, the Falcons and Kent State battled to a scoreless draw in the MAC Tournament championship, but BGSU advanced past the Flashes via PKs • Cygan, after scoring a total of four points in her first two years in the Brown and Orange, has a BG-high 10 points this fall to date • Corbie Yee, just a sophomore, is the Falcons' active career leader in goals, with nine, and points (22) ... her two game-winning goals vs. Kent State (Oct. 13) and Buffalo (Oct. 15) give her four in her young career ... her two-goal game vs. UB was the second of Yee's career .. her first came in a win at Miami last season (Oct. 2, 2005) ... eight of Yee's nine career goals have come against MAC opponents • Yee became the second Falcon this year to have the game-winning goal in both games of a weekend ... Cygan had the GWG in the Falcons' wins over Northern Illinois (Sept. 22) and Western Michigan (Sept. 24) • no fewer than 15 of the Falcons' 18 games this season have been shutouts ... BGSU has been on the winning side in nine of those games ... when the opponents score a goal in 2006, BGSU is 0-9-0 • the Falcons have recorded six shutouts in 10 MAC games, most in the league.
FALCONS PICKED THIRD
The Falcons were picked to finish third in the MAC in 2006, according to the preseason coaches poll released last month ... the third-place prediction is the highest spot ever forecasted for the Brown and Orange in school history ... Central Michigan was the coaches' choice to win the MAC regular-season and tournament titles, while Western Michigan was tabbed to finish second in the regular-season race ... following BGSU, Miami was picked for fourth, followed by Kent State and Toledo ... Ball State and Eastern Michigan were projected to tie for seventh, followed by Ohio, Northern Illinois, Buffalo and Akron.
MAC PRESEASON POLL:
1 - Central Michigan T7 - Ball State 2 - Western Michigan T7 - Eastern Michigan 3 - Bowling Green 9 - Ohio 4 - Miami 10 - Northern Illinois 5 - Kent State 11 - Buffalo 6 - Toledo 12 - Akron PREDICTED MAC TOURNAMENT CHAMPION: Central Michigan
THE 2006 CAPTAINS
Senior Lindsay Carter and junior Janie Babich are the co-captains of the 2006 Falcons ... Carter, the team's lone senior, is also the squad's active career assists leader, with nine, and ranks second among active Falcons in goals (six) and points (21) ... Babich, like Carter, was a starter on last year's MAC regular-season and tournament championship club.
THOSE WHO STAY PLAY FOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
The BGSU women's soccer program is in its 10th season in 2006 ... through the first nine years, every player who has stayed with the program all four years has been a part of at least one team that has advanced to the MAC Tournament's championship match.
