Bowling Green State University Athletics
Zips End Falcons Season In 8-2 Semifinal Decision
November 03, 2006 | Men's Soccer
Nov. 3, 2006
DEKALB, Ill. - The 2006 Falcons Soccer (4-14-1) season was ended as second seed Akron (13-4-1) won the first of two Mid-American Conference Tournament semifinal contests in DeKalb, Illinois on the campus of top seeded Northern Illinois. NIU and Buffalo competed in the second match that began at 2:00 p.m. CST.
BGSU's Hunter Van Houten gave the Falcons the lead at 9:39 as the Falcon offense found itself in a bit of a scramble with the Zip defense. The Orange and Brown offense was denied a scoring opportunity but was given a second chance when Zips keeper, Evan Bush, attempted to clear the ball but gave it back to the Bowling Green offense. Rookie Drew Nichols took advantage of the possession and recorded his second assist of the tournament playing the ball to Van Houten who redirected it into an empty net.
"Hunter has been working very hard this season and we were happy to see him score," said head coach Fred Thompson. This was the first time one of Thompson's teams reached the semifinal round. He is 1-3 in the tournament.
Akron went on to score four answered goals to take the 4-1 lead at the half.
"We were a little bit unlucky in the first half," said Thompson. "Akron scored a few goals that were a result of poor defending on our part."
It appeared as if the tides would turn in the second half when Abiola Sandy was brought down with possession of the momentum and the ball by the Akron defense. The Falcons were rewarded with their third PK of the season. Kyle McNayr became the third Falcon to sink the PK and kept the Falcons perfect on the season. It was the first PK that BGSU was awarded on the road. The goal was also the first for the sophomore defender in the Orange and Brown uniform.
Much like the first half, Akron scored another four unanswered goals to take the 8-2 win and advance to the MAC Championship game. The Zips have won the tournament final in each of the last two seasons.
Final Falcon Notes
• Bowling Green finishes their season at 4-14-1 and 0-5-0 in the conference season. The Falcons were 1-6-0 at home after wining their season opening match on August 25. BGSU was 3-5-1 on the road, including a 3-1-0 road record in October.
• The Falcons scored 20 goals on 16 assists. Eleven student-athletes netted at least one goal for BGSU. Junior Justin Kim led all Birds of Prey with 12 points (5g, 2a). Veterans Alec Perea, Ryan Perea and George Davis IV led the squad with three assists apiece.
• Five rookies scored for the Falcons this season with a goal or an assist: Hunter Van Houten (1g, 0a), Jacob Lawrence (2g, 1a), Drew Nichols (0g, 2a), Arun Sathyanathan (1g, 0a), Ahmad Smith (3g, 0a).
