Bowling Green State University Athletics
Men's Soccer Announces 2006-07 Season Schedule
May 26, 2006 | Men's Soccer
May 26, 2006
Click HERE for the most up-to-date 2006 schedule
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The 2006-07 season will be pit the Falcons against many familiar foes, but will also add an element of surprise as BGSU faces eight programs whom have seen the likes of the Falcons less than five times over the past 41-seasons.
"Our schedule is not the easiest road to a championship, but the great thing about college soccer is there is no easy road," said coach Fred Thompson. "But, there is ranking and what is perceived to be a strong team. The fact of the matter is the parity of men's soccer is ridiculous."
In fact, of the 3761 D-I matches that were played in 2005 only 1655, roughly 44%, were won, while 2106, roughly 56%, were lost or tied. Additionally, only 87 of the 200 teams had winning records.
"It is not like college basketball where you can take a Top 20 team and pair them with a team ranked 200 and expect a 60-point blow out. Most of our games should be one-goal games because everyone wants to win and it can be difficult for any team to score goals."
The Falcons pre-season will end with a pair of exhibitions against Xavier at Mickey Cochrane Stadium and the Dayton Flyers on their own turf.
Bowling Green will return home to host two Directional Illinois programs in the BGSU Invitational. The Western Illinois match will officially open the season on August 25. The Leatherbacks, once the home of Coach Economopoulos, lead the series with the Falcons after defeating BGSU in Macomb, Ill. last season. The weekend will end as the Falcons take on Eastern Illinois. The Orange and Brown have seen the Panther's of EIU only twice. In back-to-back seasons (1996-97) the Falcons defeated EIU.
The first of consecutive road trips will give the Falcons a chance to see both Coastal Carolina and Furman. The Myrtle Beach matches will mark just the second meeting against both opponents in the 41-year history of the program. The Falcons took home the win over Coastal Carolina in 1994 with a 3-1 final. The single meeting with Furman came in 1998 at the Ohio State/Nike Classic. Despite the 1-0 loss to the Paladins, BGSU placed third in the non-conference tournament.
The second leg of the Orange and Brown's National tour will land BGSU in California. St. Mary's and Sacramento State will end the six-match stand against unfamiliar programs.
The St. Mary's match will be the first for the Falcons in California. Last season they beat SMC, 3-0, in the first ever meeting at Cochrane Field. Sacramento State will be the only scheduled opponent that BGSU will face for the first time this season.
The Falcons will end their non-conference stretch with four matches in the state of Ohio.
The fifth straight road match will bring the Falcons to Columbus to face in-state rival, Ohio State. Last season the Orange and Brown beat then No. 11 Bucks in double-overtime at Mickey Cochrane Field. BGSU leads series 24-9-2 over Ohio State.
In a three-match home stand, BGSU will look to even the score with Wright State and Michigan State after dropping 1-0 and 3-1 decisions, respectively, on the road last season.
In final preparation for the Mid-American Conference, Coach Thompson and Co. will welcome the Purple Aces of Evansville to Bowling Green for the first time under Thompson- a former coach on the Purple Aces' staff. Evansville leads the series with nine wins to the Falcons two.
The MAC schedule forces the Falcons to open on the road at Northern llinois University. Of their five conference games, the Falcons will play three away from BGSU's camps.
The Universities of Detroit and Pittsburgh will serve as bookends to break-up conference play in the latter part of the season. BGSU has dominated UDM historically with a series record of 12-5-1 while the Panthers won the only meeting between the programs in 2002. The Falcons will welcome the Bulls of the University at Buffalo between the last of the non-conference matches.
The season will end as MAC powerhouse Akron travels the Ohio turnpike to pair up against the Falcons in the last home match of the season.
Second year conference member, IPFW will host the Falcons before they close the season in Kalamazoo with the Bronco's of Western Michigan.
The post-season will be determined by two play-in games to advance in the MAC Tournament.
"We attempted to create a schedule that if we played very well we could have the opportunity for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament,' said Thompson. "We want to play the best competition we could and give the team the opportunity to have a well-rounded student-athlete experience."
