Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
MARQUETTE
BGSU Falls at #16/25 Marquette, 3-0
August 26, 2006 | Women's Soccer
Aug. 26, 2006
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MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team faced numerous obstacles in Friday night's (Aug. 26) season-opening match in the Milwaukee Cup. Although the Falcons fell by a 3-0 score to host Marquette University, head coach Andy Richards and his squad saw a number of positives come out of the match at Valley Fields, which was the season opener for both teams.
Allison Mallams scored a pair of first-half goals for the Golden Eagles, while Meghan Connelly found the back of the net for the hosts in the second half.
For the Falcons, however, the match was great preparation for the rest of the 2006 season. Consider that BGSU was ...
* playing a nationally-ranked team
* on the road
* in a night game before a large, raucous crowd
* and, the game marked the collegiate debut of numerous Falcon freshmen.
The Golden Eagles, ranked #16 in two national polls and #25 in the third, got on the scoreboard with exactly 21 minutes elapsed in the first half. Connelly played a ball from the right side of the penalty box to a teammate, who faked a shot but let the ball roll past her. The pass found Mallams in the center of the box, and Mallams placed the ball into the lower right corner of the net.
Mallams struck again with just over six minutes left in the opening half. A BG defender, in traffic, tried to settle and clear the ball out of the Falcons' end of the field. Mallams was able to steal the ball and slide it into the net.
The Falcons, held without a shot on the night, opened the second half with some inspired play. Despite showing some offensive spark, the Falcons could not get on the scoreboard.
Perhaps BGSU's best scoring chance came in the first few minutes of the half. After a Marquette foul deep in the Golden Eagles' own end of the field, freshman Kayleigh Zajaros took a free kick on the left side of the field. Zajaros slid a pass across the 18-yard line to sophomore Eisenhard. An MU defender was able to get to the ball at the same time as Eisenhard, however, and stifle the scoring chance.
The Golden Eagles concluded the scoring at the 76:02 mark. Emily Fitzpatrick stole a BG pass and played a through-ball to Connelly, who was in all alone against goalkeeper Tiffany Hansen. Hansen had no chance to cut down the angle as Connelly placed the ball inside the far post.
The hosts held an 18-0 advantage in shots. Hansen made a total of seven saves in her BGSU regular-season debut, including a pair of point-blank stops in the second half. Laura Boyer and Christy Smith combined on the shutout for the hosts, with Boyer playing the first 80-plus minutes.
"I was very proud of the entire team throughout tonight's performance," said Richards. "In particular, the manner in which we were able to compete against a nationally-ranked team and play within our game plan was especially encouraging. We always knew this game was going to be a tremendous challenge for this program, but we saw enough encouraging and positive signs to excite us about the rest of the season."
The match was the second contest of the evening at Valley Fields. In the opener, Wisconsin-Milwaukee was a 2-0 winner over Sacred Heart. The Falcons continue action in the Milwaukee Cup on Sunday (Aug. 27), taking on UWM at the Panthers' home field. The match, the second of a doubleheader, is scheduled to begin at 2:15 p.m. locally (3:15 p.m. Eastern) at Engelmann Field.
NOTES
* Live statistics for the BGSU-Marquette game were scheduled to be available on the web via Gametracker ... however, the MU staff was unable to access the internet at Valley Fields, due to technical difficulties ... it was discovered Friday afternoon that the cord that fed power to one side of the field was cut during construction on another field at the complex.
* Friday's match saw four Falcons -- junior transfer Tiffany Hansen and freshmen Faith Juillerat, Colleen Kordan and Kayleigh Zajaros -- earn starts in their respective BGSU debuts.
* Freshmen Samantha Bland, Jen Czapka, Kaitlyn Kobe, Stacey Lucas and Simone Toney also saw action in the match, meaning that a total of eight frosh made their collegiate debuts on Friday night ... Hansen gives the Falcons a total of nine players who were not on the 2005 roster that saw action in the Marquette match.
* Still another Falcon, Gina Rossi, saw time in Friday's contest ... for Rossi, it marked her first game action since mid-November of 2004 ... Rossi missed all of 2005 with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
* The start of the game was delayed several minutes as the Falcons changed socks ... BGSU wore orange jerseys and white shorts, and had arrived at the field wearing white socks ... Marquette, however, was wearing white socks as well, so the Falcons switched to black stockings.
* A pair of Falcons saw former high-school teammates on the other bench ... BGSU's Karie Sahly and Marquette's Shaina Mungo both attended Naperville Central H.S. in Naperville, Ill. ... the Falcons' Brianne Eisenhard and MU's Meghan Connelly each attended Lakota West H.S. in West Chester, Ohio.
