Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Begin MAC Action This Weekend
September 20, 2006 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 20, 2006
Release & Boxscores (9 pages)
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, having closed the non-league portion of the schedule, begins Mid-American Conference action this weekend ... the Falcons of head coach Andy Richards, the defending MAC regular-season and tournament champions, start a season-long four-game homestand with Friday's (Sept. 22) game vs. Northern Illinois University ... kickoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at Cochrane Field ... then, on Sunday (Sept. 24), the Brown and Orange will face Western Michigan University ... that game, the second half of a doubleheader, is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. at Cochrane (the BGSU men's soccer team hosts the University of Evansville in an 11:00 a.m. start).
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 are at home ... after playing just four of 11 MAC matches at home last year, the Brown and Orange will meet seven of the 11 league foes -- including each of the next four opponents -- inside the friendly confines of Cochrane Field.
LIVE STATS ON THE WEB
The NIU and WMU matches, like all of BG's home contests, are 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.
FALCONS PICKED THIRD
The Falcons have been 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.
NON-LEAGUE RECORD NO INDICATION OF MAC SUCCESS
The Falcons finished the non-conference portion of the 2006 season with a record of 3-5-0 ... when it comes to determining BGSU's MAC success in '06, the non-league record, of course, means absolutely nothing ... BGSU's best-ever non-conference record of 5-1-1 came in 2001 ... that season, the Falcons finished just 7-10-2 ... the program's worst-ever non-league mark was 2-6-0, in both 2003 and '04 ... the '03 team went on to qualify for the MAC Tournament's championship game, while the '04 squad became the first in program history to win the league tourney and advance to the NCAA Championships ... last year, the Falcons went 4-4-0 in the pre-MAC schedule, and started MAC action with a 1-2 record, prior to reeling off eight consecutive wins to end the regular-season slate.
IT BEGINS AGAIN
Sure, every day is a new day, and sure, the Falcons lost nine seniors off of the squad since the last day BGSU played a MAC opponent (last November) ... but, the Falcons are looking to extend an impressive run vs. conference foes ... since mid-October of 2004, the Falcons have gone 16-2-3 against MAC opposition ... during that time, BGSU is 12-2-1 in regular-season league contests and 4-0-2 in the conference tournament, picking up one regular-season and two tourney crowns along the way.
FALCONS LOOK TO EXTEND TWO MAC STREAKS
* The Falcons have put together a pair of impressive streaks vs. conference foes ... BGSU has not lost at home to a MAC school since Oct. 10, 2004, a 2-1 loss to Ball State ... the Falcons are unbeaten in the last nine matches at home vs. conference opposition, having gone 6-0-3 in that span ... that includes three matches in the 2005 MAC Tournament.
* The Falcons have not allowed a goal to a conference rival at Cochrane since Oct. 24, 2004, the last time Western Michigan played in BG ... in that match, BGSU's final home game of the '04 season, BG trailed by a 2-0 score with less than 14 minutes remaining in regulation, before rallying for a 2-2 tie ... the Falcons' home shutout streak stands at 720:52 heading into Friday's NIU game ... in 2005, the Brown and Orange went 5-0-2 vs. league opponents at Cochrane ... BGSU has scored 13 unanswered goals vs. MAC foes at home.
LAST WEEKEND
The Falcons suffered a pair of losses to close the non-league slate ... on Friday (Sept. 15), visiting Michigan State scored with less than three minutes left in the second half for a 2-1 win over the Brown and Orange ... freshman Stacey Lucas scored the Falcons' lone goal to tie the contest at 1-1 in the second half ... junior Tiffany Hansen had eight saves ... on Sunday (Sept. 17), Wright State remained undefeated in 2006 with a 3-0 win over the Brown and Orange.
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 led the Brown and Orange to both the MAC's regular-season and tourney titles last fall ... he has an overall record of 64-64-12, 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 ... he has led BGSU to the semifinal round of the MAC Tournament 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 OPPONENTS / THE SERIES
Northern Illinois is 1-4-2 on the season, and the Huskies are looking to snap a six-game winless streak ... Northern opened the season with a 4-0 win over Eastern Washington, but has suffered four losses and had a pair of ties since that time ... last weekend, the Huskies lost by a 3-1 count at Northwestern (Sept. 15) ... Karen Enockson has five of the team's 12 goals on the year, and paces the Huskies with 11 points ... a freshman, Lindsey Curnock, has played every minute in goal this year, and has a 1.88 goals-against average and 37 saves ... second-year head coach Marci Miller welcomed back 14 letterwinners, including seven starters, from last year's team that finished 5-11-2 overall and 3-8-0 in MAC play.
Western Michigan has a record of 1-6-1 heading into a Friday match at Toledo ... the Broncos are looking to break a three-game losing streak ... WMU dropped an overtime game to Oakland, 3-2, as well as a 5-1 contest vs. Northwestern last weekend ... the Broncos' win was also a 5-1 game, vs. Northern Iowa, and the team's tie came against Michigan in the season opener ... Thalia Playford leads the team with eight points on four goals ... Sarah Phillips has seen the most time among three goalkeepers, all of whom have started at least two games ... Jenna Schrumpf leads the team with a 2.32 GAA, with Phillips right behind at 2.42 ... last year, the Broncos of head coach Mike Haines had an overall record of 10-8-1 and a MAC mark of 8-3-0, good for a third-place finish.
The Falcons and Northern Illinois are tied, 5-5-0, in the all-time series between the teams ... BGSU has won the last three meetings ... believe it or not, only once in series history has the home team emerged victorious ... that came the last time the teams met at Cochrane Field, as BG posted a 2-1 win two years ago (Oct. 22, 2004) ... in last year's game, the Falcons won a 3-1 contest in DeKalb (Sept. 23, 2005) ... the Falcons are 1-4-0 in home matches vs. Northern ... BGSU trails Western Michigan, 8-3-1, in that series, and the Broncos won last year's meeting, 4-0, in Kalamazoo (Sept. 25, 2005) ... the four-goal margin of defeat was the Falcons' largest in a MAC game since 1997, the first year in program history ... BGSU is 1-2-1 in home contests vs. Western, and the teams tied, 2-2, in the last meeting at Cochrane Field (Oct. 24, 2004) ... that game marks the last time the Falcons allowed a goal vs. a conference foe at home ... the complete lists of results in the BGSU-NIU and BGSU-WMU series can be found in the pdf.
THE FALCONS ARE ...
* 83-98-16 all-time, in the 10th season in program history;
* 40-47-11 in Mid-American Conference regular-season matches;
* 25-22-4 overall and 18-7-4 vs. MAC schools over the last two-plus seasons (including regular-season and tournament matches);
* 39-43-8 in home games;
* 31-41-6 in the month of September through the years;
* 5-3-1 in MAC openers; and
* 3-5-1 in MAC home openers all-time.
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.
EVEN IF IT SEEMS OVER, IT AIN'T OVER
Just a word of advice for fans who venture out to Cochrane Field this weekend, or follow the Northern Illinois or Western Michigan matches via GameTracker at BGSUFalcons.com ... if one team takes a two-goal lead, do not assume that the game has been decided ... the last time WMU came to Cochrane, on Oct. 24, 2004, the Falcons overcame a two-goal deficit to post a 2-2, double-overtime tie ... in fact, in 197 matches in the history of the BGSU women's soccer program, only eight times has a team gone ahead by two goals and failed to win the match ... we're not saying it will happen this weekend, but ... five of those matches have come when the Falcons are facing either NIU or WMU ... the complete list is in the pdf version o' this release.
FALCON NOTES
Freshman Stacey Lucas has scored a goal in each of the last two home matches ... the Huber Heights, Ohio, native scored the lone goal in the Sept. 8 victory over Youngstown State, and also scored BG's only goal vs. Michigan State Friday (Sept 15) ... freshman Colleen Kordan picked up her first collegiate point with the lone assist on the Lucas goal vs. the Spartans ... a total of 36 fouls were called in the MSU match, by far the most in a game this season ... the Falcons' total of 20 was a season high, and MSU's 16 fouls were the most for a BG opponent this year ... eight of BGSU's nine games this year have been shutouts, with the Falcons on the winning side in three of those games ... sophomore Christy Zabek has yet to allow a goal in her collegiate career ... Zabek has played a total of 217:45 over seven matches in her Falcon tenure, including over 151 minutes in four games this season to date ... she has made five saves in 2006 after making a total of one stop in her freshman campaign ... the Falcons have been outshot in seven of this year's eight games ... opponents have a total of 126 shots to the Falcons' 57 ... BGSU's starting lineup has included at least three freshmen in every game this season to date ... junior GK Tiffany Hansen leads the MAC in both saves (41) and saves per game (5.86).
