Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Face MAC-Leading Ball State Friday
October 17, 2007 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 17, 2007
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, with only five games remaining in the Mid-American Conference schedule, concludes a four-game road swing with a pair of tough tests this weekend ... the Falcons of head coach Andy Richards (5-8-1, 2-4-0 MAC) head to Muncie, Ind., for a Friday (Oct. 19) matchup with first-place Ball State University, the league's preseason favorite ... kickoff is set for 3:00 p.m. at the Ball State Soccer Field ... then, on Sunday (Oct. 21), the Brown and Orange will wrap up the road sojourn with a contest against Miami University ... that match will begin at 1:00 p.m. at the Miami Soccer Field.
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THE FALCONS ARE ...
• 95-111-17 all-time, in the 11th season in program history;
• 49-55-11 in Mid-American Conference regular-season matches;
• 29-25-3 overall in the last two-plus seasons;
• 27-16-4 vs. MAC schools over the last three-plus seasons (including regular-season and tournament matches), and 19-11-2 vs. conference foes in the last two-plus years;
• 46-50-8 in home games, including 15-9-2 at Cochrane Field in the last two-plus seasons;
• 41-52-8 in road contests entering Friday's match at BSU;
• 1-5-1 in Friday matches this season to date (with the win coming last weekend at Kent State);
• 4-3-0 in Sunday contests so far in 2007;
• 41-47-7 in the month of October through the years;
• 27-0-0 in the last 27 games in which the Falcons have scored first, dating to the 2005 season opener;
• 0-1-1 all-time in matches played on Oct. 19, with a 3-1 loss at Marshall in 2001 and a scoreless double-OT tie at home vs. Kent State two years later; and
• 1-1-0 in contests played on Oct. 21, with all three previous matches coming on the road (the win came in the most recent game on that date, a 2-1 triumph at Central Michigan in 2005).
ABOUT THE FALCONS
BGSU is 5-8-1 on the season ... the Falcons have a 2-4 record in the MAC and a 3-4-1 mark on the road to date ... BG split a pair of road matches last weekend, with a Friday win at Kent State (3-0) and a Sunday setback vs. Buffalo (1-0) ... two of the Falcons' top-three scorers are freshmen ... in fact, freshmen and sophomores have combined to score 13 of the team's 17 goals this season to date ... soph Stacey Lucas leads the way with nine points, while freshman Jackie Tamerlano has eight ... both Lucas and Tamerlano have four goals to tie for the team lead ... freshman Meagan Moran has seven points on two goals and three assists, while senior Danielle Cygan has scored six points this season to date ... soph Faith Juillerat and junior Corbie Yee have five points apiece, with Yee owning a team-high five assists ... in goal, redshirt freshman Alexa Arsenault is 2-2-1 with 30 saves and a team-low goals-against average of 0.87 ... junior Christy Zabek has started a team-high eight matches, and also leads BG in wins and saves ... she is 3-5-0 with 32 saves and a 1.93 GAA ... senior Tiffany Hansen has eight saves in her four matches played ... the Falcons returned 16 of 20 letterwinners, including nine starters, from a youthful 2006 squad that went 10-10-0 overall and 7-4-0 in MAC play ... the '06 Falcons tied for third in conference action ... the Brown and Orange advanced to the league tournament for the fifth consecutive year ... Cygan is the top returning scorer, having scored 10 points last season, while juniors Brianne Eisenhard and Yee had eight and seven points, respectively, in '06 ... all three players had three goals, including two game-winning goals, to tie for the team lead in both categories ... Hansen had a 5-8-0 record and a 1.74 GAA a year ago, while Zabek had a 5-2-0 mark and a MAC-leading 0.67 GAA.
LAST WEEKEND
The Falcons split a pair of road matches last weekend ... on Friday (Oct. 12), BG broke a scoreless tie with three second-half goals en route to a 3-0 win at Kent State ... soph Stacey Lucas scored what proved to be the winning goal in the 66th minute, and senior Danielle Cygan gave the Falcons a two-goal advantage less than six minutes later ... soph Faith Juillerat added a last-second goal to close the scoring ... junior Corbie Yee was credited with a pair of assists, while redshirt freshman Alexa Arsenault earned the shutout with six saves in goal ... on Sunday (Oct. 14), a Buffalo goal in the 34th minute held up as the winner in a 1-0 UB triumph ... the Falcons held a 22-13 shots advantage over the Bulls, with Arsenault making three saves.
ARSENAULT AGGRAVATES ATTACKERS
Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Alexa Arsenault has had a successful start to her BGSU playing career ... Arsenault enters the week ranked among the MAC's leaders in several categories ... she is fourth in the conference in goals-against average, at 0.87, and ranks second in saves percentage (.857), third in shutouts per game (0.33 - two in six games) and sixth in saves per game (5.00).
SURE HELPS TO GET ON THE BOARD FIRST
The Falcons stopped a recent trend last Friday ... when Stacey Lucas gave BG a 1-0 lead at Kent State, it snapped a five-game streak in which the opponents had scored the first goal ... the Falcons now have won 27 games in a row when scoring first, but BG has gotten on the board first only four times in this year's 14 games ... the Falcons are 4-0-0 (obviously) when scoring first, and BGSU is 1-8-1 when allowing the first goal in 2007 matches.
HEAD COACH Andy Richards
Andy Richards is in his eighth season as a collegiate head coach, all with the Falcons ... he has guided the Brown and Orange to unprecedented heights during that time ... the 2005 MAC Coach of the Year, Richards currently has an overall record of 76-77-13, including a MAC Tournament mark of 8-4-3 ... upon his arrival in Northwest Ohio, he took over a team that had gone 19-34-4 in the previous three seasons ... last year, Richards guided the youthful Falcons to 10 overall wins and a tie for third place in the MAC standings ... that came on the heels of the '05 campaign, in which he led the Falcons to the first regular-season title in BG annals and a second-straight MAC Tournament crown ... Richards 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 in '05, as BGSU again won the MAC Tournament crown.
THE OPPONENTS / THE SERIES
Ball State enters the weekend with an overall record of 8-4-1, and the Cardinals sit alone atop the MAC with a 5-0-1 league mark heading into Friday's match vs. BGSU ... BSU has a seven-match unbeaten streak, and the Cards are unscored upon during that time ... the last time Ball State allowed a goal was Sept. 16 against Indiana, in a 2-1 loss ... last weekend, the Cards battled Northern Illinois to a 0-0 tie before downing Western Michigan, 2-0 ... BSU is 5-1-1 in home games this year to date ... Emily Rein leads the team with 10 points on the year, including a team-high four assists ... Annie Aiello has a team-leading four goals, and is tied with Sarah Leibel and Sarah Schumacker with eight points apiece ... Rachael Murphy has played in 12 of BSU's 13 games in goal, and has 29 saves, seven shutouts and a MAC-leading goals-against average of 0.44 (0.00 GAA in conference play) ... head coach Michelle Salmon welcomed back 17 letterwinners, including eight starters, from last year's team that finished 13-4-3 overall and won the MAC's regular-season title with a league ledger of 8-2-1 ... the school's athletics web site is www.ballstatesports.com.
Miami has a 5-5-3 record, and the RedHawks are 3-2-1 in MAC play, entering Friday's home match vs. Toledo ... MU posted a pair of shutout wins last weekend, downing WMU by a 4-0 count before defeating NIU, 2-0 ... the RedHawks are 4-1-1 at home to date ... Sara Lund and Julie Thompson, both freshmen, have combined for 12 goals this season ... Lund has team-high totals of seven goals and 17 points, while Thompson has 10 points on five goals ... Krista Pace has played all but 12 minutes in goal this season, and has 81 saves, three shutouts and a 1.41 GAA ... head coach Bobby Kramig returned 10 letterwinners, including seven starters, from last year's club ... the 2006 edition of the RedHawks went 8-10-2 overall and 4-5-2 in the MAC ... the school's athletics web site is www.muredhawks.com.
The Falcons trail Ball State, 5-2-1, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU is looking to snap a three-game losing streak vs. the Cardinals ... BSU holds a 2-1-1 advantage in games played in Muncie, and the Cards won the last meeting there, two years ago (3-0; Sept. 30, 2005) ... last season, Ball State came to Cochrane Field and posted a 2-0 win (Sept. 29, 2006).
BGSU trails Miami by an 8-5-0 margin in that series, but the Falcons have won the last five meetings after eight-straight losses to begin the series ... last season, Brianne Eisenhard and Faith Juillerat scored in a 2-0 BGSU win at Cochrane Field (Oct. 1, 2006) ... The Falcons posted a 3-1 win two years ago (Oct. 2, 2005), in the last meeting in Oxford, with Corbie Yee scoring two goals in that match ... BG is 2-4-0 all-time in road matches vs. the RedHawks.
RANDOM FACT ABOUT THE BALL STATE SERIES
The last time the Falcons played at Ball State (Sept. 30, 2005), BGSU was held without a shot on goal for the first time in program history ... the Cardinals' 3-0 win dropped BG to 5-6-0 overall and 1-2 in MAC play ... following that match, however, the Falcons won a school-record eight consecutive matches to close the regular season, winning the MAC championship in the process ... then, BG's success continued, as the Falcons extended their unbeaten streak to 11 matches en route to the conference tournament title.
RANDOM FACT ABOUT THE MIAMI SERIES
The Falcons' 2004 win over Miami at Cochrane Field was the first time in program history that the BGSU defense held the opponent without a shot ... Gina Rossi made her first collegiate start in that match, and the then-freshman made the most of the opportunity, scoring her first goal as a Falcon.
ANOTHER RANDOM FACT ABOUT THE MU SERIES
Four years ago (Oct. 5, 2003), the Falcons rallied from a 2-0 deficit for a 3-2 road win over the RedHawks ... that game marked BGSU's first-ever victory over Miami in nine tries ... the win concluded a weekend in which the Falcons defeated the team picked to win the MAC (Ball State) on Friday, then rallied to beat the defending league champion (MU) on Sunday.
FALCON FACTS
The Falcons' win at Kent State Friday (Oct. 12) gives BGSU an 8-3-3 advantage in the all-time series between the teams, and the Falcons are now unbeaten in the last five games with the Golden Flashes ... BG's three goals in that match marks the highest total the Falcons have ever scored in a game in the 14-game series vs. KSU ... BGSU now has a record of 8-2-0 at the Kent State Soccer Field ... that mark includes a 3-0 record in neutral-site contests played there ... the Falcons have held the Flashes scoreless for the last 456:42, or the equivalent of over five games ... sophomore Stacey Lucas scored her fourth goal of the season in that KSU game, doubling her total for all of last season ... senior Danielle Cygan and sophomore Faith Juillerat each scored vs. the Flashes as well, in the process matching their career-high totals from a year ago ... Cygan scored her third goal of the year to equal her 2006 total ... she now has seven career goals ... Juillerat has two goals this season after scoring twice last fall ... as a team, the Falcons have scored 17 goals this year to match the total for the entire 2006 season ... redshirt freshman Alexa Arsenault recorded her second shutout, and her first against a MAC opponent, in that KSU match ... Buffalo's goal in Sunday's (Oct. 14) game broke a BG shutout streak of 303:47 against the Bulls ... UB's last goal vs. the Falcons had come in overtime of the teams' 2003 meeting ... junior Corbie Yee had two assists at KSU, and now has a team-leading five on the season ... she now has nine career assists to tie senior Tiernay Tilford for the career lead among active Falcons ... Yee's nine goals and 27 points make her BGSU's active career leader in those categories ... Tilford, junior Brianne Eisenhard and sophomores Samantha Bland and Colleen Kordan are the only Falcons to have started all 14 games this season ... a total of 22 different players have started at least one game for the Falcons this fall ... the Falcons were credited with a total of 43 shots to the opponents' 20 in last weekend's two games ... BGSU had 21 shot attempts at KSU and 22 at UB, with 11 shots on goal in each contest ... BGSU's only higher totals in each category this season came at Youngstown State (Sept. 23), when the Brown and Orange had 23 shot attempts with 16 of those on goal.
THE 2007 CAPTAINS
Seniors Danielle Cygan, Tiffany Hansen, Rachael Ross and Tiernay Tilford are the captains of the 2007 Falcons.
