Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
AKRON
Falcons Post Senior Day Win; Down Akron, 1-0
October 28, 2007 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 28, 2007
Final Stats | 'Senior Day' Match Program (2 pages) in PDF Format
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - Junior Corbie Yee scored for the second consecutive game, helping the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team win by a 1-0 final for the third-straight game. This time, the victim was the University of Akron, as the Falcons closed the home portion of the regular season with Sunday's (Oct. 28) win at Cochrane Field.
With the victory, the Falcons improve to 8-9-1 overall and 5-5-0 in Mid-American Conference play, while the Zips drop to 6-6-6 and 1-5-4, respectively.
For the Falcons, the win clinched a berth in the MAC Tournament for the sixth consecutive season. With one match left in the regular season, the Falcons are tied for fifth place in the league standings.
Redshirt freshman Alexa Arsenault picked up her third consecutive shutout win, making two saves vs. the Zips. Arsenault and the Falcon defense have a shutout streak of 296:43.
Freshman Jackie Tamerlano and junior Susan Hunter picked up the assists on Yee's goal, which came at the 61:09 mark.
BGSU's three-game winning streak is the team's longest in two years, since a school-record eight-match win streak to end the 2005 regular season.
"Today's result came after another remarkable performance from a team who is really growing in both confidence and stature," said BGSU head coach Andy Richards. "I was very happy that we were able to get a victory for the seniors in their last regular-season game at Cochrane Field, and even more delighted that this result gives those individuals, and the entire team, the opportunity to play in the postseason tournament.
"The MAC Tournament is always our initial goal at the beginning of a season, and then, hopefully, some good things will happen to us from there on in."
Hunter began the play that led to the day's only goal. An Akron player attempted to clear the ball out of the Zips' end of the field, but the charging Hunter beat a UA opponent to the ball at midfield and knocked the ball forward.
The pass went to Tamerlano, who made a nifty deflection to spring Yee into the open. The junior took several dribbles, cut back to her left and fired a shot past UA goalkeeper Krystin Wilson and into the net.
Yee was all over the field on Sunday, taking more shots -- eight -- than the entire Akron team. BGSU held an 18-5 advantage in total shot attempts, and the Falcons had seven shots on goal (five by Yee) to the Zips' two.
Wilson made five saves for the visitors.
Sophomore Colleen Kordan had the Falcons' other two shots on goal vs. the Zips, with both coming on first-half free kicks. Kordan had the initial shot of the match, just two minutes in. After an Akron foul -- the first of 19 fouls by the visitors -- Kordan fired a free kick on goal from approximately 20 yards out, but Wilson was equal to the task and made the save.
Midway through the first half, Kordan fired another left-side free kick from just outside the penalty area. This time, Wilson was forced to dive to make the save. The rebound went to Tamerlano near the right post, and the freshman quickly fired a shot that was blocked out of play by a UA defender for a corner kick.
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MAC STANDINGS
(through Sunday's matches) TEAM MAC Pts. Ball St. 8-1-1 25 Toledo 8-2-0 24 Northern Ill. 5-3-2 17 Eastern Mich. 5-3-2 17 BGSU 5-5-0 15 Kent State 5-5-0 15 Ohio 4-5-1 13 Miami 4-5-1 13 Buffalo 3-6-1 10 Central Mich. 3-7-0 9 Western Mich. 2-6-2 8 Akron 1-5-4 7 (teams earn 3 pts. for a win, 1 for a tie)
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Early in the second half, Tamerlano's pass found Yee for a scoring chance, but Wilson was able to make a diving save on the junior's shot. Five minutes later, freshman Meagan Moran made a nice run into the box and tried to slide a pass to Tamerlano, but a UA defender knocked the ball away at the last minute.
Shortly thereafter, Yee played a drop pass to Moran, but the freshman's shot was blocked. Seconds later at the other end of the field, UA's Kristen Gregg fired a shot just wide of the left post.
Yee's goal came several minutes later, and the junior had another grade-A scoring chance midway through the half. After a BG free kick was blocked in the penalty area, the ball went to Yee at the top of the box. Yee made a move to her left and fired a high shot. Only an acrobatic leaping save by Wilson kept Yee from doubling the home team's lead.
With just under 17 minutes left, Akron had a scoring chance, but Arsenault knocked the ball away from a would-be striker, punching the ball out of play for a corner kick. Then, after the corner, the Falcon 'keeper made the save on a close-range header from Gregg.
The Zips kept the pressure on for most of the game's final eight-to-10 minutes, but the Falcon defense would not succumb to the pressure. Arsenault broke up several corner kicks and crossing balls, and the BG defenders managed to clear away every offensive attack by the visitors. The result was BGSU's sixth shutout of the season and the third in as many matches.
"Obviously, we are delighted for Corbie, for getting another game-winning goal," said Richards. "And, we are pleased with Alexa and the defense for getting another shutout. These are the people who make the headlines, of course, but we all know that the entire team is involved in the process and has a part in each win. That team effort is what is helping us to do so well right now.
"Again, we are pleased with today's win, and we look forward to a good contest vs. Toledo on Thursday."
As mentioned, the Falcons have clinched a berth in the MAC Tournament, and BGSU currently sits in a tie for fifth place. BG still has a shot at a top-four seed and a first-round home game in the MAC Tournament (more on that in the notes below). The Falcons will close the regular season with the aformentioned Thursday (Nov. 1) game at the arch-rival University of Toledo. That game will begin at 3:00 p.m. at UT's Scott Park Field.
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MAC RESULTS & SCHEDULE
Sunday's Results
Thursday's Matches
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* The Falcons' win gives BGSU a 5-5-0 MAC record and 15 points in the league standings ... teams earn three points for a win and one point for a tie ... BG's victory over Akron clinches a spot in the MAC Tournament for the Falcons, for the sixth consecutive season.
* The top-eight teams in the final regular-season standings will qualify for the MAC Tournament, with the first- through fourth-place finishers hosting the fifth- through eighth-place teams in next Sunday's (Nov. 4) quarterfinal round.
* Heading into the final day of the regular season, the Falcons sit in a tie for fifth place with Kent State ... BGSU would win a tiebreaker with the Golden Flashes by virtue of a win in the teams' head-to-head meeting.
* BGSU and KSU are two points behind Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois, who are tied for third place ... to earn a top-four seed and a home game in the quarterfinal round, the Falcons need to win at Toledo on Thursday and have either EMU or NIU lose their Thursday game ... EMU hosts Central Michigan on Thursday, while NIU plays at Western Michigan.
* As mentioned, Sunday was 'Senior Day' for the BGSU women's soccer program ... the team's four seniors -- team captains Danielle Cygan, Tiffany Hansen, Rachael Ross and Tiernay Tilford -- were recognized in pregame ceremonies on the field ... additionally, a number of former Falcon standouts were on hand for the ceremonies.
* The match was televised by BCSN ... according to the station's web site (www.bcsn.tv), the game is scheduled to air on Monday (Oct. 29) at 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. and Tuesday (Oct. 30) at 12:01 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
* As mentioned, redshirt freshman goalie Alexa Arsenault and the BGSU defense have posted three consecutive shutouts ... the Falcons had 1-0 wins over Miami and Ohio -- both in double overtime -- prior to Sunday's regulation triumph over UA by the identical score ... BG has put together a shutout streak of 296:43, the fourth-longest streak in school history.
* Arsenault has been in goal for that entire stretch, the fifth-longest such streak for an individual ... teammate Christy Zabek owns the longest streak in BGSU history, blanking opponents for 544:48 over parts of the 2005 and 2006 seasons.
* After Sunday's win over the Zips, Arsenault now has a 5-3-1 record and a goals-against average of just 0.78 ... all five of her wins have been complete-game shutouts.
* Junior Corbie Yee's goal on Sunday was her second of the season, and her second in as many games ... Yee also had the game-winning goal on Friday (Oct. 26) vs. Ohio.
* For Yee, it marks the second time in her career that she has had the GWG in both of BGSU's matches in a weekend ... Yee had the OT winner at Kent State last season (Oct. 13, 2006), then scored both BG goals in a 2-0 win over Buffalo two days later.
* Yee now has 11 career goals, most among active Falcons and the eighth-highest total in school history ... she has no fewer than six game-winning goals, ranking her fourth in BG history.
* Yee has moved into the BGSU top-10 in career scoring, with 31 points.
* Freshman Jackie Tamerlano picked up the primary assist on Yee's goal Sunday ... for Tamerlano, the assist was her first as a Falcon ... Tamerlano and Yee each have nine points this season, tied for second on the team behind sophomore Stacey Lucas (12).
* Junior Susan Hunter had her first assist of the season and the second of her career ... Hunter's other assist as a Falcon came in a win over Buffalo in her freshman season of 2005.
* The Falcons have won three consecutive 'Senior Day' matches, all by shutout, and BGSU is undefeated (3-0-1) in the last four such contests at Cochrane Field ... BG's last 'Senior Day' loss came to nationally-ranked Ohio State, 3-2 in overtime, in 2003.
