Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU Faces Chippewas, Eagles to Open October
October 03, 2007 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 3, 2007
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, after opening the Mid-American Conference slate last weekend, conclude a season-long four-game homestand this weekend ... the Falcons of head coach Andy Richards (4-5-1, 1-1-0 MAC) wrap up a three-game stretch against the conference's Michigan institutions, hosting Central Michigan University on Friday (Oct. 5) and Eastern Michigan University on Sunday (Oct. 7) ... Friday's kickoff against the Chippewas is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at Cochrane Field, with Sunday's starting time set for 1:00 p.m.
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LIVE STATS ON THE WEB
Both of this weekend's matches will have live stats on the web ... all of BGSU's home games will have live stats via Gametracker ... for up-to-the-minute statistical information on all matches at Cochrane Field throughout the season, log on to BGSUFalcons.com.
THE FALCONS ARE ...
• 94-108-17 all-time, just over halfway through the 11th season in program history;
• 48-52-11 in Mid-American Conference regular-season matches;
• 28-22-3 overall in the last two seasons (plus 10 games);
• 26-13-4 vs. MAC schools over the last three-plus seasons (including regular-season and tournament matches), and 18-8-2 vs. conference foes in the last two-plus years;
• 46-48-8 in home games, including 15-7-2 at Cochrane Field in the last two-plus seasons (the '05 and '06 seasons mark BGSU's only two winning home records in history);
• 40-51-8 in road contests;
• 0-4-1 in Friday matches this season to date;
• 4-1-0 in Sunday contests so far in 2007;
• 40-44-7 in the month of October through the years;
• 26-0-0 in the last 26 games in which the Falcons have scored first, dating to the 2005 season opener;
• 2-1-0 all-time in matches played on Oct. 5, with a win in the only prior match at Cochrane Field on that date (a 3-0 victory over Akron in 2001 - the other two Oct. 5 games were a 4-2 loss at Western Michigan [1997] and a 3-2 win at Miami [2003] - tangent alert: in both the WMU and the Miami games, a team took a two-goal lead but wound up losing the game); and
• 1-0-0 in contests played on Oct. 7, with the lone prior match on that date coming at Cochrane (a 2-0 win over Ohio two years ago).
LAST WEEKEND
There were goals aplenty at Cochrane Field - a total of nine - as the Falcons opened the MAC schedule by splitting a pair of matches last weekend ... Northern Illinois spoiled BGSU's conference opener with a 3-2 win on Friday (Sept. 28) ... sophomore Stacey Lucas and freshman Alicia Almond scored the Falcons' goals ... on Sunday (Sept. 30), BG rallied back from an early deficit for a 3-1 win over Western Michigan ... freshman Jackie Tamerlano scored the home team's first goal of the day, while senior Danielle Cygan notched the other two BG goals ... junior Christy Zabek, who started both weekend games, made five saves vs. the Broncos to pick up the win.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
BGSU is 4-5-1 on the young season ... the Falcons have a 1-1 record in the MAC, a 2-2 ledger at Cochrane Field and a 2-3-1 mark on the road to date ... BG scored five goals in last weekend's two games, giving the team a total of 13 goals on the season (just four shy of the total for all of last season) ... freshman Jackie Tamerlano leads the Falcons with four goals and eight points this fall, while sophomore Stacey Lucas has three goals and seven points ... freshman Meagan Moran and senior Danielle Cygan each have four points this season to date ... Cygan has scored two goals, while Moran has a goal and two assists ... in goal, redshirt freshman Alexa Arsenault is 1-0-1 with 17 saves and a team-low goals-against average of 0.73 ... junior Christy Zabek has started seven matches, including each of last weekend's two games, and has a team-high 22 saves and a 1.96 GAA to date ... 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 Corbie 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.
TAMER-RIFFIC
Freshman Jackie Tamerlano has burst onto the scene in her first season at BGSU ... Tamerlano had her first collegiate multiple-goal match in the Falcons' 3-0 win at Youngstown State (Sept. 23) ... on Sunday (Sept. 30), she scored her team-high fourth goal of the season in BG's win over Western Michigan ... a native of North Royalton, Ohio, she leads the team with the four goals and eight points ... Tamerlano's goal total is higher than any Falcon player had during all of last year.
END OF A LENGTHY STREAK
Obviously, in a sport such as soccer, scoring the first goal of the match can be quite important ... here's how important ... Sunday's match vs. Western Michigan marked the first time in over two years that the team allowing the first goal of the match came back to win ... in each of the prior 49 consecutive BGSU matches, no team that scored the first goal wound up losing ... not since Sept. 11, 2005, had a team scored first, but eventually lost the match ... on that date, the Falcons surrendered a goal at Northern Arizona before rallying for a 2-1 win ... on the other side of the coin, BGSU has won 26 consecutive matches when scoring first ... the last time the Falcons scored the first goal, but did not win the game, came in the 2005 season opener vs. Oakland (a 4-1 loss; Aug. 26, 2005).
CYGAN RECORDS FIRST TWO-GOAL GAME
Senior Danielle Cygan scored a pair of goals in Sunday's win over Western Michigan ... the two-goal game was the first of her career ... she now has a total of six goals in her BGSU tenure ... a couple other semi-related notes ...
• Cygan's two-goal match was the third by a Falcon player in this season's first 10 games ... sophomore Stacey Lucas scored twice in BG's win over Eastern Illinois (Sept. 2), while freshman Jackie Tamerlano had a pair of goals in the win at Youngstown State (Sept. 23) ... the Falcons had only one two-goal game during all of last season (Corbie Yee vs. Buffalo; Oct. 15, 2006).
• Cygan scored the match-winning goal against Western Michigan at Cochrane Field for the second consecutive season ... she scored the first goal of the afternoon in last year's 2-0 win over the Broncos (Sept. 24, 2006) ... Cygan now has four game-winning goals in her career, tied with Yee for the most among active Falcons ... three of Cygan's six career goals have come vs. WMU.
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 75-74-13, 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
Central Michigan enters the week with an overall record of 4-5-0, and the Chippewas have a MAC mark of 0-2-0 entering Friday's match at BGSU ... Central will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak, including MAC road setbacks vs. Ball State (1-0) and Miami (3-2) last weekend ... that losing string came on the heels of a three-game win streak ... Stephanie Martin leads the team with 13 points, including five assists ... Martin, Amanda Waugh and Molly Gerst each have four goals ... three goalkeepers have seen action for the Chippewas, with Shay Mannino playing in a team-high seven matches ... she has 37 saves and a goals-against average of 1.17 ... head coach Tony DiTucci welcomed back nine letterwinners, including five starters, from last year's team that finished 13-4-2 overall and 6-3-2 in MAC play ... the school's athletics web site is www.cmuchippewas.com.
Eastern Michigan has a 3-4-2 record, and the Eagles are 1-1-0 in MAC play, entering Friday's match at Toledo ... Eastern picked up a 2-1 win at Miami last Friday, before falling at BSU by a 2-0 count ... EMU's other wins came against Detroit and IPFW ... individually, Maggie Christensen has a team-high three goals ... Christensen, Katie Lozar and Sara Schiffbauer all have six points this fall ... in net, Maggie Manville has played every minute for the Eagles, and has 42 saves and a GAA of 1.27 ... head coach Scott Hall returned 19 letterwinners, including 10 starters, from last year's club ... the 2006 edition of the Eagles went 6-10-2 overall and 3-8-0 in the MAC ... the school's athletics web site is www.emueagles.com.
The Falcons lead Central Michigan by a narrow 5-4-2 count in the all-time series between the teams ... the Chippewas hold a 3-1-1 lead in matches played at Cochrane Field, however, and BGSU has not won a home game vs. CMU since the Chips' inaugural season of 1998 ... last year, Central posted a 3-1 win at Cochrane Field, snapping a two-game BG series winning streak ... Danielle Cygan scored BGSU's goal in last year's match (Oct. 20, 2006).
The Falcons and Eastern Michigan are deadlocked, 6-6-1, in that series, with BG just 1-3-0 in home matches vs. the Eagles ... that home win, however, came last year (Oct. 22, 2006), a 1-0 triumph on a last-minute goal by Samantha Bland and a shutout by Christy Zabek ... a whopping nine series matches have been played in Ypsilanti, including three MAC Tournament quarterfinal contests ... overall, BGSU has won the last two series meetings with Eastern Michigan.
FALCON FACTS
The Falcons have scored 13 goals this season to date (1.30 per game), after notching a total of 17 goals (0.85 per game) during all of last year ... against Western Michigan, BGSU scored three goals in a match for the first time since Oct. 28, 2006 ... on that date, the Brown and Orange won, 3-2, at Toledo to clinch the '05 MAC regular-season title ... the Falcons have scored a total of eight goals in the last three games ... that marks BG's highest total in a three-game span since October of 2005 ... the Falcons are now 4-1-0 in Sunday matches this season to date ... senior Tiernay Tilford picked up an assist in each of last weekend's two games ... she now has a team-leading three helpers this season, and nine in her career, most among active Falcons ... junior Corbie Yee and freshman Meagan Moran each picked up their second assists of the year in the WMU match ... Yee now has six career assists, and is the Falcons' active career scoring leader with 24 points ... Alicia Almond scored her first collegiate goal in Friday's match vs. Northern Illinois ... Almond became the third Falcon freshman to score a goal this year to date, joining Moran and Jackie Tamerlano ... the Falcons and NIU are now tied, 6-6, in the all-time series between the teams ... the Huskies' win on Friday snapped a four-game series winning streak for the Brown and Orange.
TOUGH CROWD
The Falcons have perennially played a challenging non-conference schedule, and this season has been no exception ... Andy Richards and Company played six of the eight non-league matches away from home this fall, going 3-4-1 ... five of the eight opponents are currently ranked regionally, according to Soccer Buzz, with two among the national top-20 and a third receiving votes ... in this week's (Oct. 1) poll, West Virginia is rated third in the Mid-Atlantic Region and 22nd in the country ... four Falcon non-conference opponents are ranked in this week's Great Lakes Region top 15 ... that list includes Purdue (first in the region, 12th in the country), Kentucky (eighth regionally), Wright State (11th) and Michigan State (receiving votes) ... those five teams are a combined 34-13-5 on the season.
LOOKING TO EXTEND SOME IMPRESSIVE STREAKS
BGSU is looking to extend several streaks in 2007 ... last year, the Falcons finished with a winning record in MAC play for just the third time in the 10-year history of the program ... after going 9-2-0 in league action in 2005 and 7-4-0 in '06, the Falcons have posted back-to-back winning MAC records for the first time ever ... BGSU's only other winning MAC ledger came in 2002 (7-4-1) ... the '06 Falcons finished among the top-four teams in the MAC standings for only the third time (fourth in 2002, first in 2005) in school history, and the second-straight year ... overall, the Falcons have now posted three consecutive seasons of double-digit wins for the first time in school annals ... BG has had back-to-back records of at least .500 for the first time ever.
THE 2007 CAPTAINS
Seniors Danielle Cygan, Tiffany Hansen, Rachael Ross and Tiernay Tilford are the captains of the 2007 Falcons.
THOSE WHO STAY PLAY FOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
The BGSU women's soccer program is in its 11th season in 2007 ... through the first 10 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.
