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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Seniors Last Stand
October 31, 2007 | Men's Soccer
Oct. 31, 2007
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - While the Bowling Green State University men's soccer squad has plans to celebrate the careers of three of their teammates, the Falcons will also look to celebrate another victory in the Mid-American Conference ... the Northern Illinois Huskies will visit Mickey Cochrane Field as BGSU closes the home and regular season with the same match ... the final kick-off of the 2007 regular season is set for 1:00 p.m. on Friday (Nov. 2) ... the game will be broadcast live on BCSN and can also be followed via gametracker.
Keep `Em Quite
In each of his four outings as the last line of the Falcon defense, Brent Petkus and his defensive counterparts have held opposing squads scoreless for an average of 88:30 minutes ... Sunday's match against WMU marked his fourth perfect appearance in goal in the opening half of play this season ... the earliest a team has scored on Petkus and the Falcon defense was Detroit in the 75th minute of Wednesday's match ... historically, the keeper's win's and losses have corresponded depending upon the jersey he is wearing ... when in Orange, Petkus is undefeated.
Shooting Doubles ...
Abiola Sandy (5g) and Cameron Hepple (4g, 2a) are leading the Falcons with 10 points a piece this season marking the first time for multiple BGSU players to see double-digit scoring in one season ... Paul Dhaliwal (4g, 2a) and Paul Seip (2g, 6a) were the last two Falcons to end the season with 10 or more points in the same season (2002) ... Hunter Van Houten does not trail the leaders by much with eight points in 2007 on two goals and four assists.
HVH, AKA MAC POW
(Hunter Van Houten, Also Known as MAC Player of the Week)
Sophomore captain Hunter Van Houten was distinguished as the Mid-American Conference Player of the Week for his efforts in the Falcons back-to-back home wins last weekend ... two seemed to the key number for Van Houten as the Valparaiso, Ind. native made a pair of starts and went on to sink two goals while assisting on two other scores. ... he had almost a perfect weekend as a field player with his .667 shot percentage (2-3) and closed the two game stretch with six points ... by netting a goal in the non-conference finale against Detroit (W, 2-1) and sinking one versus Western Michigan (W, 4-1), the midfielder became the second Falcon to score in consecutive matches at home ... fellow captain Abiola Sandy was the first to do so this season after scoring against Central Arkansas University and Canisius College in the Falcon Classic in September ... the weekly honors mark the first of its kind in Van Houten's career with the Orange and Brown and the second time the MAC has recognized him this season ... on Sept. 21, he was named the conference Scholar-Athlete of the Week.
More on Falcon Players of the Week
With Hunter Van Houten earning the award, he and former POW Paul Shoemaker (Sept. 24, 2007) are the sixth group of BGSU teammates to earn POW mentions in the same season ... the last group to accomplish the feat was the combination of Ty Fowler and Chris Dore during the 1999 season ... Corbi Yee of the women's soccer Falcons was also named the Player of the Week completing the BGSU MAC sweep for just the second time in University history ... on October 13, 2003 both David DeGraff and Samantha Meister shared the spotlight of the award.
Non-Conference Summary
The Falcons were 4-7-2 when facing non-conference opponents in 2007 ... BGSU was 2-5-1 on the road when visiting opponent territory ... BG averaged 15.0 shots per game while the opposition was limited to 12.0 ... the Falcons earned more corners (82-46) throughout non-conference games ... their opponents were limited to less corner chances as time ticked away during a match ... in the first period they were awarded 23, but had 22 in the second, one in the first overtime and zero in a second overtime period ... Abiola Sandy, Chuko Evwaraye, Ryan Perea and Cameron Hepple each scored a game winner in non-conference matches ... keepers Paul Shoemaker and Brent Petkus combined for four NC shutouts ... the pair had a 1.38 GAA and 54 saves over the 13 match span.
Saying Good-Bye to A Trio of Falcons
The Perea Brothers (Ryan and Alec) and Abiola Sandy are the first class to play a full four years under head coach Fred Thompson at Bowling Green State University.
Alec Perea
Second on the team to brother, Ryan, with 58 matches played ... as a freshman, recorded one assists in 13 games played ... added 16 matches played to resume as well as four starts as a sophomore ... had biggest season of BG career as a junior playing in 17 games while entering the starting line-up in 16 of those contests ... not only netted a goal in the Detroit game, but also contributed assists against Furman, Pitt and in the MAC quarterfinal at Western Michigan ... went on to become the one of three team leaders in the assist category with three ... in his final season, he assisted on Nathanyal Thomas' first collegiate score at Michigan ... has played in 11 matches and has taken 14 shots this season.
Ryan Perea
After playing in 15 matches as a freshman, he now leads the team with 59 matches played ... 19 of those matches came in his sophomore season when he saw action in every Falcon contest ... netted first career goal in Falcons 3-2 double overtime over then No. 11 Ohio State at Mickey Cochrane Field ... also assisted on a goal that season at St. Mary's College ... as a junior, the Sport Management major earned All-MAC academic honors after starting in 12-of-16 matches played ... scored twice last season against Furman and Evansville ... at Furman, brother Alec was responsible for assist on goal ... contributed two assists in Detroit win and one in Akron ... went on to become the one of three team leaders in the assist category with three ... as a senior, has netted four points with a goal and two assists in eight apperances ... picked up helpers for Abiola Sandy and Hunter Van Houten against Canisius and Western Michigan, respectively ... scored the game winning goal against Detroit.
Abiola Sandy
Was the first of his classmates to net a collegiate goal and the first rookie to do so under Thompson on Sept. 26, 2004 against then MAC opponent Marshall ... second goal came at Northern Illinois ... also notched an assist in his freshman season ... ... recorded game winning goal in 3-1 win over Cleveland State ... picked up assists number two and three against Loyola and Western Illinois ... as a junior saw action in 12 games with eight starts ... named a tri-captain of the 2007 squad ... scored the game winning goal in the second over time of the Central Arkansas match ... scored second consecutive goal of that weekend against Canisius on Sept. 20, 2007 making him one of two Falcons to net a goal in back-to-back matches ... sunk a goal in Falcons win at Wright State ... dropped third MAC goal on Hartwick ... was one of four Falcons to score in the squad's 4-1 victory over Western Michigan ... has scored in four-of-six home matches ... leads team with five goals in 2007.
Quoting Head Coach Fred Thompson
on Alec Perea:
"It is not every coach that gets to work with such a talented player. I've watched Alec grow from a skillful kid into a player who can impact games. With each year he has added more weapons to his arsenal and now is a credible threat from inside or outside the box. He sorts through attacking scenarios and tends to make good decisions quickly."
on Ryan Perea:
"When it comes to tools, there aren't many that Ryan doesn't possess - he's extremely technical, he's strong, he's quick, he's an excellent 1v1 defender and he has a bite to him. He's the type of player you don't want toplay againstbecause in the end he can make you look bad. He has the confidence in his abilities that we'd like to build into each of our players."
on Abiola Sandy:
"Abi is the example you want to hold up to everyone when it comes to college sports. Once an undersized but talented freshman who had to deal with huge adjustment issues - now team captain and unequivocal leader. His growth as a person, a student and an athlete has been tremendous.He is committedto do whatever the team needs and he brings a unique energy that doesn't just liven things up, it makes us better."
About the Huskies
(November 2 - Mickey Cochrane Field)
The 5-7-4 Huskies appear to be very similar to the Falcons on paper ... each have similar seasonal records and are 1-2-1 in the MAC ... while the Falcons lost to Akron, NIU held the Zips to a scoreless tie ... whereas the Falcons battled Hartwick to a double-OT tie, NIU dropped the contest 3-0 ... both teams also forced OT with Buffalo with the Bulls taking both games ... each squad also beat WMU 4-1 in league play ... each has faced four nationally ranked opponents ... Marcus McCarty (the Huskies leading scorer) has 11 points with five goals and an assist where as the Falcons top threat, Abiola Sandy leads BG with five goals ... like the Falcons, the NIU keepers have also posted four shutouts this season ... NIU has come on strongest in the second half scoring eight goals in the later period of regulation ... NIU leads the all-time series 6-10-0 winning the last three contests.
##BGSU SOCCER##
