Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
EASTERN MICHIGAN
Falcons Win in OT, 2-1, Head to MAC Tournament Semifinals
November 04, 2007 | Women's Soccer
Nov. 4, 2007
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, for the second-straight game, rallied from a late deficit for a 2-1 win. This time, the win was in overtime, the opponent was Eastern Michigan University and the game was a Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinal. Junior Corbie Yee's 'Golden Goal' Sunday afternoon (Nov. 4) at Cochrane Field propelled the Falcons into the semifinal round of the league tourney.
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MAC TOURNAMENT
Quarterfinals - Sunday #4 BGSU 2, #5 Eastern Mich. 1 (OT) #1 Ball State 1, #8 Miami 0 #2 Toledo 4, #7 Kent State 3 #3 Northern Ill. 1, #6 Ohio 0 Semifinals - Friday, Nov. 9 (at Muncie, Ind.) #2 Toledo vs. #3 NIU, 11:00 a.m. #4 BGSU at #1 Ball State, 2:00 p.m. Championship - Sunday, Nov. 11 Semifinal winners, 1:00 p.m.
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Eastern Michigan, the tournament's fifth seed, finishes the 2007 season with an overall record of 7-8-4.
"It was another fantastic performance from the team today; a nail-biter, for sure," said BGSU head coach Andy Richards. "Eastern Michigan may be the best-coached program in the league. They are very hard to play against. They are extremely well-organized, they made it very difficult for us, and it took all of the 90 minutes of regulation to get at them and force the overtime.
"And, to be fair, it took a bit of luck for us to get the winner as well."
The game was somewhat similar to the Falcons' final regular-season match on Thursday (Nov. 1) at Toledo, in that BG conceded the game's first goal, then rallied for two late scores and the win. At UT, the goals (both by Meagan Moran) came in the final two minutes of the second half.
On Sunday, BGSU's first goal came with only 4:24 left in regulation, off the head of sophomore Samantha Bland, before Yee's winner just 1:46 into OT.
Carissa Wilson scored for the visitors, giving Eastern a 1-0 lead late in the first half.
The Eagles held an 8-6 advantage in shot attempts in the first half, but the Falcons had 11 shots to the visitors' three in the second half. For the game (after each team had one shot in OT), the hosts held an 18-12 advantage in total shots, but a whopping 11-2 margin in shots on goal.
Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Alexa Arsenault had one save in the victory, and also picked up her first collegiate point with an assist on the game's winning goal. EMU freshman Maggie Manville made nine saves in her complete-game effort.
The Eagles had the first four shot attempts of the game, including what appeared to be a good scoring chance by Jessica Lathrop with just under eight minutes elapsed. Lathrop, on the right side of the penalty area, collected a crossing pass and fired, but BG junior defender Kaitlyn Kobe made a lunging effort to block the shot and get the ball out of danger.
Eight minutes later, some nifty passing by the Eagles led to another scoring chance. With just under 15 minutes elapsed in the game, the final pass went to Ashley Rodrigues, who uncorked a spinning shot that sailed just high.
The Falcons' first shot of the game came midway through the half, off the boot of Moran. Moran also had the home team's second shot of the day, with 13-and-a-half minutes remaining before the intermission. That shot forced Manville to make a diving save near the far (left) post.
Less than a minute later, the Eagles had several scoring chances in a flurry of action. After a BG foul just outside the penalty area, Sara Schiffbauer fired a free kick, and her shot hit the crossbar. The rebound came back to Schiffbauer, who saw her follow-up try blocked by a Falcon defender.
That carom, however, went to Deana Kinter, who fired a low shot through traffic. Arsenault saw the shot all the way, though, and made a diving save near the left goalpost.
Only a minute or so after that offensive onslaught came a scoring chance at the other end. Kobe played a left-side entry ball into the box, and Manville appeared to misjudge the kick's trajectory. The 'keeper did not handle the ball cleanly, and Falcon soph Faith Juillerat was able to get possession on the right side of the goal. Juillerat played a pass to junior Brianne Eisenhard, but her shot was blocked by an EMU defender at the last instant.
With just under four minutes to go in the half, however, the Eagles got on the scoreboard. Maggie Christensen tracked down a ball near the end line and played a right-side cross. The ball found Wilson lurking at the far post, and her header gave the visitors a one-nil lead.
With the announcer counting down the final five seconds of the first half (it was supposed to be a 10-second countdown, but good help can sometimes be hard to find), Juillerat managed to get off a last-second shot from about 40 yards out. Manville made the save just before the clock hit 0:00, and the Eagles had the halftime lead.
The Eagles kept up the pressure in the early moments of the second half, and had three corner kicks in a four-minute span, but could not get a shot on goal during that stretch. Meanwhile, BG was beginning to get the offense untracked.
With just over 30 minutes left in regulation, Kobe and sophomore Stacey Lucas worked a give-and-go down the left side of the field. Lucas put Kobe into space with a pass downfield, and Kobe cut back inside to elude a defender, then slid a return ball to Lucas. Lucas fired a low shot that Manville was able to grab on the short-hop.
With under 20 minutes on the clock, soph Jen Czapka took a shot from approximately 22 yards out that nearly went in. But, Manville was able to make a leaping save at the last instant, tipping the ball over the bar for a corner kick.
Off of that corner, Bland headed a shot that sailed just wide. The Falcon soph would get another chance, however, and would make the most of it.
Beginning with Czapka's aforementioned shot, the Falcons took the final nine shot attempts of the second half. Manville and the EMU defense were equal to every task until the final five minutes. The Eastern GK saved a shot by Falcon freshman Katie Stephenson, and the ball went over the end line for a corner kick.
Moran took the kick, from the left side, and her curving ball found the head of Bland. The sophomore's leaping effort, in traffic, found nothing but net, and the game was tied. Bland's shot was the last in regulation, and the teams went to the extra session.
In the OT, the Eagles had the first chance, but Katie Lozar's header off a Stephanie Janssens corner kick sailed wide.
The ensuing goal kick by Arsenault was high and deep. As the ball bounced, Yee used her body to shield a would-be Eastern defender, corralled the ball and took a few dribbles.
The Falcon striker cut to her right and, from just outside the penalty area, fired a shot. Manville moved to her right, but the shot glanced off the body of an Eastern defender and headed toward the other side of the goal. Manville was unable to change direction in time, and the ball spun into the right side of the net to spark off a Falcon celebration.
For Yee, the goal was her third of the season, and also was her third game-winning goal of the year.
"We are delighted to get the win," said Richards. "We have a habit, lately, of coming back from the dead in the last few minutes of games, and I am very excited to see that.
"Sam Bland's goal was a great one. We ask her to do that on set pieces, and she did her job. Also, Alexa did a great job, having the presence of mind to serve that long ball in overtime for Corbie to finish off.
"Credit, though, should go to everyone. We appreciate the fans being there; they provided some great support in our last home game of the year. It was a wonderful atmosphere, a great way to end the home season, and we are tremendously excited to remain alive in the MAC Tournament."
The Falcons, as mentioned, now head to Muncie for Friday's matchup with top-seeded Ball State. The Cardinals were 1-0 winners over Miami in Sunday's quarterfinal round.
Friday's first semifinal will feature #2 seed Toledo (4-3 winners over Kent State) against #3 seed Northern Illinois (1-0 victors against Ohio). The UT-NIU match is set for 11:00 a.m., with the Falcons and Cardinals scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. start.
NOTES
* Where do we even start? How about here ...
* The Falcons' win Sunday was the 100th in program history, and the 10th in the MAC Tournament ... BGSU is now 10-5-3 in the league tourney, for the second-most MAC Tournament wins of any team (Miami is 13-4-1).
* BGSU is heading to the MAC Tournament's semifinal round for the seventh time ... that ties the Falcons with Ohio for the most semifinal trips in MAC history.
* The Falcons are now 3-1-2 in MAC Tournament home games, having advanced via penalty kicks in both of the ties, which came in 2005 ... that means BGSU has advanced in five of the six home tourney games in program history.
* The Falcons improve to 6-1-1 in the quarterfinal round of the league tourney.
* BGSU is now a perfect 4-0-0 in MAC Tournament matches vs. Eastern Michigan, with all four games coming in the quarterfinal round ... the Falcons won road games vs. the Eagles in the 1998, 2000 and 2003 MAC Tournaments.
* The win over EMU gives the Falcons an all-time record of 17-14-17 in overtime matches ... BGSU is now 8-11-8 in home overtime games, and 3-2-3 in MAC Tournament contests that require OT.
* The Falcons have played seven OT matches in 2007 to date ... the school record is eight OT matches, as teh Falcons went 2-3-3 in 2003.
* BGSU has tied the school record for overtime wins in a season ... BGSU is now 3-3-1 in OT in 2007 ... the Falcons went a perfect 3-0-0 in OT contests last season ... BGSU also won three overtime matches in 2000 (3-1-1).
* The Falcons are now tied with Eastern Michigan, 7-7-1, in the all-time series between the teams ... BGSU is now 2-4-0 vs. the Eagles in home games, but, as mentioned, the Falcons are 4-0-0 against Eastern in the league tourney.
* Corbie Yee's goal on Sunday was her second 'Golden Goal' of the season and the third of her career, tying the school record in each case ... Samantha Meister held both marks, with her three OT goals as a Falcon including a pair in the 2003 season.
* All three of Yee's goals this season have been game-winning goals ... the junior has scored the winner in each of the Falcons' last three home games; vs. Ohio (Oct. 26), Akron (Oct. 28) and EMU.
* Yee now has seven career GWG, tying her for third on the BGSU list ... Kristy Coppes had no fewer than 14 game-winning goals from 2001-04, while Meister (2002-05) had eight and Jill Conover (1999-2002) had seven.
* Yee is the Falcons active career leader in goals (12) and points (33) ... she is now tied with Julie Trundle (2002-05) for seventh in career goals at BGSU ... Yee now ranks ninth in points, having moved past Beth Wechsler (32 from 1998-2001) with her goal on Sunday.
* Yee is only the second player in school history to score more than one goal in the MAC Tournament ... she now has a career total of five points (two goals, one assist) in the league tourney ... Coppes had a whopping six goals and 13 points in MAC Tournament matches.
* Sophomore Samantha Bland now has three career goals ... two of those goals have been instrumental in the Falcons' only two home wins over Eastern Michigan ... last season (Oct. 22, 2006), Bland scored in the final minute for a 1-0 win over the Eagles late in the regular season ... on Sunday, of course, her header tied the match with fewer than five minutes remaining.
* Yee's winning goal came off of a long kick by redshirt freshman Alexa Arsenault ... for Arsenault, the play marked not only her first career point, but her first game-winning assist as well ... she is the first Falcon goalie to pick up an assist in over five years (Erika Flanders vs. Detroit on Sept. 4, 2002).
* Andy Richards now has an overall record of 81-78-13 as a collegiate head coach, all with the Falcons ... his teams have been at their best come tournament time, as Richards-coached squads are now 9-4-3 in the MAC Tournament ... BGSU has gotten the job done in 12 of the 16 league tourney games in the Richards Era, having advanced via penalty kicks in all three of the ties.
* The Falcons have finished the home portion of the schedule with a winning record for the third time in school history ... all three have come in the last three years ... BGSU finished with a .500 record at Cochrane Field three times in the first eight years of the program (1997, 2001 and 2002), before going 7-2-2 at home in 2005, 7-5-0 in '06 and 5-4-0 this season ... BGSU is now 49-50-8 all-time in home games.
