Bowling Green State University Athletics
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WESTERN MICHIGAN
BGSU Bounces Back, Busts Broncos, 3-1
September 30, 2007 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 30, 2007
Falcons 3, Broncos 1 -- Final Stats
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - Senior Danielle Cygan scored two goals to lift the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team to a 3-1 win over visiting Western Michigan University Sunday afternoon (Sept. 30). The Mid-American Conference contest was held at BGSU's Cochrane Field.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 4-5-1 overall and 1-1-0 in MAC play. The Broncos fall to 2-6-1 and 0-2-0, respectively.
Freshman Jackie Tamerlano scored the Falcons' other goal, her team-leading fourth of the season. Thalia Playford scored the lone goal for the Broncos.
Sunday's game marked the first time in over two years that the team surrendering the first goal wound up winning. In each of 49 consecutive matches, the team scoring first had not lost, but that streak was snapped as BG rallied back from a 1-0 deficit for a 3-1 win over the Broncos.
 Danielle Cygan converts a penalty kick late in the first half of Sunday's win (photo by Larry Clapper)  |
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"I am especially pleased with that, and I am also pleased to see a lot of different people contributing. We had four different players score goals over the weekend, and many others made contributions to those goals, and to the win today."
The Falcons had fallen behind early in Friday's (Sept. 28) match, the MAC opener vs. Northern Illinois. Again on Sunday, it was the visitors breaking on the scoreboard in the early going.
The Broncos drew first blood when Patrice Impelido's through-ball found Playford streaking down the center of the pitch. Playford made no mistake with her shot, rolling it just inside the right post and leaving Falcon junior goalkeeper Christy Zabek no chance. WMU held a 1-0 lead with just 11:17 elapsed.
Midway through the half, the Falcons threatened when junior Corbie Yee fired a shot from the left side of the penalty area. Western 'keeper Julia Francy was forced to make a leaping deflection to direct the ball out of play. Several minutes later, however, the Falcons would get on the board.
In the 26th minute, freshman Meagan Moran played a ball to Tamerlano on the left side. Tamerlano fired a ball that sailed over Francy's head and hit the netting on the far side of the goal. Moran drew the lone assist on the play, and the teams were all even at the 25:12 mark.
Not long before halftime, the Falcons took the lead for good. Junior Kristin McDonald went down in the penalty area, and BGSU was awarded a penalty kick. Cygan placed the ball into the right side of the goal, giving Francy no chance to make a save, and the Brown and Orange led by a 2-1 count.
"Credit must go to Danielle today," said Richards. "I was impressed to see her step up to take the penalty kick. It wasn't something that we had decided before the game, but I was impressed to see her take on that responsibility. It's a pressure situation anyway, with the score tied just before halftime, but I was pleased with the way she stepped up to the challenge and placed the ball where the 'keeper couldn't get it."
Early in the second half, the Broncos' Valerie McIntyre took a free kick from the left side. Her shot was high and hard, but Zabek made a leaping effort to deflect the ball off of the crossbar. Western was unable to corral the rebound for a follow-up shot.
At the 63:13 mark, Cygan provided the Falcons some insurance, in the process scoring one of the prettiest goals of the season. Senior Tiernay Tilford played Yee down the right side of the field, and the junior cut inside to elude a defender. Yee uncorked a crossing ball, and Cygan tracked it down on the left side of the goal.
Cygan had time to settle the cross and take a dribble or two before firing a laser shot into the very upper right-hand corner of the goal. The 'postage stamp' goal from approximately 18 yards out gave the Falcons a two-goal lead.
"That was just a great goal for Danielle, and I was delighted for her," said Richards. "That is something that I think she does very well -- cutting inside and shooting -- and I have encouraged her to do more of that. I was pleased to see that she got the results she did today, and she could not have placed that ball any better."
The Falcons were not out of the woods just yet, as action picked up at both ends. BG had chances to increase the lead in the late going. A Cygan cross found the head of Tamerlano, who redirected it just over the goal. Senior Rachael Ross fired a shot that looked as if it had a chance to get inside the far (right) post, but Francy was able to grab it.
At the other end, Zabek punched away a cross with several WMU attackers in the vicinity. The play led to a BGSU counterattack, but Tamerlano's shot was blocked at the last instant.
With under six minutes remaining. Western's Kelsey Carmichael got all of a volleying try, but Zabek made another leaping save, redirecting the shot off the bar. The save was arguably the most spectacular stop of the five saves Zabek made on the afternoon.
"We are very grateful for the save that Christy made at that point in the game," said Richards. "It was important for us to keep that two-goal lead and avoid giving Western Michigan more hope and producing a tighter finish."
Ninety seconds after that save, Western was forced to play a player short after McIntyre was given a red card for a hard challenge against Zabek. Neither team had a shot attempt in the final five minutes as the Falcons preserved the two-goal lead and picked up MAC victory number one on the season.
BGSU held a 19-10 advantage in total shot attempts, and the Falcons had nine shots on goal to the Broncos' six. Zabek, as mentioned, had five saves, all of which came in the second half.
At the other end of the field, Francy made six stops, including five after halftime.
"This was an important win today," said Richards. "We are, of course, delighted to get our first MAC win, and I am excited about the way the team is coming together. We showed some character, and we are getting contributions from a number of different people. Is is crucial for us to continue to do those things, if we are going to have success this year."
The Falcons will be home for a pair of matches again next weekend, beginning with a Friday (Oct. 5) contest vs. Central Michigan University. That match will begin at 4:00 p.m. at Cochrane Field. Then, on Sunday (Oct. 7), the Falcons will meet Eastern Michigan University in a 1:00 p.m. contest at Cochrane, closing a season-long four-game homestand.
FALCON NOTES
* Senior Danielle Cygan's two-goal game was the first of her career ... she now has a total of six goals in her BGSU tenure.
* Cygan's two-goal game was the third by a Falcon player in this season's first 10 games ... sophomore Stacey Lucas scored twice in the Falcons' win over Eastern Illinois (Sept. 2), while freshman Jackie Tamerlano had a pair of goals in last Sunday's (Sept. 23) win at Youngstown State ... 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 for the second consecutive season ... she scored the first goal of the afternoon in last year's 2-0 win over the Broncos at Cochrane Field (Sept. 24, 2006) ... Cygan now has four game-winning goals in her career, tied with Yee for the most among active Falcons.
* Sunday's game marked the first time in over two years that the team surrendering the first goal wound up winning ... in each of 49 consecutive matches, the team scoring first had not lost, but that streak was snapped as BG rallied back from a 1-0 deficit for a 3-1 win over the Broncos ... not since Sept. 11, 2005, had a team scored first, but eventually lost ... on that date, the Falcons surrendered a goal at Northern Arizona before rallying for a 2-1 win.
* (Quick side note -- BGSU did not score the first goal on Sunday ... but, BG has won each of the last 26 games in which the Falcons have scored first ... the last time BG scored the first goal, but did not win the game, came in the 2005 season opener vs. Oakland [4-1 loss; Aug. 26, 2005].)
* The Falcons have scored 13 goals this season to date, after scoring a total of 17 goals during all of last season.
* BGSU scored three goals in a MAC match for the first time since Oct. 28, 2005 ... 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 (4-0 win over Buffalo and 2-1 wins at both Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan; Oct. 16-23, 2005) ... the Falcons have not scored more goals in a three-game period since early October of 2004 (10 total goals in wins over Cleveland State, Akron and Miami).
* The Falcons are now 4-1-0 in Sunday matches this year to date.
* Tamerlano's goal was her fourth of the season, more than any Falcon player had during all of last year ... in 2006, Cygan, Yee and Brianne Eisenhard each scored three goals to tie for the team lead.
* Senior Tiernay Tilford picked up her third assist of the season, and her second in as many games ... she now has nine career assists, most among active Falcons.
* Yee and freshman Meagan Moran each picked up their second assists of the year ... Yee now has six career assists, and is the Falcons' active career scoring leader with 24 points.
* The game was aired locally by the Buckeye Cable Sports Network (BCSN) in Toledo ... the station will air the BGSU-WMU contest on a tape-delay basis, with airings scheduled for Sunday night at 10:30 p.m., Monday (Oct. 1) at 12:30 p.m. and Tuesday (Oct. 2) at 5:00 a.m.
