Bowling Green State University Athletics
Brown and Orange Prepare for Red, White and Blue Weekend
September 05, 2007 | Men's Soccer
Sept. 5, 2007
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Falcons of Bowling Green State University (1-0-1) will depart for yet another pair of games away from campus and are scheduled to face George Mason University (1-1-0) and American University (1-1-0) on Friday and Sunday, respectively ... the squad will trade the previous sand and water of the Miami area for the hustle and bustle of the DC-metro area with games in and around the Nations' capital ... fans not making the trip with the Orange and Brown can follow live with up to the minute stats via Gametracker for the George Mason match (gomason.com) and can listen to the internet broadcast of the American game (aueagles.com) ... for more information, visit the schedule page located on the hosts' websites.
Best Overall Start Since 2003
With the win, Bowling Green is off to its most impressive overall start since the 2003 season when the Falcons also tied their first match in a scoreless shutout against Cincinnati (Aug. 30) and bested UW-Green Bay 3-0 (Sept. 9) ... under Thompson, the Falcons most promising opening weekend occurred last season when BGSU went 1-1 beating Western Illinois, 2-1 (OT) and losing to Eastern Illinois, 2-1 at the Falcon Invitational.
Opening Weekend Outcomes in the Thompson Era (04-Pr.)
2004 - Sept. 1 Michigan State - L, 3-0 // Sept. 4 IUPUI (2OT) - L, 2-3
2005 (at UW-GB Nike Tournament) - Sept. 3 vs. Sacred Heart - L, 1-0 // Sept. 4 vs. Eastern Illinois (OT) - T, 1-1
2006 (hosts of Falcon Invitational) - Aug. 25 - Western Illinois (2OT) - W, 2-1 // Aug. 27 - Eastern Illinois - L 2-1
2007 - Aug. 31 - FIU (2OT) - T, 0-0 // Sept. 2 - FAU - W, 2-1
Party Like It's 1995 `Til the Cows [or Falcons] Come Home
Besides racking up a win in a draw to boast the best recent season start, the 1-0-1 record is the finest road start for the Falcons since 1995 ... to kick-off the mid-90's, BGSU recorded a pair or W's to begin the away portion of the 1995 schedule blanking New Hampshire 2-0 on Sept. 2 and beating WVU 6-2 in extra minutes on Sept. 4 ... the Falcons went on to claim first place in the Akron Acme Soccer Classic that same weekend.
Falcons Post Lucky Thirteenth Opening Day Shutout at FIU
Bowling Green State University junior goalkeeper Paul Shoemaker recorded four saves on nine shots as the Falcons pushed host Florida International to double-overtime before the season opener was decided a scoreless stalemate on Friday night (Aug. 31) ... the shutout was the second in Shoemaker's career with his other coming on the road as BGSU beat Detroit 3-0 in Michigan on October 2, 2006 .... the deadlock marked the 13th time in program history that BGSU held their opponent scoreless in their first competitive match of the season ... it was also the seventh time the Falcons and their opponent posted equal goal totals in the season opener ... additionally, the FIU match commemorated the only the third time in 43 seasons where a goal was not scored by either squad in the BGSU season opener.
McLean and Evwaraye Score First Goals As BG Trumps Owls
Underclassmen Thomas McLean and Chuko Evwaraye each netted their first collegiate goals as Bowling Green State University posted a 2-1 victory over Florida Atlantic University on Sunday (Sept. 2) afternoon at the FAU Soccer Stadium ... game time the temperatures reached into the high 80's but felt more like the mid-90's ... the Falcons, who met the Owls for the first time in program history this afternoon, added a bit more heat to the FAU Stadium early when sophomore Jacob Lawrence tested goalkeeper Phillip Lamarre with a header that was denied just 5:18 into the match ... Bowling Green continued to control the attack while creating scoring opportunities and had their first pay-off shot at the 28:23 mark when McLean, positioned on the right side of the Lamarre, slipped a diving header into the net for the Falcons' first goal of the match and the young 2007 campaign ... despite not scoring on his own header, Lawrence was credited with McLean's helper ... the Falcons extended their lead by yet another goal when Lawrence gave the FAU defense a bit of deja-vu, crossing an eventual assist to Evwaraye just over a half-hour into the match (31:12). ... the red-shirt sophomore finished the afternoon with game highs in total shots (4) and shots on goal (2) ... with their backs to the goal, the Falcons' defense held the Owls to four shots in the first period and a mere three in the second period allowing junior keeper Paul Shoemaker to face only two shots on goal for the day.
Spotlight on the Falcon Defense
Over the weekend the Falcons limited their opposition to just one goal, ranking as the lowest scoring weekend under Fred Thompson ... as a matter of fact, the Falcons defense held their opponents without a goal for the first 161:44 minutes of the new season ... in Bowling Green's storied history, the Orange and Brown have limited their first two opponents to a combined goal seven times with the last time coming in 1999 ... squads have also held challengers scoreless on seven occasions in their first pair of outings with the last unwrapping the 2003 season ... between the years of 1986-1991, BGSU allowed a combined four goals in the first two games of the season.
Barely Children of the 80's But Still Cracking the Starting Line-Up
Though most of the Falcon's starting line-up may not be old enough to remember the Saturday morning cartoon that inspired this summer's blockbuster movie Transformers, they are making an immediate impact for BGSU on the field ... seven underclassmen started both games this weekend with two others making appearances ... r-sophomore Chuko Evawaraye, true sophomores Tyler Deal, Jacob Lawrence and Hunter Van Houten were each listed twice on the starting line-up card while freshmen Matt Klancic, Thomas McLean and Dusko Topolic were also on the initial list ... sophomore Gavin Dozier and freshman Garrett Bireline also contributed time as reserves ... Evawaraye and McLean are responsible for 100% of the Falcons scoring in 2007.
Score Often and Score Early ... In Your Career with the Orange and Brown
As a result of Thomas McLean's successful scoring header against Florida Atlantic, he joins a group of six players on the active Falcon roster to net a goal in their first year of eligibility under Thompson ... of those six, only sophomore Ahmad Smith netted a quicker goal ... Smith's inaugural goal was scored in his first match with the team on Aug. 25, 2006 as the Falcons downed Western Illinois 2-1 (OT) at Mickey Cochrane Stadium while McLean's was in his second outing with BGSU ... note: Cameron Hepple scored in his red-shirt freshman season after sitting out his first season with the Falcons ... the Falcons are 3-3 under Thompson if one of his rookies scores their first goal that game.
Featured Fast Scoring Falcon Freshmen Under Fred
So. Hunter Van Houten - vs. Akron in MAC semifinals (L, 8-2 // Nov. 3, 2006 // 19th match of the season)
So. Jacob Lawrence - at Western Michigan (L, 2-1 // Oct. 22, 2006 // 17th match of the season)
R-So. Cameron Hepple - at Detroit (W, 3-0 // Oct. 3, 2005 // 12th match of the season)
Sr. Abolia Sandy - vs. Marshall (L, 5-2 // Oct. 24, 2004 // 10th match of season)
Fr. Thomas McLean - at Florida International (W, 2-1 // Sept. 2, 2007 // 2nd match of the season)
So. Ahmad Smith - vs. Western Illinois (W, 2-1 // Aug. 25, 2006 // 1st match of the season)
Is there a Shooter McGavin on the Roster?
Current shot leader Chuko Evwaraye has fired at-will six times including four direct attempts on goal ... already, he has outshot is career high of four total attempts in 2006 ... Jacob Lawrence shares the top slot of the leader board with six tries of his own ... Lawrence leads the team with two assists ... Thomas McLean and Matt Klancic lead all freshmen taking two shots with one coming on goal.
About the Patriots 1-1-0
(September 7- at George Mason Stadium)
The Patriots are fresh off a weekend of hosting the Adidas D.C. College Cup where they won one match and lost another ... George Mason beat Howard 3-0 in the first round of the tournament ... the squad lost to American University on the second day ... freshman Fro Adu scored twice in the span of less than 9:00 on Friday to open the season and ensure the win over Howard ... Adu is the younger brother of international soccer phenom Freddy Adu ... all four of the GMU goals have occurred in the second period ... the Pat's are out-shooting their opponents with a ratio of 15-27 on goal to attempts while their opponents are boasting a 8-18 ratio ... George Mason has also spent a majority of their time in the corner, taking 20 corner kicks already ... last season George Mason was 12-6-3 on the year ... this season they welcome back 22 letterwinners, including six starters.
Thompson - A Patriot and a Falcon
Friday's game will signify the first time head coach Fred Thompson will pace the GMU sidelines as anything but a Patriot ... between the years of 1892-85, he amassed 98 points and 40 goals, which rank fourth and fifth in Mason's record books, respectively ... for his efforts he was recognized as a two-time All-South Atlantic Region honoree, All-ECAC South honors his junior year and was named to the All-CAA squad in 1985 ... in May of 2006, Thompson was one of seven former Patriots inducted into the first class of the George Mason soccer Hall of Fame ... with the Falcons, he is only the fourth head coach of the program which has seen 44 full seasons of existence ... last season he saw two players earn All-MAC Tournament team membership (Hunter Van Houten and Kyle McNayr) and placed two on the MAC All-Academic team (Kyle McNayr and Ryan Perea) ... he also saw former Falcons Omari Aldridge (2005) and Justin Kim (2006) earn All-MAC status ... Aldridge's 11 goals that season also tied him for 8th all-time on the Falcon's single season scoring list ... in 2006, Thompson's Falcons upset Western Michigan in the quarterfinal match of the MAC Tournament and played in the semifinal match for the first time since 2003.
About the Eagles 1-1-0
(September 9 - at Reeves Athletic Complex)
The Eagles, also participants of the Adidas D.C. College Cup, split the season opening weekend with a win and a loss ... American opened the tournament with a 2-0 loss to George Washington but rebounded with a win over host George Mason, 2-1 ... junior Tremaine Chinapoo notched his first goal in the Mason match ... freshman Jamie Davin gave the Eagles a two-goal lead with his first collegiate netter in the same match ... American has scored twice on 22 attempts whereas the opposition has scored three times on 24 shots ... the Eagles were 6-10-3 at the conclusion of 2006 ... they return 14 letterwinners and seven starters ... American is the second first-time opponet of the Falcons' 2007 schedule.
Almost their Own Reality Show
While it is common to have several ties to other schools as a collegiate coach or player, this weekends matches will return Fred Thompson to an all to familiar region ... on Friday, Thompson will coach on the very field where he was a collegiate student-athelte when the Falcons take on George Mason ... on Sunday, he will coach against former GMU teammate Todd West when the Orange and Brown invade American University.
Quoting Head Coach Fred Thompson
" Right now we are focused on the preparation for the weekend's games and are not treating them as if they are any different from any other weekend. I do not feel as though the experience will take on a different feeling for me until we are actually at the stadium; even then I will be more focused on the goals of my own team. Nostalgia helps to bring back memories, but I will not be there on a personal trip to relive the old days - this team is making the trip to play to the best of their ability."
