Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Begin Three-Game Homestand to End Regular Season
October 22, 2008 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 22, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, coming off back-to-back losses for the first time in a year, looks to bounce back with a pair of Mid-American Conference home games this weekend ... the Falcons of head coach Andy Richards (9-5-3, 4-3-1 MAC) close the regular season with a three-game homestand, starting with Friday's (Oct. 24) game vs. Kent State University ... the Falcons and Golden Flashes will meet in a 3:00 p.m. match at Cochrane Field ... then, the Brown and Orange will face the University at Buffalo in Sunday (Oct. 26) action, beginning at 1:00 p.m. at Cochrane ... the latter game will mark 'Senior Day' for the Falcons.
BGSU Release & Stats in PDF Format
LIVE STATS ON THE WEB
Both of this weekend's matches are scheduled to have live stats on the web ... all of BGSU's home games have live stats once again in 2008, through the magic of Gametracker ... for up-to-the-minute statistical information for all matches at Cochrane Field, simply log on to BGSUFalcons.com ... the Gametracker link(s) can be found by accessing the women's soccer schedule, and clicking on that day's game.
THANKS, SENIORS
Sunday's game vs. Buffalo, the last regular-season weekend game at Cochrane Field, will be 'Senior Day' for the Falcon women's soccer program ... BGSU's six-woman senior class will be recognized in pre-game ceremonies ... that senior class includes co-captains Brianne Eisenhard and Susan Hunter, as well as Kristin McDonald, Gina Rossi, Corbie Yee and Christy Zabek.
THE FALCONS ARE ...
• 109-117-22 all-time, in the 12th season in program history;
• 43-31-8 overall in the last three-plus seasons;
• 57-59-12 in Mid-American Conference regular-season matches;
• 36-20-7 vs. MAC schools over the last four-plus seasons (including regular-season and tournament matches), and 28-15-5 vs. league foes in the last three-plus years;
• 54-51-8 at home, and 24-12-2 at Cochrane Field in the last three-plus years;
• 9-3-2 since the start of September;
• 5-1-0 at Cochrane this year, with the only loss coming to nationally-ranked Michigan State;
• 47-57-12 in road contests;
• 8-9-2 all-time in neutral-site matches;
• 47-50-8 in October matches;
• 1-2-1 in games played on Oct. 24 (including a 1-1-1 mark at Cochrane Field, and a 1-0-1 record in home MAC games on that date);
• 3-2-0 in Oct. 26 matches (with a 2-2-0 home record and a three-game winning streak on that date - more on Oct. 26 games later in this release);
• 39-1-1 in the last 41 games in which BG scored first (9-0-0 this season); and
• 0-5-1 in 2008 matches in which the opponent has scored first (with the tie coming at Ohio State).
LAST WEEKEND
The Falcons suffered a pair of 2-0 losses on the road last weekend ... BGSU fell to Central Michigan on Friday (Oct. 17) and Eastern Michigan two days later ... the Chippewas got on the board early in the second half of Friday's game, and doubled the lead approximately 10 minutes later ... redshirt sophomore Alexa Arsenault made eight saves vs. Central ... then, on Sunday (Oct. 19), Eastern got a goal in the 14th minute, and doubled the lead with a penalty kick late in the first half ... BGSU held an 11-3 advantage in shots in the second half, but could not cut into the Eagles' lead ... Arsenault had five saves in that match.
YOU CAN'T SPELL "OCT. 26" WITHOUT "O-T"
Sunday will mark the third consecutive year in which the Falcons have played a home game on Oct. 26 ... in each of the last two seasons, BGSU has won in overtime on that date ... this year, Oct. 26 will mark 'Senior Day' for the Falcons ... two of those seniors have scored a 'Golden Goal' on that date ... two years ago, Brianne Eisenhard scored in the second OT to give BG a win over Toledo in the regular-season finale ... that win clinched a top-four seed and a home berth for the Falcons in the MAC Tournament ... another member of the 2008 senior class, Christy Zabek, made three saves to earn the shutout in that '06 win ... then, last year, Corbie Yee scored in the second overtime to give BG another 1-0 victory, this time over Ohio.
CAN'T SPELL "OCT. 26" ... PART TWO
As mentioned, the Falcons have a 3-2-0 record in games played on Oct. 26 ... the last four meetings on that date have gone to overtime ... in BG's lone OT loss on Oct. 26, Kent State posted a 2001 win at Cochrane Field ... two years later, the Falcons picked up a 4-3 win at Marshall ... that victory gave the Falcons the eighth and final seed in the MAC Tournament (tangent alert: BG actually had to wait to find out the score of another game that day, before being assured that they indeed had made the tournament ... then, as the eighth seed, the Falcons advanced all the way to the championship game).
WILL HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF?
Last weekend marked the Falcons' first back-to-back losses in exactly one year ... BG had last suffered consecutive setbacks on Oct. 14 and 19 of last season ... after that Oct. 19 loss in 2007, the Brown and Orange went on a seven-match unbeaten streak to end the season, a streak that took BG all the way to the championship game of the MAC Tournament ... BGSU won four-straight games to end the regular season, then picked up an overtime win in the 2007 MAC Tournament ... the Falcons had a pair of ties in the next two rounds of the tourney, advancing past Ball State via penalty kicks in the semifinals before seeing Toledo advance through PKs in the MAC Tournament's championship match.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons are 9-5-3 on the season, and BGSU is 4-3-1 in MAC play ... with three games remaining in the regular season, the Falcons are in a three-way tie for fifth place in the 12-team league ... only one point separates the third- through seventh-place teams in the standings ... BG will close the regular season with three home contests ... the Brown and Orange will look to rebound after road losses vs. Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan last weekend ... despite the setbacks, the Falcons are 9-3-2 since the beginning of September ... no fewer than 15 different Falcons have scored at least one goal this season to date ... seniors Corbie Yee and Gina Rossi currently lead the way ... Yee paces the Falcons with five goals and 12 points, while Rossi has four goals and 10 points ... sophomore Katie Stephenson has three goals this fall, and is third on the team with eight points ... freshmen Megan Amann and Alyssa Zuccaro each have seven points ... Zuccaro has three goals, and Amann has a team-leading five assists this year to date ... redshirt sophomore Alexa Arsenault has started all 17 matches, and has 91 saves and a goals-against average of just 0.77 ... senior Christy Zabek has played over 76 minutes of shutout ball in three relief appearances ... BGSU returned 18 of 23 letterwinners, including nine starters, from a 2007 squad that went 10-9-3 overall and 6-5-0 in MAC play ... the '07 Falcons finished fourth in the final conference standings, then advanced all the way to the MAC Tournament's championship match for the fourth time in five seasons ... the returning Falcons combined for nearly 90 percent of the team's goals scored in 2007, while the two returning goalkeepers combined to start 21 of the team's 22 matches last fall.
RECORD SHUTOUT STREAK COMES TO AN END
BGSU's school-record shutout streak came to an end Friday (Oct. 17) at Central Michigan ... the Chippewas' first goal of the game snapped a streak of 606:31 without the Falcon defense allowing a goal ... redshirt sophomore Alexa Arsenault was in goal for that entire streak, a school record for an individual.
A FEW MORE NOTES ON THE SHUTOUT STREAK(S)
• The Falcons had a school record-tying streak of four consecutive shutouts last month, a streak which came to an end with a 2-1 loss at Northern Illinois on Sept. 26 ... but, BGSU bounced back with another shutout win at Western Michigan two days later, the first of five-straight shutouts to set a new record.
• After posting that September shutout streak of 425:34 (now the third longest in BG annals), the Falcons' topped that with the recent stretch of 606:31 without allowing a goal ... the old record was 445:03, set in October of 2005 (coinciding with BG's first-ever streak of four-straight shutouts).
• Redshirt sophomore Alexa Arsenault, as mentioned, was in goal for the entire 606:31 of the most recent streak, the longest streak of her career and a new BG record ... her previous best was a streak of 380:34 earlier this year, a streak which ended at NIU ... Arsenault's most recent streak broke the old record set by Christy Zabek ... Zabek had a scoreless streak of 544:48 to begin her Falcon career (Sept. 16, 2005 to Oct. 20, 2006).
LEADERS OF THE MAC
Despite being blanked in both games last week, the Falcons continue to lead the MAC in goals, with 31 ... BG ranks second in goals per game (1.82) ... defensively, the Falcons are first in the MAC in saves (100) and shutouts (11) and second in goals-against average (0.73) ... individually, Alexa Arsenault leads the league in saves (91) and shutouts (nine), while ranking second in save pct. (.875) and third in GAA (0.77)
FALCON COACH Andy Richards
BGSU head coach Andy Richards, in his ninth season at the Falcon helm, is one of the most successful mentors in MAC women's soccer history ... Richards has guided the Falcons to an overall record of 90-83-18 ... BGSU is 9-4-5 in MAC Tournament matches during his tenure, and no MAC coach has as many trips to the league tourney's title game as Richards ... the 2007 season marked the fifth time he had guided a BG squad to the championship match ... two of those appearances - in 2004 and 2005 - resulted in MAC Tournament titles and trips to the NCAA Championships ... Richards and the Falcons also won the '05 regular-season crown ... BGSU reached an agreement with Richards on a two-year contract extension, it was announced May 23, 2008 ... his contract now runs through June 30, 2011 ... Richards had inked a three-year contract in February of 2006, marking the first time in school history that a soccer coach had received a multi-year contract.
THE OPPONENTS / THE SERIES
Kent State is 5-9-1 on the season, and the Golden Flashes are 2-5-1 in MAC play ... KSU has been a streaky team since the beginning of September ... the Flashes lost three games to begin that month, then went on a three-game winning streak, scoring eight goals over the latter two games (wins over Ohio and Akron to start MAC play) ... the Flashes lost the next five matches, however, before earning a 1-1 tie with Northern Illinois on Sunday (Oct. 19) ... KSU is 2-6-0 on the road this year, including 0-2-0 in MAC road tilts ... individually, Caitlin Hester leads the Flashes in scoring, with 14 points on four goals and six assists ... Kelly Heaton has eight points to rank second on the team ... Kelly Sherwood has played in 10 games in goal, and has 51 saves and a goals-against average of 1.88 ... last year, the Flashes went 7-11-1 overall and 5-6-0 in MAC action ... coach Rob Marinaro welcomed back 17 letterwinners, including seven starters, from that club ... the school's athletics web site is www.kentstatesports.com.
The Falcons lead Kent State, 8-3-3, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU has a two-game winning streak and a five-game unbeaten streak vs. the Golden Flashes ... last season, the Brown and Orange picked up a 3-0 win at Kent, with Stacey Lucas and Faith Juillerat among the goalscorers, and Alexa Arsenault making six saves en route to the shutout (Oct. 12, 2007) ... the last meeting at Cochrane Field was a scoreless tie in the 2005 MAC Tournament championship (Nov. 6, 2005) ... BG advanced to the NCAA Championships via penalty kicks ... the Falcons are 3-1-3 in home games vs. the Flashes ... seven of the 14 series meetings, including four of the seven matchups in BG, have gone to overtime.
Buffalo has an overall record of 4-7-4, and the Bulls will take a 0-6-2 MAC ledger into a Friday match at Toledo ... last weekend, UB dropped a pair of narrow 1-0 decisions to NIU and WMU ... Buffalo is looking to snap an 11-game winless streak after a 4-0-0 start to the season ... the Bulls' two ties in MAC play came against Eastern Michigan and league-leading Central Michigan ... UB has a 3-3-1 mark in road games this year ... Lindsey Bailey has team-leading totals of seven goals and 17 points this year, while Andrea Vescio has four goals and nine points ... in goal, Amy Coron has played all but eight minutes, and has 81 saves and a GAA of just 1.19 ... UB finished 7-10-2 overall and 4-6-1 in MAC play last fall ... first-year head coach Michael Thomas inherited a total of 19 letterwinners, including nine starters, from that team ... the school's athletics web site is www.buffalobulls.com.
The Falcons lead Buffalo, 7-4-1, in that series, but UB won last year's game to break a three-game BGSU series win streak ... the Bulls picked up a 1-0 win in New York last Oct. 14 ... in the last meeting at BGSU, the Falcons posted a 4-0 victory on Oct. 16, 2005 ... that UB match, like this year's, was 'Senior Day' at Cochrane Field ... Kristin McDonald - a freshman then, a senior now - scored in that match ... BG is 4-3-0 in home games vs. the Bulls ... five-straight matches in the series went to overtime from 2000-03.
UP NEXT
Following this weekend's two matches, the Falcons will close the regular season with a game vs. arch-rival Toledo on Thursday, Oct. 30, at Cochrane Field ... then, the top-eight teams in the final standings will advance to the MAC Tournament ... quarterfinal-round matches will be held on Sunday, Nov. 2, with the top-four seeds hosting ... the highest-remaining seed of the four quarterfinal winners will host the semifinal (Fri., Nov. 7) and championship (Sun., Nov. 9) rounds.
