Bowling Green State University
BUFFALO
Seniors Shine as Falcons Blank Bulls, 3-0
October 26, 2008 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 26, 2008
Final Stats
BGSU-Buffalo boxscore in PDF Format 
'Senior Day' Match Program in PDF Format
BGSU's Cumulative Statistics in PDF Format
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - Members of the Bowling Green State University women's soccer senior class accounted for every goal as the Falcons defeated the University at Buffalo, 3-0, Sunday afternoon (Oct. 26). The Mid-American Conference game was held at BGSU's Cochrane Field.
The win -- on BGSU's 'Senior Day' -- gives the Falcons an overall record of 11-5-3 and a MAC ledger of 6-3-1. The Bulls drop to 4-9-4 and 0-8-2, respectively. Additionally, the victory clinched a berth in the MAC Tournament for the Falcons.
Fifth-year senior Gina Rossi opened the scoring, while fourth-year Falcons Kristin McDonald and Corbie Yee also found the back of the net for the Brown and Orange.
Freshman Megan Amann had two assists for the home team.
Sunday's win was BGSU's seventh in a row at Cochrane Field, a new school record.
The Falcons' win, combined with other outcomes around the MAC on Sunday afternoon, moved the Brown and Orange into sole possession of fourth place in the conference standings with one game remaining in the regular season.
"This truly was a fantastic and memorable Senior Day," said Falcon head coach Andy Richards. "Each one of those six seniors played a significant part.
"Captains Susan Hunter and Brianne Eisenhard led the team to another victory; Christy Zabek came on to preserve yet another shutout; and Corbie, Gina and 'K-Mac' did their job by scoring a goal apiece. It was also fitting that all six of them finished the game on the field at the same time."
The Falcons controlled possession for the majority of the 90 minutes. BG held a 21-7 advantage in shot attempts, including a 10-3 margin in shots on goal.
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Alexa Arsenault had three saves in just over 74 minutes of action, while senior Christy Zabek did not face a shot on goal during her 15:56 of relief work.
Amy Coron made seven saves for the Bulls.
The day dawned cold, rainy and windy, and it rained at Cochrane Field approximately an hour prior to kickoff. But, the sun had come out by the time the pregame 'Senior Day' festivities began.
The Falcons had a good opportunity to get on the scoreboard in the game's first minute. Rossi, on the left side of the field, slid a centering ball to freshman Alyssa Zuccaro, who was wide open in the penalty area. Zuccaro's shot, however, was wide right.
In the game's 12th minute, junior Colleen Kordan took a free kick, and served a beautiful curving ball to onrushing classmate Samantha Bland. Bland's header was on target, from point-blank range. Coron, however, was in position to block the shot.
One minute later, however, the Falcons were on the scoreboard. Yee's right-side cross went to sophomore Jackie Tamerlano on the left side of the penalty area. Tamerlano played a ball toward the center of the pitch, which Coron was able to deflect. Rossi reached the ball, approximately 12 yards away from net, and fired a hard roller that found the back of the net. Tamerlano and Yee drew assists on the play, which turned out to be the game-winning goal.
Several minutes later, the Bulls had one of their top chances of the afternoon, as leading scorer Lindsey Bailey uncorked a long, dangerous shot that sailed just wide of the left post.
With 13 minutes left in the half, senior Brianne Eisenhard's pass found Amann in the box. The freshman did well to unleash a turnaround shot, but Coron was able to make the save.
With four-and-a-half minutes remaining before intermission, however, Amann and McDonald teamed up to double the Falcons' lead. Amann smothered a clearing attempt by a Buffalo defender and took the ball down to the end line. Amann eluded another UB defender and crossed the ball toward McDonald in the center of the field. McDonald, stationed on the six-yard line, neatly flicked a header into the far (right) side of the net. The pretty play gave the Falcons a two-nil advantage at intermission.
The Falcons had 11 shots to the Bulls' two in the opening half, and BGSU kept up the pressure in the second stanza. The home team seemingly played a game of 'keep-away' for much of the early going in the second half, with only the occasional UB goal kick or throw-in breaking up BG's possessions.
About nine minutes into the half, Amann - who was a thorn in the Bulls' collective side all day -- eluded a defender and slide a cross along the six-yard line. The ball got past a diving Coron, but was just out of reach of a sliding Zuccaro in the center of the pitch.
With just under 30 minutes left in the match, another Falcon flurry nearly increased the lead. A build-up that included passes by Yee and junior Jen Czapka gave Amann the ball on the left side of the penalty area. With several teammates in the goalmouth, Amann slid a ball toward the center, only to find her pass blocked by Coron.
Amann regained possession, and slid a pass back to a charging Yee. Yee's hard shot was saved by the UB 'keeper, and Czapka's follow-up try went just wide.
Midway through the period, freshman Leah Johnson's pass found classmate Zuccaro near the 18-yard stripe. Zuccaro played a backpass to Tamerlano, who fired a shot that glanced off the top of the crossbar and out of play.
The shot marked the second Falcon shot to hit the crossbar on the afternoon, as freshman Kaitlyn Turner's offering late in the first half had also drawn woodwork.
With just over 18 minutes left, however, the Falcons increased the lead to three goals, and Amann was again involved in the play. Her right-side corner kick was redirected home by Yee, closing the day's scoring.
A total of 21 different Falcons saw action in the game, including all six seniors. One of those seniors, Zabek, played nearly 16 minutes of scoreless work between the posts. The Bulls took two shots while Zabek was in the game, but neither found its way on goal.
"We are very happy for our six seniors, and proud of them for all they have achieved during their four or five years with the program," said Richards. "We hope they each have a few more achievements to come.
"It was a great performance. The margin of victory could have been greater, as I felt we had many chances, especially in the second half. But, I thought we totally controlled the game, and got everything from the team that we had asked of them.
"It was a 'feel-good' day, all the way around, and we look forward to Thursday's game, and seeing if we can secure a home berth in the tournament."
As mentioned earlier, the Falcons are now fourth in the MAC standings, with one game remaining. BGSU will close the regular season with a Thursday (Oct. 30) match vs. the arch-rival University of Toledo. UT clinched the MAC's regular-season title on Sunday.
FALCON FUTBOL NOTES
* Sunday's win assured the Falcons of a berth in the 2008 MAC Tournament, which begins next Sunday (Nov. 2) at campus sites ... BGSU has qualified for the league tourney for the ninth time in the program's 12-year history, and for the seventh-straight year.
* BGSU, as mentioned, currently sits in fourth place ... the top-four seeds will host quarterfinal-round matches on Nov. 2 ... the top-seeded team among the four quarterfinal survivors will host the semifinals (Nov. 7) and championship (Nov. 9) rounds.
* BG is now 7-1-0 in home games this year to date, and the Falcons have an all-time record of 56-51-8 at Cochrane Field.
* The Falcons have won seven consecutive home games since a loss to Michigan State on Aug. 31 ... that seven-win streak is a new school record ... the old mark was six consecutive wins, from Sept. 11 to Oct. 16, 2005.
* BGSU is now 4-0-0 in MAC home games this year ... the Falcons have outscored opponents, 9-0, during those four games.
* The win over Buffalo marked the 13th shutout of the year for the BGSU defense, extending the school record ... the 2006 team had held the old mark, with 10 shutouts.
* Redshirt sophomore Alexa Arsenault played over 74 minutes of shutout ball on Sunday, before giving way to senior Christy Zabek ... Arsenault lowered her goals-against average to 0.69 this season and 0.75 in her career.
* Arsenault has a GAA of just 0.59 in MAC games and 0.41 in home games this year to date.
* Zabek's season GAA remains at 0.00, as she has played over 92 minutes of scoreless ball this fall.
* BGSU has not allowed a goal at home since the second half of that Michigan State game back on Aug. 31 ... the Falcons' home shutout streak is now at 662:50 ... the school record for consecutive shutout minutes in home games is 946:02 (Sept. 11, 2005, to Sept. 3, 2006).
* BGSU's win on Sunday was the 11th of the season ... the Falcons have posted a double-digit victory total for the fifth consecutive year and the seventh time in the 12-year history of the program ... prior to the current five-year run, BG had never posted back-to-back seasons of double-figure win totals.
* The Falcons have won 45 games since the start of the 2005 season, a new school record for victories in a four-year period.
* Freshman Megan Amann's two-assist game was the second of her young BGSU career ... Amann also had two helpers in the Falcons' 7-0 win over Tennessee Tech on Sept. 12.
* Amann now has a team-leading eight assists on the season ... her total ties her for fourth on the BGSU single-season list ... she is two shy of Julie Trundle's school record ... Trundle had 10 assists in 2005.
* Senior Corbie Yee's three points on Sunday give her 15 points this year, matching her career best ... she also tied her career best in goals, scoring her sixth of the season in Sunday's win ... currently, Yee has identical totals (six goals, three assists, 15 points) to her freshman season of '05 ... she leads the Falcons in goals and points this year.
* Senior Gina Rossi now has five goals and 12 points this fall, setting new career standards in both categories ... Rossi, a fifth-year senior, had three goals and nine points as a true freshman in 2004.
* Rossi's game-winning goal was her second of the season and the fourth of her career ... she also had a pair of GWG in that '04 campaign.
* Senior Kristin McDonald has matched her career bests, also set as a freshman ... McDonald has three goals and seven points this year, equalling the totals she posted in 2005.
* Yee, BGSU's active career scoring leader, now has an even 50 points on 19 goals and 12 assists ... she moved up three notches on the BGSU career points list on Sunday, passing Tracy Gleixner (48 points from 1998-2002), Michelle Lisy (48 from 1997-2000) and Britt Anderson (49 from 2002-05) into fifth place on the school list ... she is seven points behind fourth-place Trundle.
* Yee's total of 19 goals ranks fifth on that list ... she had been tied with Lisy entering Sunday's action ... Yee is one behind Gleixner and Jill Conover (1999-2002), who are currently tied for third place.
* Yee has moved onto the career assists list ... she is tied with Lisy for ninth place on that Falcon career chart.
* Rossi now has 10 goals and 25 points in her BGSU career ... she is second among active Falcons in both categories, trailing only Yee ... Rossi is tied for ninth in BG history in career goals, and is deadlocked for 13th in career points.
