Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Host Defending MAC Regular-Season Champions
October 08, 2008 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 8, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, after finishing up the team's longest road swing of the season with a 3-1-1 record, plays a home game for the first time in exactly three weeks ... the Falcons of head coach Andy Richards (7-3-3, 2-1-1 Mid-American Conference), after playing nine of 13 games on the road to start the year, now close the regular season with five of seven games at the friendly confines of Cochrane Field ... BGSU hosts defending MAC regular-season champion Ball State University on Friday afternoon (Oct. 10), with kickoff set for 4:00 p.m. ... then, the Brown and Orange will face Miami University in Sunday (Oct. 12) action, beginning at 1:00 p.m.
BGSU Release & Statistics (6 pages) in PDF Format
LIVE STATS ON THE WEB
Both of this weekend's matches are scheduled to have live stats on the web ... for up-to-the-minute statistical information via Gametracker for all home matches again in 2008, 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.
B!G GAME ON THE SMALL SCREEN
Sunday's Miami match will be televised on a tape-delay basis by BCSN ... the station airs on the Buckeye CableSystem in Toledo ... for more information, log on to the station's web site at bcsn.tv.
THE FALCONS ARE ...
• 107-115-22 all-time, in the 12th season in program history;
• 41-29-8 overall in the last three-plus seasons;
• 55-57-12 in Mid-American Conference regular-season matches;
• 34-18-7 vs. MAC schools over the last four-plus seasons (including regular-season and tournament matches), and 26-13-5 vs. league foes in the last three-plus years;
• 52-51-8 at home, including 22-12-2 at Cochrane Field in the last three-plus years;
• 3-1-0 at Cochrane Field this year, with the only loss coming to nationally-ranked Michigan State;
• 47-55-12 in road contests;
• 8-9-2 all-time in neutral-site matches;
• 45-48-8 in October matches;
• 0-2-1 in games played on Oct. 10 (including a 2-1 loss to Friday's opponent, Ball State, at Cochrane Field in the 2004 season);
• 2-2-0 in Oct. 12 matches (with a two-game win streak, including last year's 3-0 victory at Kent State, on that date);
• 37-1-1 in the last 39 games in which BG has scored first (including a mark of 7-0-0 in such games this season); and
• 0-3-1 in 2008 matches in which the opponent has scored first (with the tie coming at Ohio State).
LAST WEEKEND
The Falcons picked up a win and a tie, with two more shutouts on the road ... on Friday (Oct. 3), BGSU and Ohio battled to a scoreless draw in Athens ... the Falcons had eight shots on goal to the Bobcats' two ... Sunday afternoon (Oct. 5), the match at Akron was scoreless for a lengthy period of time ... but, senior Gina Rossi scored with just 12:19 left in regulation, and sophomore Alicia Almond gave BG some insurance, finding the net with 5:02 remaining ... redshirt sophomore Alexa Arsenault made six saves, stopping a penalty kick by UA's top scorer.
ANOTHER GAME, ANOTHER SHUTOUT
Sunday's win at Akron marked the ninth shutout of the year for the BGSU defense ... the school record is 10, by the 2006 team ... the shutout at Akron was the Falcons' seventh in the last eight games.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons are 7-3-3 on the season, and BGSU is 2-1-1 in MAC play ... all four of the Falcons' MAC matches have come on the road, as BG now plays five of seven games at home to close the regular season ... the Brown and Orange, as mentioned, posted two more shutouts last weekend, with a nil-nil tie at Ohio and a 2-0 win at Akron ... BGSU closed the non-conference portion of the schedule with four consecutive wins, and the Falcons are 7-1-2 in the last 10 games ... no fewer than 14 different Falcons have scored at least one goal this season to date ... seniors Gina Rossi and Corbie Yee currently lead the way ... Rossi paces the Falcons with four goals and 10 points, while Yee has three goals and eight points ... sophomore Katie Stephenson also has three goals this fall, and is third on the team with seven points ... four Falcons have two goals on the year, including senior Kristin McDonald, junior Colleen Kordan and freshmen Katelyn Turner and Alyssa Zuccaro ... another freshman, Megan Amann, has a team-high four assists ... redshirt sophomore Alexa Arsenault has started all 13 matches, and has 65 saves and a goals-against average of just 0.70 ... 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.
SCORING SURGE
The Falcons have scored a total of 26 goals through 13 games this year ... that goal total is just two shy of matching the team's total for the entire 2007 season ... last year's club scored 28 goals in 22 matches ... in fact, with 2.00 goals per game to date, this year's team is on pace to challenge the school record ... the 1998 Falcons had 2.10 gpg.
LOOKING FOR A RECORD AT THE OTHER END OF THE FIELD, TOO
The BGSU defense, not to be outdone by the offense, is on a school-record pace ... the Falcons have allowed just nine goals through 13 games, an average of only 0.69 gpg ... the school-record low is 1.30 gpg allowed, by both the 2005 and 2006 BG teams.
ONE SHUTOUT STREAK AFTER ANOTHER
The Falcons saw a school record-tying streak of four consecutive shutouts come 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 Falcons then posted two more shutouts last weekend, at Ohio and Akron ... BGSU, after seeing a shutout streak of 425:34 end at NIU, now has blanked opponents for 364:50 since that time ... those streaks rank second and fourth, respectively, on the school list for consecutive shutout minutes ... the record remains 445:03, set in October of 2005 (coinciding with BG's first streak of four-straight shutouts).
ARSENAULT STARTS ANOTHER STREAK, TOO
Redshirt sophomore Alexa Arsenault saw her personal shutout streak come to an end at 380:34 at NIU ... the streak was the longest of her career and the fourth-longest individual streak in school history ... but, Arsenault has started a new streak, having blanked opponents for 364:50 since giving up a pair of goals early in the first half at Northern ... the current stretch is the second-longest shutout streak of Arsenault's career, and ranks fifth by an individual in school history ... senior Christy Zabek holds the record, with a scoreless streak of 544:48 to begin her Falcon career (Sept. 16, 2005 to Oct. 20, 2006).
ARSENAULT AGGRAVATES ATTACKERS
Alexa Arsenault and the Falcon defense are putting together one of the top seasons in school history ... a few more notes on the redshirt sophomore 'keeper from Richmond Hill, Ontario ...
• Arsenault's shutout at Akron on Sunday was her seventh of the season, tying the school record for an individual ... Erika Flanders set the record, with seven shutouts in 2002, and Ali Shingler matched that total in 2005.
• Arsenault now has 13 career shutouts ... she ranks third on that school list, trailing only Flanders (17 from 1999-2002) and Shingler (16 from 2001-05).
• Arsenault's 13 shutouts have come in just 26 career starts ... she has lowered her goals-against average to just 0.70 this season and 0.76 in her career.
• She has a GAA of only 0.47 in the four MAC games to date ... Arsenault and the Falcon defense have three shutouts in those four matches.
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 88-81-18 ... 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
Ball State is 7-5-0 on the season, and the Cardinals are 3-1-0 in MAC play ... BSU is currently second in the MAC standings, two points ahead of BGSU and Eastern Michigan ... the Cards have scored 10 goals in the last three games, with wins over EMU (3-0), Buffalo (4-1) and Kent State (3-0) ... Emily Rein leads a balanced scoring attack, with 11 points on three goals and five assists ... Jacki Eft and Megan Ridley each have three goals as well ... Rachael Murphy has played all but 45 minutes in goal, and has 44 saves and a goals-against average of just 0.96 ... last year, the Cardinals went 13-5-2 overall and 9-1-1 in MAC action, winning the league's regular-season title for the second-straight year ... first-year head coach Michael Lovett has 15 letterwinners, including eight starters, from that club ... the school's athletics web site is www.ballstatesports.com.
The Falcons trail Ball State, 6-2-2, in the all-time series between the teams, and BG is winless in the last five meetings (0-4-1) ... the tie, however, came in last year's MAC Tournament semifinal round in Muncie, with BGSU advancing to the championship match via penalty kicks ... both of last year's meetings required overtime, with the Cardinals winning the regular-season game in Muncie by a 3-2 final ... BG is 1-3-0 in home games vs. Ball State, and the Cards have three-straight wins at Cochrane Field ... the Falcons' lone series home win came in 2000.
Miami has an overall record of 3-7-1, and the RedHawks will take a 2-2-0 MAC ledger into a Friday match at Toledo ... last weekend, MU posted a pair of wins, 3-1 over KSU and 2-1 vs. UB ... that snapped an eight-game winless streak (0-7-1) dating to the season opener on Aug. 22 ... Sara Lund has five goals and 12 points on the year, while Jodi Zwingelberg's total of eight points includes three goals ... Krista Pace and Rachelle Boff each have played in six games this year to date ... Pace, who played in both of last weekend's wins, has 27 saves and a 1.46 GAA ... Boff has 29 stops and a GAA of 2.64 ... Miami went 6-10-3 overall and 4-6-1 in MAC play last fall ... head coach Bobby Kramig welcomed back a total of 17 letterwinners, including nine starters, from that team ... the school's athletics web site is www.muredhawks.com.
The Falcons trail Miami, 8-6-0, in that series, but the Falcons have won six-straight meetings after losing the first eight matchups with the RedHawks ... last year, BG picked up a 1-0, double-overtime win in Oxford ... the Falcons won the last home game vs. MU, with a 2-0 win at Cochrane Field two years ago ... BGSU owns a home record of 3-3-0 against the 'Hawks.
NOTE: Complete game-by-game series records for both the BGSU-Ball State and BGSU-Miami series can be found in the PDF version of this release
A FEW FINAL FALCON NOTES
Senior Gina Rossi scored her team-leading fourth goal of the season in the win at Akron ... she also leads BG with 10 points on the year ... Rossi's 10 points represents a new career high ... she had nine points as a freshman in 2004 ... Rossi had the game-winning goal at UA, her first since the championship game of the '04 MAC Tournament ... sophomore Alicia Almond also scored at Akron, her first goal of the year and the second of her career ... the goal came on her first shot of the season ... she became the 14th different Falcon to score a goal this year, tying a record set by the 1998 BGSU club.
