Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
BUFFALO
Falcons Fall to Buffalo, 2-0
November 01, 2008 | Men's Soccer
Nov. 1, 2008
BGSU-Buffalo Boxscore in PDF Format 
BGSU-Buffalo 'Senior Day' Program in PDF Format
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The University at Buffalo scored late in the first half and again midway through the second, posting a 2-0 win over the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team Saturday morning/afternoon (Nov. 1). The Mid-American Conference game was held at Cochrane Field.
With the win, the Bulls improve to 11-3-3 overall and 3-1-1 in MAC action, while the Falcons fall to 4-12-1 and 0-6-0, respectively.
Alex Marrello and Eric Johnson scored UB's goals, while Robert Shuttleworth made four saves to pick up the shutout. For the Falcons, senior Paul Shoemaker had six stops in his complete-match effort.
On 'Senior Day' at Cochrane Field, the Falcons came out strong, taking six of the game's first eight shot attempts. Just over five minutes into the game, junior Tyler Deal took a free kick after a UB yellow card. Deal's long shot was struck well, but whizzed just wide of the net.
With nine minutes elapsed, a UB cross came to the Bulls' Lee Catchpole in the penalty area. Catchpole, stationed just a few yards away from the goal, was not able to get much power behind his shot, and Shoemaker was able to make the save and keep the game scoreless.
Ten minutes later, a pair of juniors made connections on a good scoring chance for the Brown and Orange. Chuko Evwaraye slid a pass to Cameron Hepple, who was swooping in on the left side of the penalty area, and Hepple uncorked a hard shot that Shuttleworth was able to dive and deflect over the end line for a corner kick.
Off of that corner kick, taken by junior Gavin Dozier, sophomore Thomas McLean's header sailed just high.
The Bulls got a pair of good chances less than a minute apart. With approximately 20 minutes left before intermission, Lucas Bassan's straight-on shot was stymied by Shoemaker. Then, UB got the ball back, and Dezi Lara took a shot that seemed ticketed for the far (right) post, but 'Shoe' was able to make a diving stop.
Late in the first half, however, Marrello got the Bulls on the board. He picked up the ball near the penalty area, made a few moves in traffic, and found the back of the net from approximately 12 yards out. The visitors took that one-nil lead into the intermission.
Late in the first half, the Bulls had received a red card, as Justin Fredsell was ejected from the match with just 2:09 remaining before the break.
After the teams combined for a total of 16 first-half shots, the Falcons and Bulls took a two-team total of just eight in the second period. One of those eight shots was a chance for Hepple about a third of the way through the period. The junior got himself free from a defender and headed into the box, but his shot was high of the target.
With exactly 27 minutes remaining in the contest, the Bulls were able to double the lead. UB held possession in BGSU's end of the field, before a Falcon defender blocked a passing attempt by the Bulls. The ball, however, went directly to Catchpole at the top of the box. Catchpole, at the right of the 18-yard area, slid a pass to Johnson, who took a few dribbles toward the center of the box and fired. Catchpole picked up the lone assist on the play.
From that point on, the Bulls went into a defensive mode for the bulk of the half, keeping the Falcons off the scoreboard to earn their ninth shutout of the season.
The Bulls held a 14-10 edge in shot attempts, including an 8-4 advantage in shots on goal.
The Falcons close the regular season on Tuesday (Nov. 4), heading to the Motor City to take on Detroit. Kickoff for that match is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Following the UDM contest, the Brown and Orange will play a team to be determined in the MAC Tournament's quarterfinal round on Thursday, Nov. 13.
FALCON NOTES
* Saturday marked the final home match for the Falcons in 2008, and the final match at Cochrane Field for BGSU's senior class ... Ryan Davis, Kyle McNayr, Brent Petkus and Paul Shoemaker were recognized in ceremonies prior to the match.
* It was a pretty big day for Davis, as the Tucson, Ariz., native participated in a postgame ceremony as well ... with the majority of the fans still remaining in the bleachers, Davis proposed to his girlfriend, Stephanie Guigou, on the field after his final home game ... his proposal, in case you are curious, was accepted.
* As mentioned, the Falcons will play a team to be determined in the MAC Tournament opener on Nov. 13 ... BGSU has concluded the conference portion of the schedule, but several other teams still have MAC games to be played ... the MAC regular season ends on Nov. 8 ... Akron has clinched the regular-season title and the right to host the tournament, which includes the quarterfinal round on Nov. 13, the semifinals on Nov. 14 and the championship on Nov. 16.
