Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Face NIU in MAC Tournament Quarterfinal
November 11, 2008 | Men's Soccer
Nov. 11, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team, after posting a huge comeback in the regular-season finale, now prepares for the Mid-American Conference Tournament ... the Falcons of head coach Fred Thompson will head to Akron, Ohio, for a quarterfinal-round game against Northern Illinois University ... the Falcons, the seventh seed for the tournament, will meet the second-seeded Huskies on Thursday (Nov. 13), in an 11:00 a.m. kickoff at UA's Lee Jackson Field ... Akron, as the regular-season champion, earned the right to host the seven-team tournament, along with a first-round bye ... the survivors of Thursday's three quarterfinal matches join UA in Friday's (Nov. 14) semifinal round ... the championship match is scheduled for Sunday afternoon (Nov. 16).
BGSU Notes, Stats & MAC Tournament history in PDF Format
All games at Lee Jackson Field; Akron, Ohio
Quarterfinals - Thursday, Nov. 13
#2 Northern Illinois vs. #7 Bowling Green, 11:00 a.m.
#3 Buffalo vs. #6 Florida Atlantic, 2:00 p.m.
#4 Hartwick vs. #5 Western Michigan, 5:00 p.m.
Semifinals - Friday, Nov. 14
BGSU/NIU winner vs. UB/FAU winner, 5:00 p.m.
Hartwick/WMU winner at Akron, 7:30 p.m.
Championship - Sunday, Nov. 16
Semifinal winners, 2:00 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
Trailing by three goals early in the second half, the Falcons rallied for a 3-3 tie at Detroit last Tuesday afternoon (Nov. 4) ... junior Chuko Evwaraye scored BG's first and third goals, while sophomore Garrett Bireline picked up his first collegiate goal ... freshman Colin Armstrong had the first two assists of his Falcon career, while senior Brent Petkus made seven saves in his complete-game effort ... the Titans had gotten a goal at the 12:15 mark, and took a two-goal advantage three minutes later ... the lead increased to three goals with 50:30 elapsed, before the Falcons began their comeback ... it marked the fourth time this season that BGSU had scored three times in a match.
FALCONS IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT
BGSU enters Thursday's match with an overall record of 17-11-0 in the MAC Tournament ... the Falcons are 8-4-0 all-time in neutral-site matches in the tourney, and BGSU is 6-4-0 in the quarterfinal round heading into the Northern Illinois match ... the Falcons are 2-2-0 vs. the Huskies in conference tournament games, and BGSU is opening MAC tourney play vs. NIU for the second-straight season ... all of the Falcons' matches vs. Northern have come in the quarterfinal round ... BGSU is 8-2-0 all-time in the semifinal round, and the Falcons are 3-5-0 in championship games through the years.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons enter the Northern Illinois game with a record of 4-12-2 on the season ... BGSU finished MAC play with a league ledger of 0-6-0 ... the Falcons started the year with three shutout losses, then won the next three matches ... that win streak included a pair of come-from-behind victories at the Central Arkansas Tournament (over Centenary and the host school) and a home win over IPFW ... after a loss to Saint Francis (Pa.), BGSU battled Marshall to a 3-3 tie in late September ... then, however, the Falcons suffered through a seven-game winless streak ... BG broke that streak in a big way, with a 3-0 home win over Wright State (Oct. 22), but then dropped games to Northern Illinois, nationally-ranked Michigan State and Buffalo ... the Falcons fell behind Detroit by a 3-0 score in the final regular-season game (Nov. 4), but rallied for three second-half goals and a 3-3 tie ... individually, junior Chuko Evwaraye leads the team with five goals and 10 points ... two other juniors, Jacob Lawrence and Cameron Hepple, each have eight points this year to date ... Lawrence is second behind Evwaraye with four goals, while Hepple has a pair of goals and a team-leading four assists this fall ... senior Paul Shoemaker, sophomore Thomas McLean and freshman Byard Ebling each have four points this year ... Ebling and McLean each have a pair of goals, while Shoemaker - a goalkeeper - has a goal and two assists ... at the other end of the pitch, Shoemaker has started 14 of the 18 matches ... he has 64 saves and a goals-against average of 1.81 ... senior Brent Petkus made his season debut on Oct. 19 at Florida Atlantic, and also played against Wright State, Michigan State and Detroit ... Petkus has 28 saves and a GAA of 2.12 ... head coach Fred Thompson and assistant Ken White returned 15 letterwinners, including eight starters, from 2007 ... last fall, the Falcons posted an overall mark of 6-10-3, and BG finished fourth of six MAC teams with a 2-2-1 conference record.
SECOND-HALF SCORING SURGE
The Falcons have struggled to score goals in the first half this season, but have found the back of the net as the games have gone on ... BG has been outscored, 16-3 in the first half this year to date ... the Falcons have scored 14 goals to the opponents' 18 in the second half ... in fact, BGSU has scored 14 goals (including one OT marker) after the 60th minute.
ANOTHER THREE-GOAL GAME
The Falcons scored three second-half goals in Tuesday's (Nov. 4) regular-season finale at Detroit ... it marked the fourth time this year that BGSU had scored three goals in a game ... that is BG's highest total in nearly a decade, since the 1999 team had at least three goals in a game on six occasions.
BIGGEST COMEBACK SINCE ... WELL, IN A LONG TIME
The Falcons, as mentioned, rallied from a three-goal deficit to earn a tie at Detroit ... game boxscores are not available from the early years of BGSU men's soccer, but Tuesday's game marked the first time in at least 23 years that the Falcons had fallen behind by three goals, but did not lose the game.
THAT'S TWO BIG COMEBACKS THIS YEAR, IF YOU'RE COUNTING
BGSU has come back from multiple-goal deficits twice this season to date ... the Falcons' 3-2 win over Centenary on Sept. 12 saw BG rally from a 2-0 hole ... that was the first time since 1997 that the Brown and Orange had come back from a two-goal deficit to win the match.
A FEW MORE NOTES AFTER THE DETROIT GAME
• The Detroit match marked the 16th time in this season's 18 games that the opponent has scored first ... BGSU has picked up the game's first goal just twice, in the wins over IPFW (Sept. 19) and Wright State (Oct. 22) at Cochrane Field.
• Junior Chuko Evwaraye's two-goal game vs. the Titans was his second of the season, and the second of his career ... he also had a pair of goals in the Falcons' win over Centenary (Sept. 12).
• Evwaraye is now BGSU's active career leader in goals, with eight as a Falcon.
• Sophomore Garrett Bireline scored his first collegiate goal in the match in the Motor City ... freshman Colin Armstrong had the first two assists of his Falcon career, with helpers on BG's second and third goals of the day.
• Junior Hunter Van Houten had the assist on the Falcons' first goal ... Van Houten now has six assists in his career, second among active Falcons.
LAWRENCE NAMED TO ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT FIRST TEAM
Junior Jacob Lawrence has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV First Team, it was announced on Oct. 30 ... Lawrence, a native of Brandon, Miss., earns the honor for the first time in his career ... he has played in 15 matches this season, making 14 starts, and is tied for second on the team with eight points ... Lawrence's total of four goals is second on the Falcons in that category, and hs is tied for the team lead with a pair of game-winning goals ... Lawrence maintains a 3.90 cumulative grade-point average as a psychology major ... the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV Team is made up of student-athletes from Division I schools in the states of Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee ... to be nominated, a student-athlete must hold at least sophomore status, be a starter or key reserve and carry a cumulative GPA of 3.30 or higher.
PALMISANO ENDOWMENT ANNOUNCED
BGSU's men's soccer family has come together to honor a former Falcon playing and coaching great ... the Gary Palmisano Soccer Endowment was formally announced at halftime of the Nov. 1 game vs. Buffalo ... the late Palmisano was a standout goalkeeper for coach Mickey Cochrane, helping lead the Falcons to NCAA bids in 1972 and '73 ... he served as an assistant coach under Cochrane before taking the reins in 1978 ... in his 16 seasons, Palmisano had a head-coaching record of 172-97-25, and he also was a driving force behind soccer being recognized as a MAC sport beginning in 1993 ... this past summer, many former players made gifts to complete the endowment ... the first scholarship in Gary's name is set to be awarded in the fall of 2009 ... Palmisano's daughter, Caroline, a BGSU student, was on hand for the announcement.
THANKS, SENIORS
The Nov. 1 match vs. Buffalo marked the final home match for the Falcons in 2008, and the final game at Cochrane Field for the team's senior class ... Ryan Davis, Kyle McNayr, Brent Petkus and Paul Shoemaker were recognized in ceremonies prior to the match.
A POSTGAME CEREMONY, TOO
Saturday, Nov. 1, was a pretty big day for senior Ryan Davis ... in addition to the 'Senior Day' festivities prior to the game vs. Buffalo, Davis was involved 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.
THE OPPONENT / THE SERIES
Northern Illinois enters Thursday's match with an overall record of 9-5-4, and the Huskies posted a second-place finish in the MAC, with a 4-1-1 league record ... NIU clinched that second-place standing with Thursday's (Nov. 6) 2-1 win at Western Michigan ... the Huskies began the year with a seven-game unbeaten streak (5-0-2), including a win over then-#2 SMU ... NIU is 3-3-0 in the last six games, but the losses have come to Northwestern, Wisconsin and Duke ... NIU is 3-0-0 in neutral-site matches this year ... Brad Horton leads the Huskies in scoring, with his 14 points including a team-leading six goals ... Ben Thomas has four goals and nine points, while Drew Jeskey has seven points on the season ... in goal, Joe Zimka has played all 18 games, and has 52 saves, six shutouts and a goals-against average of just 1.08 ... coach Steve Simmons and the Huskies had an overall record of 7-9-4 last year, and NIU was 1-3-1 in MAC action ... Simmons returned 17 letterwinners, including six starters, from that team ... the school's athletics web site is www.niuhuskies.com.
The Falcons trail NIU, 12-8-0, in the all-time series between the teams, and Northern has won the last two meetings ... in this year's regular-season matchup, the Huskies got a goal two-thirds of the way through the match for a 1-0 victory in DeKalb on Oct. 25 ... last year, the teams met twice at BGSU's Cochrane Field in a span of 11 days ... in the regular-season finale, Thomas McLean and Chuko Evwaraye each scored within the game's first 5:11 as the Falcons posted a 3-1 win (Nov. 2, 2007) ... Hunter Van Houten also scored, while Brent Petkus made seven saves in the victory ... the Huskies, however, got revenge with a 3-0 win at Cochrane in the first round of last year's conference tourney (Nov. 13, 2007) ... the teams have met just once at a neutral site, with that meeting coming in the MAC Tournament.
BGSU-NIU IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT
The Falcons and Huskies are meeting for the fifth time in the MAC Tournament, with each team owning two wins to date ... all four prior matches, as will be the case Thursday, have come in the quarterfinal round ... the first such meeting was a 4-1 Falcon win in Oxford, Ohio, in 1997 ... in 1999, the Huskies picked up a home win over the Brown and Orange, 4-2 ... BG won a 2-1 game at Cochrane Field in the 2003 tourney, before Northern's 3-0 win at Cochrane last season.
