Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU Battles Two Michigan Foes This Weekend
August 26, 2008 | Women's Soccer
Aug. 26, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team gets the 2008 season into full swing this weekend, with a pair of non-conference matches ... the Falcons of head coach Andy Richards will head to Michigan for a Friday (Aug. 29) match with Oakland University ... kickoff is set for 4:00 p.m. at the OU Soccer Field ... then, the Brown and Orange will open the home portion of the regular-season schedule Sunday (Aug. 31), hosting Michigan State University in a 1:00 p.m. match at Cochrane Field.
BGSU Release & Statistics 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 of the Falcons' home matches again in 2008, log on to BGSUFalcons.com.
THE FALCONS ARE ...
• 100-113-19 all-time, one match into the 12th season in program history;
• 34-27-5 overall in the last three-plus seasons;
• 53-56-11 in Mid-American Conference regular-season matches;
• 32-17-6 vs. MAC schools over the last four seasons (including regular-season and tournament matches), and 24-12-4 vs. league foes in the last three years;
• 5-1-4 in the last four MAC Tournaments (advancing in three of the four ties);
• 49-50-8 at home, including 19-11-2 at Cochrane Field in the last three years;
• 43-54-9 in road contests;
• 8-9-2 all-time in neutral-site matches;
• 7-10-0 in the month of August;
• 6-5-0 in home openers through the years;
• 1-1-0 when Michigan State is the opponent for the home opener;
• 2-1-0 in matches played on Aug. 29 (including a 1-0 overtime win at Kent State on that date in 1997, in the first match in program history);
• 1-3-0 in Aug. 31 matches (including a 1-0 loss to Louisville in the first home match in program history, and the only match at Cochrane Field on that date);
• 30-1-1 in the last 32 games in which BG has scored first; and
• 5-1-2 in the last eight matches, dating to the 2007 season.
FALCONS PICKED THIRD
The Falcons were picked to finish third in the MAC in 2008, according to the preseason coaches poll released last week (Aug. 20) ... Toledo was the coaches' choice to win the '08 MAC regular-season and tournament titles ... the complete poll can be found by clicking here.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons are 0-1-0 on the young season, after opening the campaign with a 3-1 loss at Cincinnati Friday night (Aug. 22) ... 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 in fourth place 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 Falcons had a 5-4-0 record at home in '07, and BG was 5-5-2 on the road and 0-0-1 in neutral-site matches last fall ... the Falcons ended the year on a seven-match unbeaten streak ... the returning Falcons combined for nearly 90 percent of the team's goals scored, almost 88% of the total assists and 89% of the overall points amassed by last season's club ... additionally, the two returning goalkeepers combined to start 21 of the team's 22 matches last fall ... senior Corbie Yee is the Falcons' top returning scorer ... Yee led a balanced scoring attack with 13 points, while junior Stacey Lucas and sophomore Meagan Moran each return after scoring 12 points apiece ... Lucas led the Falcons with five goals, while Moran had four goals and four assists to rank second on the team in both categories ... Yee paced BGSU with five assists, and tied Moran for second with four goals ... sophomore Jackie Tamerlano had nine points, while junior Faith Juillerat and soph Katie Stephenson each had five points ... in goal, redshirt sophomore Alexa Arsenault was 7-3-3 with a team-high 63 saves and a team-low goals-against average of 0.82 in her initial playing season ... senior Christy Zabek had a 3-5-0 record with 32 saves and a 1.93 GAA ... she also made two huge saves of penalty kicks during the PK phase of the Ball State match, saves that will not show up on her stats but are as meaningful as any she will ever make ... fifth-year senior Gina Rossi scored the Falcons' goal in the '08 opener at UC, while Arsenault made a career-high 12 saves.
THE 2008 CAPTAINS
Seniors Brianne Eisenhard and Susan Hunter are the 2008 Falcon women's soccer co-captains.
THE OPPONENTS / THE SERIES
Oakland, like BGSU, is 0-1-0 on the season ... the Golden Grizzlies opened 2008 with a 5-1 home loss to Michigan State ... freshman Amy Trandell scored OU's lone goal ... Oakland has been picked as the preseason favorite to win The Summit League title ... OU will likely be led by Jessica Boyle, who had six goals and 18 points a year ago, and was the league's tournament MVP ... the Grizzlies went 10-8-2 overall and 6-2-0 in league play a year ago, welcoming back 20 letterwinners (including nine starters) from that team ... OU has split two exhibition matches with MAC foes this year, losing to Northern Illinois, 2-1, while downing Akron, 3-0 ... the school's athletics web site is www.ougrizzlies.com.
The Falcons trail Oakland, 2-0-0, in the all-time series between the teams ... the Golden Grizzles won a convincing 7-1 decision in the teams' first-ever meeting, in Rochester in 1998 ... the total of seven goals allowed still stands as the most in school history, while the six-goal loss is tied for the largest negative differential in BGSU annals ... in the other match, OU recorded a 4-1 win in the 2005 season at Cochrane Field.
Michigan State takes a 1-0-0 record into a Friday match at DePaul ... the Spartans, as mentioned, downed Oakland in the season opener ... freshman Laura Heyboer had three goals and an assist in that match, and was named the Big Ten's Player of the Week ... Cara Freeman and Laura Sinacola scored MSU's other goals in the win, while Lindsey Wrege made seven saves ... Lauren Hill is MSU's top returning scorer, with eight goals and 18 points in2007 ... a year ago, the Spartans had an overall record of 7-10-2 and a BTC mark of 1-8-1 ... MSU returns 20 letterwinners, including seven starters, from that '07 club ... the school's athletics web site is www.msuspartans.com.
The Falcons trail Michigan State, 9-1-2, in that series ... MSU is BGSU's most common non-conference opponent, with a regular-season meeting in each of the Falcons' first 11 years as a program, plus a matchup in the 2005 NCAA Championships as well ... last year, the Falcons battled the Spartans to a 1-1 tie at East Lansing (Sept. 21, 2007), with Gina Rossi scoring BG's goal and Alexa Arsenault making six saves in her first collegiate start ... BGSU is 1-5-0 in home matches vs. MSU, with the win coming in overtime in the 1999 home opener.
NOT TIME TO PANIC JUST YET
While Andy Richards and his team would have preferred to pick up a win at Cincinnati, it is probably not time to give up on the 2008 season just yet ... that's a very obvious statement, but allow us to ramble for a moment, and we'll make our point ... Richards-coached teams are now 3-6 in season-opening games, including losses in six of the last seven lidlifters ... each of the previous five losses came by three or more goals ... the Falcons recovered to make the MAC Tournament in all five years, including a semifinal trip in 2002, championship-game appearances in 2003 and '07 and a MAC Tournament title in 2005 (the Falcons also won the 2004 tourney title, but BGSU had won the season opener) ... conversely, the worst record in Richards' tenure at BGSU, a 7-10-2 mark in 2001, came after a win in the season opener.
THOSE WHO STAY PLAY FOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
The BGSU women's soccer program completed its 11th season in 2007 ... through those first 11 years, every player who has stayed with the program all four years has been a part of at least one team that has advanced to the MAC Tournament's championship match.
