Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
MARSHALL
Falcons Corral the Herd, 3-0
September 14, 2008 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 14, 2008
Final Stats
BGSU-Marshall Boxscore in PDF Format 
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team got an early goal via penalty kick, and added a pair of second-half goals for a 3-0 win over Marshall University Sunday afternoon (Sept. 14). The non-conference match was held at a windy Cochrane Field.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 3-2-2 on the season, while dropping the Thundering Herd to 2-2-2.
Junior Colleen Kordan converted a PK just 3:09 into the match to give the Falcons a lead they would not relinquish. Sophomore Katie Stephenson's blast in the game's 56th minute gave the Brown and Orange a two-goal lead, and senior Corbie Yee closed the scoring with just under 18 minutes left.
Redshirt sophomore Alexa Arsenault made four saves to earn the shutout win. Liz Orton had one stop for the Thundering Herd. Marshall outshot the Falcons, 16-9, with both teams putting four shots on goal.
"This was a very impressive performance from the Bowling Green Falcons," said Andy Richards, head coach of those Bowling Green Falcons. "We were particularly in the second half; I thought we were very self-assured and polished in what we did.
"We got off to a great start, with Megan Amann earning a penalty for us and Colleen dispatching it with ease. After that goal, we felt that the team didn't really go for the kill, but what impressed the coaching staff was that we asked them to do just that at halftime -- to go for the kill and get the second goal -- and it was done."
The home team very nearly got on the scoreboard in the game's opening minute. Fifth-year senior Gina Rossi blew past a Marshall defender and went in all along on Orton. Rossi's shot got part the MU 'keeper, but was just wide of the near post with 38 seconds elapsed.
With just over three minutes gone, however, an errant backpass by a Herd defender resulted in a race for the ball near the 18-yard box. Onrushing freshman Megan Amann got to the ball first, and was tripped as she raced into the penalty area. A penalty kick was immediately awarded, and Kordan stepped up and converted her second PK in as many games, putting BG on the board just 189 seconds into the match.
Midway through the first half, the visitors had what was arguably their best chance of the half. Erika Duncan gained possession of the ball in the penalty area, and with her back facing the goal, made a spin move to create some space. She took a few dribbles and fired a shot from the left side of the box, and that ball hit off the crossbar and bounded away.
With a light rain beginning to fall late in the opening half, freshman Alyssa Zuccaro played a forward ball that sprung Yee down the left side of the field. Yee's cross was just beyond the lunging effort of an MU defender, but it sailed just past Leah Johnson as she raced into the box. The teams went to the half with the Falcons holding a one-goal lead.
Early in the second half, Zuccaro stole the ball deep in the Marshall end of the field. She slid a ball toward the far post, but the ball was just wide of making connections with the charging Yee.
A few minutes later, however, the Falcons doubled the lead. Junior Kaitlyn Kobe played a cross from the left side of the field, and the cross deflected off a Marshall player to Stephenson. The BG soph trapped the ball and fired a laser from approximately 25 yards away. Orton had no chance as the blistering shot found the upper half of the net.
Katie Stephenson scored as good a goal as I've seen, certainly this season and perhaps in the last few years," said Richards. "It is a great reward for a student-athlete who works tremendously hard all the time. Katie is a player who comes out to practice and games and gives everything she has, and I couldn't be more delighted for her."
Marshall threatened to cut the lead back to a single goal with just under 30 minutes left in the half. Erin Johnson took a free kick just outside the BGSU penalty area, and slid the ball to her left. Angela DeSumma ran onto the ball and fired a shot toward the lower left-hand corner of the net, but Arsenault was able to get to the shot and deflect the ball over the end line for a corner kick.
Several minutes later, a nice run by Faith Juillerat resulted in the junior eluding three would-be defenders and heading into the penalty area. Her shot was blocked, and a Herd player was able to clear the ball out of danger just before Rossi got to it.
BG's third goal was textbook, and came at the 72:16 mark. Soph Meagan Moran played a pass to the left wing, where Amann was stationed. The freshman took the ball to the end line and fired a cross directly to the foot of a wide-open Yee. Yee, BG's active career scoring leader, had no difficulty putting a boot on the ball and redirecting it into the net for the final goal of the day.
"It was great to see Corbie Yee get another goal," said Richards. "It came on a nice set up by Megan Amann, who is really helping us in the assist column right now."
The Falcons came close to a fourth goal with just over six minutes left, as a cross by junior Stacey Lucas nearly found Kristin McDonald, but was just out of her reach. BGSU, which controlled much of the play in the second half, kept Marshall from mounting a serious threat to the shutout bid over the last few minutes.
MU, as mentioned, held a 16-9 advantage in shots, but only a 7-6 margin in the second half. The Herd had nine corner kicks to the Falcons' three, but the BG defense did not let the visitors convert any of those corners into goals.
"I thought we defended well again today," said Richards. "We got a little bit lucky, of course, when they hit the bar in the first half, but Alexa made a wonderful save in the second half to preserve the shutout. All in all, it was a very good performance against a good team, and a very impressive weekend."
The Falcons will conclude a three-game homestand with a match against Detroit Friday (Sept. 19). Then, BGSU will close the non-conference schedule two days later (Sept. 21), with a trip to Xavier.
FALCON NOTES
* The Falcons, after starting the season with a record of 0-2-1, are 3-0-1 since that time ... BGSU has outscored the opposition, 15-1, during that time.
* Prior to last Friday (Sept. 5), the Falcons had not scored more than three goals in a match since the 2005 season ... over the last three matches, however, BGSU has averaged 3.75 goals per game.
* Senior Corbie Yee, BGSU's active career scoring leader, now has 40 points on 15 goals and 10 assists ... she ranks eighth in school history in scoring ... her next targets on the points list are Tracy Gleixner and Michelle Lisy, each of whom scored 48 points at BG.
* Yee is seventh in career goals at BGSU ... her total of 15 goals puts her one behind sixth-place Britt Anderson.
* In Friday's 7-0 win over Tennessee Tech, Yee became only the sixth player in school history to reach double digits in both goals and assists ... she had five points on the weekend.
* Freshman Megan Amann, who had the first two-assist game of her career vs. TTU, had another assist on Sunday ... she has a team-leading four assists this year.
* Amann made her first collegiate start on Sunday ... a total of 16 players have started at least one game this year to date.
* Junior Colleen Kordan, who had not scored a goal in her career prior to Friday, has converted a penalty kick in each of the last two games ... Kordan also helped anchor a Falcon defense that posted two shutouts this weekend.
* Sophomore Katie Stephenson's goal was her first of the year and the second of her BGSU career ... Stephenson became the 12th different Falcon to score a goal in 2008.
* Redshirt Alexa Arsenault's complete-match shutout was her second of the season and the eighth of her career ... she ranks third on the school's career list in that category.
* Arsenault's win on Sunday was the 10th of her career (10-5-5) ... she ranks third on that BG list ... Erika Flanders holds the school records for both wins and shutouts, with Ali Shingler second on each list.
* Sunday's win gives the Falcons an all-time record of 51-51-8 at Cochrane Field ... BGSU has a home record of .500 for the first time since October of 1999 (12-12-1 after a loss to Central Michigan).
