Wild One in West Virginia Ends in 3-3 Tie

Saturday, September 27

Huntington, W.Va.

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

MARSHALL

September 28, 2008 | Men's Soccer

Sept. 27, 2008

Final Stats

BGSU-Marshall Boxscore in PDF Format

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team battled to a 3-3, double-overtime tie with host Marshall University Saturday night (Sept. 27). The non-conference game, which had a little bit of everything, was held at Sam Hood Field.

The Falcons are now 3-4-1 on the season, while the Thundering Herd is 0-7-1 in 2008.

No fewer than three different BGSU players scored their first collegiate goals in the game, including Falcon senior goalkeeper Paul Shoemaker. Shoemaker stepped up and took a penalty kick for the Brown and Orange midway through the second half, giving the visitors a 3-2 lead. But, the hosts would notch the equalizer with just under 10 minutes left in regulation.

In addition to his goal, Shoemaker also had an assist on the Falcons' first score of the night. Freshman Byard Ebling and redshirt freshman Chris Jurtovski each scored goals for the Brown and Orange.

Byard Ebling

The Herd opened the scoring, when Dustin Dawes scored his second goal of the year off a soft pass from Kolby LaCrone. MU had the lead with 10:29 elapsed.

Just over 16 minutes later, however, the Falcons tied the game. Shoemaker's direct kick from the middle of the field bounced off the crossbar, with the rebound going to Ebling. The freshman, making his first career start, put the rebound away to tie the score at 1-1.

Less than two minutes later, though, Marshall would reclaim the lead when senior Jira took a shot that was saved by Shoemaker, but the Herd's Sterling Flunder converted on the rebound, giving the hosts a 2-1 lead which held up until halftime.

Once again, the Falcons would battle back. Off of a corner kick by junior Cameron Hepple, Jurtovski headed home the tying goal with just over 50 minutes gone in the match.

Chris Jurtovski

BGSU would then take the lead at the 70:59 mark. After Ahmad Smith was taken down in the box, Falcon head coach Fred Thompson called upon Shoemaker to take the resulting PK, and his senior 'keeper knocked it home for BGSU's first lead of the night. But, MU's Flunder would score his second goal of the night to knot the score at the 80:07 mark. The teams battled through nearly ten more minutes of scoreless regulation and a pair of overtime periods.

Marshall was credited with 24 total shots to the Falcons' 12. The shots on goal favored the Herd by a margin of 11-8.

Shoemaker made six saves for the Brown and Orange, while Robert Smith had five stops for MU.

"It was a hard-fought battle," said Thompson. "We haven't played Marshall for a few years, and we are very happy to renew this rivalry. We will host them next season.

"It was a great game -- both teams played hard and played well -- and there were a lot of good opportunities. I am proud of the guys coming out and grinding out a result on the road once again.

"It was a good result against a very dangerous Marshall team. They have not had any results, but they have had some injuries and are a very capable team.

"I thought the guys were very resilient in coming back twice after falling behind. I am happy with the effort, the fight that we showed, and the determination in battling back. And, of course, we are always happy to score three goals.

"Now, we will return home, discuss what we did well and what we need to improve, and prepare for our game on Wednesday."

The Falcons will continue a three-game road swing with Wednesday's (Oct. 1) match at Ohio State.

FALCON NOTES
* Senior Paul Shoemaker's goal is the first by a goalkeeper in the history of the Falcon men's soccer program, now in its 44th year.

* In addition to the goal, Shoemaker had an assist against Marshall ... it marks the second-straight game he has picked up an assist.

* Shoemaker's total of four points this season is the most by a goalkeeper in BGSU history ... on two prior occasions, a 'keeper had two points in the same season ... Mickey Loescher was the first to do so, in 1988, and Dan Traver matched that feat with a pair of assists in the 1992 season.

* Shoemaker now has five career points, making him the highest-scoring GK in BGSU history ... Loescher had four assists during his Falcon career (1986-89).

* Shoemaker is believed to have the first scoring streak by a goalkeeper in program history ... as mentioned, only twice before has a 'keeper had more than one point in a season in BG annals.

BGSU GOALKEEPER CAREER SCORING	G-A=Pts
Paul Shoemaker *	1-3=5
Mickey Loescher	0-4=4
Dan Traver	0-3=3
Scott Vallow	0-2=2
Brent Petkus *	0-1=1
Greg Murphy	0-1=1
Kim Bucher	0-1=1
Joe Koury	0-1=1
* current Falcons

* Byard Ebling's goal, as mentioned, was the first of his Falcon career ... he was making his first career start, and just his second appearance, in the Marshall game ... Ebling also saw action in the Falcons' match at Furman (Sept. 5).

* Chris Jurtovski also scored the first goal of his collegiate career ... Jurtovski, who sat out last season as a redshirt, has seen action in six of this year's eight games.

* The Falcons are now 1-2-1 in road games and 2-3-1 in all games away from home this year to date ... BGSU had two wins and a tie away from home during all of 2007.

* BGSU now leads Marshall, 7-3-1, in the all-time series between the teams ... the Falcons are 2-2-1 in road games vs. MU.

* Junior Cameron Hepple had his team-leading third assist of the season and the seventh of his career ... Hepple is the Falcons' active career leader in assists and points (19), and he is tied with classmate Jacob Lawrence for the career goals lead (six) among current Falcons.

* Ebling's goal marked the first time the Falcons have scored in the first half this season ... prior to Saturday night, BGSU had not scored a goal earlier than the 61:55 mark of a match.