Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU Heads to Ohio State, Hartwick this Week
September 30, 2008 | Men's Soccer
Sept. 30, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team, having gone 3-1-1 in the last five games, concludes a difficult three-game road swing this week ... the Falcons of head coach Fred Thompson travel to Columbus to face The Ohio State University in BGSU's first midweek match of the season ... the Falcons and Buckeyes will meet Wednesday (Oct. 1), with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium ... then, the Brown and Orange will begin Mid-American Conference play by venturing to Oneonta, N.Y. (home of the National Soccer Hall of Fame) to face Hartwick College ... the Falcons will meet the Hawks, a MAC affiliate member for men's soccer, on Saturday (Oct. 4) ... that game will begin at 7:00 p.m. at Elmore Field.
BGSU Release & Statistics in PDF Format
LIVE STATS ON THE WEB
Wednesday's Ohio State match is scheduled to have live stats on the web ... for up-to-the-minute statistical information during all home matches again in 2008, log on to BGSUFalcons.com ... for home games, the Gametracker link can be found by accessing the men's soccer schedule, and clicking on that day's game.
OFFENSIVE-MINDED DEFENDER
In hockey, many college conferences give out an award for 'Best Offensive Defenseman' (or something similar) ... if the MAC bestowed such an award for men's soccer, Falcon senior goalkeeper Paul Shoemaker would have to be the top midseason candidate ... Shoemaker is currently tied for third on the Falcons in scoring - again, he's a goalkeeper - with four points on the season ... Shoemaker had three points on a goal and an assist in Saturday's (Sept. 27) game at Marshall.
THAT'S A FIRST
Senior Paul Shoemaker converted a penalty kick midway through the second half at Marshall, in the process scoring the first goal by a goalkeeper in BGSU men's soccer history ... the Falcon program is in its 44th season.
A FEW MORE NOTES ON SHOEMAKER'S OFFENSE
A few additional tidbits regarding senior goalkeeper Paul Shoemaker's offensive prowess ...
• In addition to his goal, Shoemaker also had an assist at Marshall, marking the second-straight game he had picked up a helper.
• His three points in the MU match set a single-game record for a BG 'keeper.
• 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 program history ... Loescher had four assists during his Falcon career (1986-89) ... the complete list of points by BG 'keepers can be found in the PDF version of this release (link at top of page).
• Shoemaker is also believed to have the first scoring streak by a goalkeeper in Falcon history ... as mentioned, only twice before has a 'keeper had more than one point in a season in BG annals.
FALCON FIRSTS
No fewer than three different BGSU players scored their first collegiate goals in Saturday's (Sept. 27) game at Marshall ... freshman Byard Ebling, redshirt freshman Chris Jurtovski and senior goalkeeper Paul Shoemaker scored the Falcons' goals vs. the Herd.
LAST WEEK
The Falcons battled host Marshall to a 3-3, double-overtime tie Saturday night (Sept. 27), in BGSU's only game of the week ... twice, the Falcons rallied back from a goal down ... freshman Byard Ebling scored off of a direct kick by senior GK Paul Shoemaker to knot the score at 1-1 midway through the first half ... after Marshall took a 2-1 lead into halftime, redshirt freshman Chris Jurtovski scored off a corner kick by junior Cameron Hepple early in the second half ... BG took the lead as Shoemaker scored on a penalty kick at the 70:59 mark ... but, the Herd's Sterling Flunder scored his second goal of the game with just under 10 minutes left in regulation ... Shoemaker made six saves for the Brown and Orange in the match.
EVEN STEVEN
The Falcons finish the month of September with a 3-3-1 record ... that marks BGSU's first .500 record in a month (minimum three games played) since October of 2003 ... that Falcon team posted a 4-4-2 record in the 10th month of '03.
SCORING SURGE
After being shut out in each of the first three games of the season, the Falcons have scored 11 goals over the last five games - an average of 2.20 goals per game ... as a point of reference, Northern Illinois currently leads the MAC in that category, with 2.00 gpg this year to date.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons enter the Ohio State game with a record of 3-4-1 on the season ... BGSU started the year with three shutout losses, then won the next three matches before falling to Saint Francis (Sept. 21) ... last time out, the Falcons tied Marshall, 3-3, on Saturday (Sept. 27) ... BG's three-game winning 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 ... junior Jacob Lawrence leads the team in scoring, with eight points on four goals, while classmate Cameron Hepple is second with five points ... Hepple has a goal and a team-leading three assists in just five games this fall ... another junior, Chuko Evwaraye, and senior Paul Shoemaker each have four points this year to date ... Evwaraye has a pair of goals, while Shoemaker - a goalkeeper - has a goal and two assists ... at the defensive end, Shoemaker has started all eight matches ... he has 36 saves and a goals-against average of 1.79 ... 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 ... goalkeepers Shoemaker and Brent Petkus return after combining to play every second of every match last fall ... Petkus had a record of 3-2-1 and a 1.45 GAA ... Shoemaker was 3-8-2 with a team-high 54 saves and a GAA of 1.75 ... Hepple, BGSU's top returning scorer from a year ago, scored 11 points in 2007, while Hunter Van Houten had 10 ... Evwaraye had six points on three goals last season, as did Thomas McLean.
LEADERS OF THE MAC
Several Falcons are listed among the Mid-American Conference's statistical leaders ... junior Jacob Lawrence is third in points per game (1.14), while classmate Cameron Hepple is tied for fourth (1.00) ... Hepple leads the MAC in assists per game (0.60), with Lawrence third in goals per game (0.57) ... senior Paul Shoemaker leads the MAC in saves per game (4.50), and also is listed on the assists per game chart ... he is tied for seventh on the latter list (0.25).
ROAD WARRIORS
The Falcons opened the 2008 season with five consecutive games away from BG ... after playing two home games over the weekend, BGSU now returns to the road for three more games, beginning with last Saturday's (Sept. 27) 3-3 draw at Marshall ... following the current three-game swing, the Brown and Orange will have played eight of 10 games away from home to begin the season ... in fact, 10 of BGSU's first 13 contests will be played away from Cochrane Field, before the Falcons close the regular season with three of the final six games in Northwest Ohio.
ROAD (AND NEUTRAL-SITE) WARRIORS
After just five games in 2008, BGSU already had matched last year's total for wins away from home (road and neutral-site games combined) ... entering the Ohio State game, the Falcons now are 2-3-1 away from Cochrane Field this year to date, after going 2-7-1 in such games in 2007.
THE OPPONENTS / THE SERIES
Ohio State enters Wednesday's match with an overall record of 5-2-1, and the Buckeyes are 1-1-0 in Big Ten Conference play to date ... OSU, ranked 16th in the nation in last week's (Sept. 23) NSCAA national poll, suffered a 1-0 loss at No. 7 Northwestern Saturday (Sept. 27), snapping a two-game winning streak ... the Buckeyes are 3-0-0 in home games this year ... Danny Irizarry has team-high totals of four goals and nine points ... in goal, Drew Czekanski has played in seven games, and has 23 saves and a goals-against average of 0.82 ... last year, coach John Bluem's club posted an overall record of 17-4-5 ... the Buckeyes went 4-1-1 in conference play, then won the Big Ten Tournament and advanced all the way to the national championship game before falling to Wake Forest ... Bluem welcomed back 13 letterwinners, including seven starters, from that team ... the school's athletics web site is OhioStateBuckeyes.com.
The Falcons lead Ohio State, 25-11-2, in the all-time series between the teams ... OSU is BGSU's most common non-conference opponent ... the Falcons have a 9-7-2 mark in away matches vs. the Buckeyes ... OSU has won the last two meetings, including last year's 1-0 decision in BGSU and a 2-0 verdict in the 2006 meeting in Columbus ... the Falcons' last road win in the series came in 1995.
Hartwick has an overall record of 2-3-4, heading into Saturday's game vs. BGSU ... the game will mark the MAC opener for the Hawks as well as the Falcons ... on Saturday (Sept. 27), HC picked up a 2-1 overtime win over Fordham, lifting the team's home record to 2-0-1 this year to date ... John Paul Boyle has four goals and nine points to lead the team in both categories ... Jeremy Vuolo has played every minute in goal, and has 35 saves and a 1.21 GAA ... head coach Ian McIntyre returned 15 letterwinners, including seven starters, from last year's club that went 5-6-7 overall and 2-1-2 in MAC action ... the school's athletics web site is www.hartwick.edu/athletics.
The Falcons lead Hartwick, 1-0-1, in that series ... BGSU picked up a 1-0 win in Oneonta (neutral-site match at Oneonta State) in 1984 ... last year, the teams battled to a 2-2, double-overtime tie at Cochrane Field.
UP NEXT
Following the OSU and Hartwick matches, the Falcons will return home to face nationally-ranked Akron on Saturday, Oct. 11, in a 1:00 p.m. start at Cochrane Field.
