Two Second-Half Goals Lift Valpo Past Falcons

Tuesday, October 6

Bowling Green, Ohio

3:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Valparaiso

October 06, 2009 | Men's Soccer

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio

Visiting Valparaiso University scored a pair of second-half goals to post a 2-0 victory over the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team Tuesday afternoon (Oct. 6). The non-conference match was held at Cochrane Field.

* VALPARAISO 2, BGSU 0 - Final Stats
* VALPARAISO 2, BGSU 0 - PDF Boxscore
* THIS WEEK'S MAC NOTES & STATS - PDF

With the win, the Crusaders improve to 5-5-1 on the season, while the Falcons drop to 2-8-1.

After a scoreless first half, Valpo's Stefan Antonijevic scored what proved to be the winning goal early in the second period. Antonijevic, the tallest player on the field, got his head on a Rodolfo Lucas corner kick, directing the ball into the upper left corner of the goal at the 52:58 mark.

Zack Stivers gave the Crusaders some breathing room, converting a penalty kick with just over 11 minutes left in the match.

On a cloudy, breezy day in Bowling Green, the teams battled through a goal-free first half. Despite the lack of scoring, there was plenty of action, as the Falcons and Crusaders combined for 16 first-half shot attempts.

With less than four minutes gone, the Falcons got their first chance of the day. Sophomore Byard Ebling, on the left side of the pitch deep in the VU end, slid a pass to freshman Chris McLean in the penalty area. McLean, in traffic, got the ball to redshirt sophomore Max Weston, but a Crusader defender knocked the ball away just before Weston could take a shot. The ball, however, went back to McLean, who fired a shot just wide of goal.

With just over five minutes gone, Antonijevic had his shot blocked by Falcon senior Jacob Lawrence. The ball caromed to VU's Steve Shively, who was lurking near the 18-yard line. Shively's shot was on frame, but was directly at Falcon goalkeeper Jeff Smoker, and the redshirt freshman went to the ground to make the save.

Shively was at it again just a few moments later, getting into the box and taking a shot from the right of the goal, near the Cochrane Field scoreboard. But, Smoker was there to make the save with just over 10 minutes gone.

With approximately 16 minutes gone, Smoker and Antonijevic battled for a ball in the air. Smoker went to the ground, and Antonijevic tracked down the ball near the touch line, left of goal. He attempted to slide a ball into the goalmouth, but a Falcon defender was there to clear the ball out of danger.

With just over 10 minutes left in the half, a long punt by VU 'keeper Ryan Schwarz led to an odd-numbers rush for the Crusaders. Somehow, though, the visitors were unable to get a shot off.

Late in the half, the Falcons possessed the ball for a long stretch of time as BG built the attack. Senior Chuko Evwaraye, sophomore John Barr, junior Dusko Topolic and Chris McLean were involved in the buildup. From the right side, McLean's pass fould senior co-captain Hunter Van Houten in the center of the field. Van Houten looked for an opening in the VU defense, and fed classmate Tyler Deal, who fired a long shot that was just wide of the target. The teams went to halftime still embroiled in a nil-nil draw.

Early in the second period, BG again looked to attack. Van Houten and junior Thomas McLean combined to get the ball into the attacking third of the field. McLean's left-side service, intended for his younger brother, spun just out of reach, and Schwarz was able to grab the ball before Chris McLean could get to it.

Soon after, the Crusaders got on the board. Lucas took a corner kick from the southwest corner, and played the ball into the area, near the six-yard line. Antonijevic, at 6'6" the tallest player on either team, rose up and redirected the ball with a flick of his head. Smoker had no chance as the perfectly-placed ball found the upper-left-hand corner of the goal. The visitors had the lead in the game's 53rd minute.

Now trailing by a goal, the Brown and Orange would have several chances to tie the score. In the 57th minute of play, Van Houten rifled a free kick through the penalty area. But, no teammate was able to get a body part on the ball and deflect it toward goal.

At the other end of the pitch, VU's Sam Haines cut left to right along the 18-yard line, freed himself from a BG defender and fired a volley with velocity, but Smoker was in position to make the stop.

Midway through the period, Deal's long free kick sailed just out of reach of lunging freshman Joey D'Agostino and went over the touch line for a VU goal kick.

Just over 17 minutes remained when the Crusaders were called for a foul just outside their own penalty area. Van Houten lined up to take the free kick. From almost the exact spot, the co-captain had ripped a shot that hit the crossbar late in Saturday's game vs. Western Michigan.

On Tuesday, Van Houten -- a native of Valparaiso, Ind. -- again hit a spinning free kick that sailed toward goal. Fellow co-captain Jacob Lawrence, running right to left near the six-yard line, just missed getting a head on the ball. Despite the hard shot by one BG co-captain and the potential distraction caused by the other co-captain crossing directly in front of him, Schwarz was able to make the save.

Just a few minutes later, Ebling beat Schwarz to a 50-50 ball at the top of the box. The BG sophomore poked the ball away from the VU 'keeper, and tracked it down near the left side of the area. But, several Crusader defenders were able to scramble back and rejoin the play, and Valpo eventually was able to clear the ball away.

In the game's late stages, the Falcons were whistled for a foul in the box, and a penalty kick was awarded. Stivers converted the PK, for his team-leading fifth goal of the season, and the visitors had a two-goal lead.

BG's best scoring chance over the final 11:03 came when Deal's long free kick was on target, but was saved by Schwarz. Schwarz had a total of five stops en route to the shutout, while Smoker made four saves for the home side.

VU had a narrow 6-5 advantage in shots on goal, and had 19 total shot attempts to the Falcons' 11.

The Falcons are now idle until a week from Friday (Oct. 16), when the team returns to Mid-American Conference play with a match at Buffalo.

FALCON NOTES
* For the fourth consecutive game, the Falcons played without leading scorer Cameron Hepple due to injury ... Hepple has five goals in seven games played this year to date.

* Redshirt junior Ahmad Smith made his first start of the season, but the 15th of his career, on Tuesday ... Smith started seven matches in both his freshman season of 2006 and his redshirt sophomore year of '08.

* Tuesday's meeting marked the first time BGSU had met Valparaiso in men's soccer.