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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Open 2009 Season at Ohio State
August 19, 2009 | Women's Soccer
The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, after finishing the 2008 season with an overall record of 12-6-4, begins the 2009 campaign on the road this weekend ... the Falcons of head coach Andy Richards will commence the 13th season in program history with Friday night's (Aug. 21) match at The Ohio State University ... kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium ... following the match with the Buckeyes, the Falcons will have a week to prepare for the home opener, vs. Indiana State University on Friday, Aug. 28 ... the Brown and Orange will then close the month of August with a game at Michigan State University two days later (Sunday, Aug. 30).
BGSU Release and Statistics (PDF)
AN EARLY START
The Falcons' Aug. 21 kickoff will mark the earliest start to a season in program history ... in the first 12 seasons, the team's earliest opener was last year's Aug. 22 start at Cincinnati.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
Head coach Andy Richards, beginning his 10th season at the helm, welcomes back 19 letterwinners, including nine starters, from last year's club that finished 12-6-4 overall and 6-3-2 in MAC action ... the '08 team's overall winning percentage of .636 was the second best in school history, and last year's team set a school record for fewest losses in a season.
OFFENSE? CHECK
The Falcons scored a total of 38 goals last year, the third-highest total in school history ... the BGSU record for goals in a season is 42, set by the 1998 team ... the returning players combined to score a total of 21 of last year's 38 goals ... sophomore Alyssa Zuccaro is the Falcons' top returning goalscorer, with five ... classmate Megan Amann is the leading returnee in terms of points ... she had 12 points to Zuccaro's 11 last fall.
DEFENSE? CHECK
The BGSU defense, not to be outdone by the offense, shattered the school record for fewest goals allowed last year ... the Falcons allowed just 14 goals in last year's 22 games, an average of only 0.68 gpg surrendered ... the old school-record low was 1.30 gpg allowed, by both the 2005 and 2006 BG teams.
DEFENSE PART II
The Falcons allowed only seven goals in the 11 MAC matches, an average of 0.64 gpg allowed ... that shattered the old school records of 10 goals allowed and a 0.91 gpg, set in 2006 ... BGSU had seven shutouts in the 11 conference contests.
DEFENSE PART III
Goalkeeper Alexa Arsenault and defender Colleen Kordan give the Falcons a pair of returning All-MAC First-Team selections ... Arsenault posted 11 complete-game shutouts last year, and the BGSU back line combined for 14 total clean sheets, also a school record ... Arsenault, after just two seasons, has tied the BGSU career record for shutouts, with 17.
THE FALCONS ARE ...
• 112-118-23 all-time, entering the 13th season in program history;
• 46-32-9 overall in the last four seasons;
• 59-59-13 in Mid-American Conference regular-season matches;
• 39-21-8 vs. MAC schools over the last five seasons (including regular-season and tournament matches), and 31-16-6 vs. league foes in the last four years;
• 57-51-9 at home, and 27-12-3 at Cochrane Field in the last four seasons;
• 8-1-1 at Cochrane last year, with the only loss coming to a team (Michigan State) that spent time in the national rankings;
• 47-58-12 in road contests in program history;
• 8-9-2 all-time in neutral-site matches;
• 7-11-1 in the month of August through the years;
• 0-0-0 in games played on Aug. 21 (see earlier note);
• 1-4-1 against Ohio State in the all-time series between the teams;
• 1-2-1 in road games vs. the Buckeyes, including last year's 1-1 tie;
• 42-1-1 in the last 44 games in which BGSU scored first (12-0-0 last season); and
• 0-6-2 in 2008 matches in which the opponent scored first (with the ties coming at OSU and in the regular-season meeting with Toledo).
THE OPPONENT / THE SERIES
Ohio State is beginning the 17th season in program history ... the Buckeyes, 9-4-3 all-time in season openers, return nine starters from 2008, plus an additional player (co-captain Cassie Dickerson) who missed all but three matches last season due to injury ... also returning is the Buckeyes' 2008 leading scorer, sophomore Paige Maxwell, and five additional season-long starters from '08 ... in all, 19 Buckeyes are back from last year's club.
The Falcons trail Ohio State, 4-1-1, in the all-time series between the teams ... the Buckeyes hold a 2-1-1 advantage in matches played in Columbus ... last year, the teams battled to a 1-1 tie at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium ... Brianne Eisenhard, now a member of the Falcons' coaching staff, scored the Falcons' goal ... prior to last season, the teams had not met since the first round of the 2004 NCAA Championships ... in BGSU's first-ever national postseason game, the host Buckeyes posted a 2-0 win ... BG's lone series win came in 2001 in Columbus, a 2-0 result.
