Falcons Top Indiana State, 2-1, in Home Opener

Friday, August 28

Bowling Green, Ohio

5:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Indiana State

Megan Amann, Alyssa Zuccaro and Jackie Tamerlano celebrate Amann's second-half goal

August 28, 2009 | Women's Soccer

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team weathered a monsoon, a lightning delay and a late surge by Indiana State University to post a 2-1 win Friday afternoon (Aug. 28). The non-conference match was held at BGSU's Cochrane Field.

* BGSU 2, INDIANA STATE 1 - Final Stats
* BGSU 2, INDIANA STATE 1 - PDF Boxscore
* BGSU-INDIANA STATE PHOTO GALLERY
* BGSU'S SEASON STATS - Through 2 Matches

With the win, the Falcons improve to 1-1-0 on the young season, while the Sycamores drop to 0-2-0.

Sophomores Alyssa Zuccaro and Megan Amann scored for BGSU, and two Falcon goalies split time in net in their respective collegiate debuts. True freshman Laura Arnold worked a scoreless first half, making two saves, while redshirt freshman Becca Ison played the second 45 minutes and had six stops.

Arnold's first collegiate save was a memorable one, to say the least. She saved a penalty-kick try by ISU's Morgan Wendlandt late in the first half.

The Falcons outshot the visitors by a 21-16 count, including a 10-9 edge in shots on goal. Emily Lahay played all 90 minutes in net for the Sycamores, making eight saves.

"We're very pleased to get the first win of the season, although in terms of optimum team performance, we have a long way to go," said Falcon head coach Andy Richards.

The sky was overcast as the teams took to the pitch for pregame warmups, but it didn't begin to rain until the exact moment the starters returned to the field for the National Anthem. It began to rain harder and harder, and there was a torrential downpour during approximately the first 15 minutes of the match.

Despite the rain, however, the Falcons manufactured a goal less than five minutes into the contest. Senior Kaitlyn Kobe played a crossing ball from the left side, which found junior Jackie Tamerlano in the penalty area. Tamerlano headed the ball back toward the left, to the fee of Zuccaro. The Falcon soph's one-time effort from about 12 yards out eluded Lahay and gave the Falcons the lead for good.

BGSU kept up the pressure, as the home team had the first nine shot attempts of the day. Zuccaro, a thorn in the Sycamores' collective side all day, had four of those nine shots. Less than five minutes after her goal, 'Z' took a pass from Amann, made a move to lose her defender and fired a shot, but the ball was right at Lahay.

BG had another flurry with just over 11 minutes gone. This time, senior co-captain Samantha Bland had a pair of shots, with Lahay able to make the stop each time. The second rebound went to senior Jen Czapka, who fired just wide of net.

Several minutes later, the home team strung together five or six passes, with Kobe playing another left-side cross. But, Lahay was able to dive to grab the ball before a Falcon could get to it.

The rain slowed down gradually, but with 12:32 remaining before halftime, the lightning detector in the area went off, and the teams and fans were forced to vacate the field and stands, respectively. The match was halted for a total of 37 minutes before resuming at 6:09 p.m.

The Falcons had had the better of the play for the first 30-plus minutes. But, against the run of play, an ISU attacker headed into the BG penalty area and was tangled up with a Falcon defender. Both players went down, and a penalty kick was awarded.

Arnold, who had not been tested to that point, was able to dive to her left, grabbing Wendlandt's shot just inside the post for her first collegiate save. The Falcons remained in the lead, and BG took that 1-0 advantage into the halftime break.

When the second half began, the Falcons again struck early. Just when it seemed a BGSU scoring threat had been thwarted, Zuccaro stole the ball from an ISU defender near the end line, on the right side of the goal in front of the Cochrane Field scoreboard. The slid a pass back to Amann in the center of the box, and Amann's one-time effort was on target, giving the Falcons a 2-0 lead just 107 seconds into the half.

The Sycamores slowly but surely began peppering Ison with shots, and finally broke through. After earning their first corner kick of the day, ISU got on the scoreboard at the 57:03 mark. Seyma Erenli's kick found Jessica Rosenberg. Rosenberg's shot appeared to be headed wide left, but Katlin Owens was able to get a boot on it, redirecting it into the net and cutting BG's lead in half.

The Falcons threatened in the game's 63rd minute, as Czapka's header forced Lahay to leap high in the air to tip the ball away. The rebound went to Tamerlano, but her follow try was blocked out of bounds.

The Sycamores, however, had three shots on goal in a span of just over two minutes midway through the half. But, Ison was up to the task each time.

With a little over 15 minutes left, Casey Allbright put a hard shot on net for the visitors, but Ison was able to punch the ball out of danger with a diving effort.

The Sycamores very nearly equalized with only two and a half minutes left. Rosenberg fired a turnaround shot from the right side of the box. Her shot eluded everyone and rolled toward the far post. It hit off the goalpost and bounced directly back to Ison.

The visitors won a corner kick with just over 90 seconds left, but BG was able to clear the ball out of danger and keep possession in the attacking end for most of the remaining time.

Zuccaro had a game-high five shot attempts, including three on goal, while Czapka had four shot attempts.

"It was a game of two halves," said Richards. "I thought we played very well in the first half. We were thoroughly deserving of our goal, and we probably should have had two or three. But, in the second half -- and especially after we went two-nil up -- Indiana State did a great job and caused us a lot of problems.

"Goals change games, of course, so credit goes to Alyssa Zuccaro and Megan Amann for their first strikes of the season. And, obviously, credit must go to Laura Arnold for saving a PK as well, especially in her first game. Again, we have a long way to go, but we saw some good things today."

Next up for BGSU is a trip to East Lansing, Mich., to take on Michigan State University. The Falcons will meet the Spartans on Sunday afternoon (Aug. 30) at 1:00 p.m. at DeMartin Stadium.

FALCON NOTES
* The game, as mentioned, marked the collegiate debut for both true freshman Laura Arnold and redshirt freshman Becca Ison ... for Arnold, it was her first collegiate start as well.

* The match was the first-ever meeting between the Falcons and Indiana State.

* Sophomores Alyssa Zuccaro and Leah Johnson and junior Alicia Almond each played all 90 minutes of the match.

* Zuccaro's three-point game tied her career best ... she also had a goal and an assist in the Falcons' 4-0 win over Miami last Oct. 12 at Cochrane Field.

* ISU head coach Erika (Flanders) True returned to Cochrane Field for the first time as a coach ... a four-year starter for the Falcons from 1999-2002, she still holds many of BGSU's goalkeeping records ... True had assistant-coaching stints at Creighton and Indiana before taking the head-coaching job at ISU prior to the 2009 season.

"I was very proud to see Erika coaching back at BG," said Falcon head coach Andy Richards, who coached True during her final three years with the Falcons. "She did a great job, and her team should be proud of their display. I know she is going to be a fine head coach."