Bowling Green State University Athletics
Tuesday, September 1
Bowling Green, Ohio
1:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
vs
Marshall
Senior Tyler Deal and the Falcons host Marshall Tuesday afternoon
Falcons Host Marshall to Begin Busy Week
August 29, 2009 | Men's Soccer
BGSU opens 2009 regular-season schedule Tuesday
The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team begins the 2009 regular season with three matches in a six-day span ... the Falcons of head coach Eric Nichols will host Marshall University on Tuesday afternoon (Sept. 1) to open the season ... kickoff for that match is set for 1:00 p.m. at Cochrane Field ... then, the Brown and Orange will head to Lexington, Ky., for the University of Kentucky Invitational ... the Falcons will face the University of Louisville on Friday (Sept. 4), before taking on host UK on Sunday (Sept. 6) ... the UL match begins at 5:00 p.m., with the UK contest set for a 2:30 p.m. start ... both matches will be held at the UK Soccer Complex.
BGSU Release and Statistics (PDF)
TOUGH CROWD
The Falcons' 2009 schedule is a challenging one, to say the least ... four Falcon opponents, including Louisville, are ranked in both the NSCAA and Soccer Times preseason top-25 polls ... two other teams, including Kentucky, are receiving votes in the latter poll ... UL is ranked 25th in the nation on both lists ... other nationally-ranked teams on BGSU's '09 schedule include Akron, Michigan and Michigan State ... another BG opponent, Dayton, received votes in the Soccer Times poll.
FALCONS TABBED FOR FIFTH
The MAC office released the preseason poll on Aug. 19, and the Falcons have been predicted to finish fifth ... the poll is the result of voting by the league's seven head coaches ... nationally-ranked Akron was predicted to win the regular-season and tournament crowns in 2009 ... last year, the Zips captured both the regular-season and tourney titles ... Florida Atlantic and Hartwick are affiliate members of the MAC in men's soccer.
LAST TIME(S) OUT
The Falcons played to a pair of scoreless draws in exhibition play ... on Saturday (Aug. 22), BGSU battled Ohio Wesleyan to a 0-0 tie at Cochrane Field ... the Falcons and host Cleveland State played to a similar result in Cleveland on Wednesday (Aug. 26) ... no overtime was played in either match ... redshirt freshman Jeff Smoker played 135 of the 180 minutes in goal ... he played the first half vs. OWU, making one save ... redshirt junior Steven Topper and true freshman Dylan Schoettley split time in the net in the second half, and neither was called upon to make a save ... at CSU, Smoker played all 90 minutes, making two stops.
NICHOLS ERA BEGINS
Eric Nichols begins his first season at the helm of the men's soccer Falcons ... Nichols was hired on Feb. 17, 2009, becoming just the fifth head coach in the 45-year history of the program ... he came to BGSU after spending the 2008 season as assistant coach at Davidson College ... prior to his stint there, Nichols was the head men's soccer coach at Ohio Dominican University for four seasons (2004-07) ... under his guidance, the Panthers recorded a 59-22-1 (.728) overall mark, including a final ranking of fourth in 2007 ... that team advanced all the way to the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Tournament ... Nichols served as an assistant coach at Ohio Wesleyan University for four seasons ... he played collegiately at Ohio State, and also played five years of professional soccer for the Columbus Xoggz and Indiana Blast of the USISL and the Columbus Invaders of the NPSL.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
New head coach Eric Nichols has 15 returning letterwinners, including nine starters, from the 2008 club ... last fall, the Falcons finished with an overall mark of 4-13-2, and BGSU was 0-6-0 in MAC action ... those nine returning starters do not include a goalkeeper, as all three 'keepers on the roster – redshirt freshman Jeff Smoker, true freshman Dylan Schoettley and redshirt junior Steven Topper – will be looking to see their first collegiate action ... at the other end of the pitch, the Falcon returnees combined to score 17 of the team's 18 goals and register 11 of the 13 assists a year ago ... the only departed player that scored any points was goalie Paul Shoemaker, who had a goal and two assists in his senior year of 2008 ... Chuko Evwaraye, Jacob Lawrence and Cameron Hepple – all seniors in '09 – combined for 11 goals a year ago ... Evwaraye led the team in both goals (5) and points (10) ... Lawrence and Hepple had eight points apiece ... Lawrence was second on the club with four goals, while Hepple scored twice and had a team-leading four assists ... both Evwaraye and Lawrence had two game-winning goals ... the Falcons had a 2-4-0 home record a year ago, and BGSU was 1-7-2 on the road and 1-2-0 at neutral sites.
THE OPPONENTS / THE SERIES
Marshall's Tuesday game at BGSU is the season opener for the Thundering Herd as well as the Falcons ... MU played three exhibition games, losing to Rio Grande (1-0) and Northern Kentucky (3-0) before beating IUPUI, 3-1, on Tuesday (Sept. 25) ... a year ago, the Herd went 3-14-1 overall and 3-5-0 in Conference USA ... head coach Bob Gray welcomes back 11 letterwinners from that team.
The Falcons lead Marshall, 7-3-1, in the all-time series between the teams ... BGSU and MU first met in 1979, and matched up at least once in every season from 1997-2004, when Marshall was a MAC member ... last season, the teams battled to a 3-3 tie in Huntington ... Byard Ebling and Chris Jurtovski each scored their first collegiate goal in that game ... the Falcons have a 4-1-0 record in home matches against the Herd, but MU's lone road win came in the teams' last meeting in Bowling Green, in 2004 ... Marshall is 2-0-1 in the last three overall matches, after the Falcons had won six-straight games from 1998-2002.
Louisville's regular-season opener will be the BGSU match ... the Cardinals, ranked 25th in the nation in several polls, closed the exhibition schedule with a 2-2 tie vs. Ohio State on Friday (Aug. 28) ... UofL beat Lipscomb (2-1) and Bradley (1-0) in exhibitions ... last year, the Cards were 11-8-2 overall and posted a 5-5-1 mark in the Big East Conference, advancing to the NCAA Tournament under head coach Ken Lolla ... Lolla returns 11 players with experience in the starting lineup.
The Falcons are 2-0-0 in the all-time series with Louisville ... BGSU won by 1-0 scores in both 1986 and 1987 ... the teams have never met at a neutral site, as the '86 victory came in BG and the following year's win was in Louisville.
Kentucky opens the season with a match vs. IUPUI at the Wildcats' own invite, before facing the Falcons two days later ... UK opened the exhibition schedule with a 2-1 loss to Dayton, and dropped a 4-2 decision at Marquette Friday (Sept. 28) ... last year, the 'Cats had a 12-4-5 record, including a 6-1-1 record in C-USA ... head coach Ian Collins' team finished the season ranked 21st by Soccer America and 24th in two other polls ... this year, the Wildcats are receiving votes in the Soccer Times preseason poll ... that same publication named defender Barry Rice to its Preseason All-America first team ... he is also on the Hermann Trophy Watch List ... UK's roster also includes a pair of transfers from BGSU, Tim Crone and George Davis IV.
Kentucky holds a narrow 9-8-1 series lead over the Falcons, and the teams have split their last four meetings ... the Falcons and Wildcats have not met since the 2004 season, UK's last as a MAC affiliate member for men's soccer ... the 'Cats hold a 4-1-1 series lead in games played in Lexington ... BG's lone road win came in the 1998 MAC Tournament's semifinal round.
LOOKING FOR AN EARLIER START
The Falcons will be looking to get off to a quicker start in matches this year ... BGSU struggled to score goals in the first half of games in the 2008 season, but found the back of the net as the games have gone on ... BG was outscored, 17-3, in the first half last year ... the Falcons scored 14 goals to the opponents' 19 in the second half ... in fact, BGSU scored 14 goals (including one OT marker) after the 60th minute.
ALL OR NOTHING
The Falcons scored three goals in a game four times last season ... that was BG's highest total in nearly a decade, since the 1999 team had at least three goals in a game on six occasions ... but, the Falcon offense was shut out on 11 occasions in '08 ... BGSU scored one goal in a pair of games last year, and two goals on two occasions.
2009 CAPTAINS
Seniors Jacob Lawrence and Hunter Van Houten are the co-captains of the 2009 men's soccer Falcons.
Eric Nichols Post-Practice Interview (Sept. 19, 2025)
Friday, September 19
Off The Pitch: Trace Terry (Sept. 18, 2025)
Friday, September 19
BGSU MSOC: USMNT GOAT (Lucas Kleimeyer)
Wednesday, September 17
Off The Pitch: Andrew Shaffer (Sept. 11, 2025)
Thursday, September 11