Hepple's Hat Trick Not Enough as Dayton Hangs On for 4-3 Win

Friday, September 18

Dayton, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Dayton

Cameron Hepple BGSU vs. Ohio Wesleyan Aug. 22, 2009

Senior Cameron Hepple had a hat trick at Dayton, the first by a BG player in nearly half a decade

September 18, 2009 | Men's Soccer

By: DAYTON, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Senior Cameron Hepple exploded for a hat trick, but the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team fell just short in a 4-3 loss at the University of Dayton Friday night (Sept. 18). The non-conference match was held at Baujan Field.

LINKS
* DAYTON 4, BGSU 3 - Final Stats
* DAYTON 4, BGSU 3 - PDF Boxscore
* BGSU CUMULATIVE STATS - PDF

With the win, the Flyers -- the reigning Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament champions -- improve to 1-3-1 this season to date. The Falcons drop to 1-4-1.

Hepple's hat trick was the first by a BGSU player in nearly five years. But, the Flyers scored twice in each half to pick up the win.

The first two goals of the night came via penalty kicks, as Hepple got the Falcons on the board at the 15:19 mark, but UD's Peter Chilemena equalized in the game's 31st minute. Chilemena scored two goals for the hosts.

Alex Torda gave the Flyers the lead at the 35:18 mark, and UD took that 2-1 advantage into the halftime break. But, Hepple knotted the score with his second goal of the game, converting on a two-on-one breakaway just 3:07 into the second half. Redshirt sophomore Max Weston assisted on that goal.

The Flyers, however, responded less than four minutes later, as Chilemena headed home a cross for a 3-2 UD lead. Then, Jack Pearson scored what would prove to be the winning goal at 76:04, putting the Flyers ahead by two goals.

But, Hepple completed his hat trick with 9:37 left in the match, off an assist by senior Hunter Van Houten. The Falcons had three shot attempts in the final seven-plus minutes, but could not get another ball past UD goalkeeper Josh Lavallee.

The Flyers held a narrow 20-17 advantage in shot attempts, and put 12 shots on goal to the Falcons' seven. Lavallee, who entered the week ranked 27th in the nation in saves percentage, stopped four of those seven SOG faced.

For the Falcons, redshirt freshman Jeff Smoker made seven saves, the highest total of his young career, in a complete-game effort. BGSU also was credited with one 'team save' on the night.

BGSU will return to Northwest Ohio to prepare for Sunday's (Sept. 20) game vs. IPFW. That contest, BG's first home game in nearly three weeks, will begin at 2:00 p.m. at Cochrane Field.

FALCON NOTES
* For senior Cameron Hepple, Friday night's output represented the first multiple-goal game -- and, obviously, the first hat trick -- of his collegiate career.

* No player had recorded more than one goal in a game since last Nov. 4, when Chuko Evwaraye had a pair of goals at Detroit ... BG had three two-goal games in 2008, as Evwaraye scored twice vs. Centenary (Sept. 12, 2008) and Jacob Lawrence had a pair of goals at Central Arkansas the next day (Sept. 13, 2008).

* After just six games, Hepple now has five goals, the highest single-season total of his career ... he had four goals in the 2007 season.

* Hepple's five-goal total would have tied him for team honors for all of the 2008 season ... Evwaraye led last year's club with five goals on the year.

* Hepple now has 12 career goals, tops among active Falcons ... he is BGSU's active career leader in goals, assists (eight) and points (32).

* Hepple's hat trick was the first by a BGSU player in nearly five years ... the last Falcon to score three goals in a game was Omari Aldridge, against IPFW on Oct. 28, 2004.

* Three first-year Falcons -- freshman Joey D'Agostino and Chris McLean and redshirt sophomore Max Weston -- were in the starting lineup ... for McLean and Weston, it marked the first start of their collegiate careers.

* Weston picked up an assist on Hepple's second goal of the night at UD ... for Weston, it was his second assist in a three-game span ... he assisted on another Hepple goal last Friday (Sept. 11) vs. Richmond ... Weston is in his first year at BGSU after transferring from Indiana University.

* Senior co-captain Hunter Van Houten picked up an assist on Hepple's third goal of Friday's match ... for Van Houten, it was his first helper of the season and the seventh of his Falcon career ... he is second among active Falcons in career assists, trailing only Hepple.

* Redshirt freshman Jeff Smoker made seven saves, the highest total of his young career ... he had six stops against both Louisville (Sept. 4) and Duquesne (Sept. 12) ... Smoker, who has started all six games, now has 27 saves on the year.

* BGSU has scored three first-half goals this year, matching the total for all of last season.

* The Falcons and Flyers combined for seven goals on Friday, the highest two-team total in nearly two years ... BG (2) and Michigan (5) combined for seven scores in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Oct. 17, 2007.

* Dayton returned 10 seniors from last year's team that went 15-4-3 (setting a school record for wins), won the 2008 Atlantic 10 Tournament title and earned the first automatic berth to the NCAA Championships in school history ... the Flyers were picked to defend their title in the A-10's preseason coaches poll.

* BGSU, as mentioned, hosts IPFW Sunday (Sept. 20) at 2:00 p.m. at Cochrane Field ... the game will be televised live in the Toledo area by BCSN.