Sunday, September 20
Bowling Green, Ohio
2:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
1
vs
1
IPFW
Falcons, 'Dons Battle to 1-1 Deadlock
September 20, 2009 | Men's Soccer
Senior Chuko Evwaraye scored a first-half goal as the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team battled visiting IPFW to a 1-1 tie Sunday afternoon (Sept. 20). The non-conference game was held at BGSU's Cochrane Field.
* BGSU 1, IPFW 1 - Final Stats
* BGSU 1, IPFW 1 - PDF Boxscore
* BGSU's Cumulative Stats - PDF
The Falcons are now 1-4-2 on the year, while the Mastodons are 3-4-1.
Despite the two-goal total, the game featured a great deal of back-and-forth play, with numerous scoring chances. IPFW held a narrow 23-19 shots advantage in the 110 minutes of action, but it was BGSU that nearly got on the board in the game's opening seconds.
Off the opening kickoff, a pass found senior Cameron Hepple heading down the right side of the pitch. BGSU's leading scorer played a ball ahead to sophomore Byard Ebling, who fired a shot, but the assistant referee's flag was up, indicating an offsides call with just 13 seconds elapsed.
With just over three minutes gone, IPFW's Raphael Martinez took a free kick from just outside the penalty area, but his hard shot was saved by a leaping Jeff Smoker. BGSU's redshirt freshman goalkeeper had 10 saves, the highest total of his young career.
With 13:15 elapsed, the Falcons got on the scoreboard. Ebling's right-side cross sailed toward the six-yard box, where Hepple, Evwaraye and IPFW goalkeeper Donovan Dowling all were stationed. Dowling made a leaping effort, but was unable to catch the ball. Hepple deflected the ball to Evwaraye, who deposited it into the vacated net. Hepple and Ebling drew the assists on Evwaraye's first goal of the year.
The goal began a stretch of several minutes in which the Falcons were buzzing around the IPFW goal, and the Ebling-Evwaraye-Hepple was involved in each chance.
Less than two minutes after the goal, Evwaraye picked the pocket of a Mastodon defender deep in the IPFW end of the field. Evwaraye brought the ball along the touch line from left to right, sliding a pass to Ebling in the box. Ebling attempted to slide the ball to an onrushing Hepple, but a 'Don defender got to the ball a split-second before Hepple, clearing it out of danger for the time being.
But, the Falcons brought the ball back into the danger area only 30 seconds later. This time, Evwaraye's through-ball found Ebling behind the IPFW defense, but Dowling came charging out of his net to reach the ball just before Ebling could get there.
Three minutes later, the Falcons were able to string several passes together, with Hepple, senior Hunter Van Houtena and Ebling working the ball up the field. Ebling's pass found Evwaraye in the box, and Evwaraye's shot caromed off Dowling's head and out of bounds for a corner kick.
And, off of that Hepple corner kick, junior Thomas McLean played the ball into the box for senior Jacob Lawrence. Lawrence headed the ball to Evwaraye, who fired a hard shot that was deflected out of bounds once again.
After all of those BGSU chances, however, the visitors took advantage of a chance at the other end, scoring against the run of play. Martinez stole the ball from a BGSU defender along the right side of the field, and played a pass to Max Touloute. Touloute moved right to left along the 18-yard line and fired a low shot that fond the back of the net. Martinez had the lone assist on the goal, Touloute's third of the season, which came midway through the half.
Late in the first half, senior Tyler Deal's free kick, taken near the midfield stripe, sailed into the penalty area. The diagonal ball was well struck, but was just out of the reach of both Lawrence and senior Gavin Dozier. The teams went to halftime with the score knotted at 1-all.
And, obviously, that is how the score would remain. But, there were many scoring chances over the remaining 65 minutes.
In the second half, freshman Joey D'Agostino got another BG scoring threat started, playing a pass into space for Hepple near midfield with nearly 10 minutes gone. Hepple made a long run and slid the ball toward a teammate, but offsides was whistled and the play was nullified.
Three minutes later, after an IPFW foul, Van Houten's free kick sailed into the box. The ball was knocked out of the area by an IPFW defender, but D'Agostino picked it up and fired a long, hard shot that sailed just high.
With just under a half hour remaining in regulation, Evwaraye played an entry ball to Ebling, who had gotten a step on his defender. Ebling hit a hard shot that seemed labelled for the far (left) post, but Dowling, who had come out to cut down the shooting angle, was able to dive and make the save.
Only three minutes after that, some nifty passing by the home team resulted in another scoring chance. Van Houten slid a pass to Ebling on the left side of the pitch. Ebling's cross into the box was met by the head of D'Agostino. The Falcon freshman's shot was on target, but was right at Dowling.
Midway through the period, another D'Agostino ball put Ebling through, and Ebling and Dowling raced toward a 50-50 ball on the left side of the penalty area. Ebling got a toe on the ball before Dowling could reach it, but the shot was wide. Ebling had a team-leading total of seven shots on the afternoon.
The 'Dons had several chances two-thirds of the way through the period. With 16 minutes on the Cochrane Field clock, Martinez's hard shot was tipped over the crossbar by Smoker for a corner kick. Then, the Falcon GK made a nice leaping effort to grab that corner kick in traffic, thwarting another scoring chance.
With exactly 10 minutes left, Deal took another long free kick from midfield. His diagonal ball found the head of Lawrence, who directed the ball into the center of the box. Ebling got a head on it, but his shot was just over the bar.
Only a minute later, junior Dusko Topolic fired a hard shot, but it was directly at Dowling.
With six-and-a-half minutes remaining, Thomas McLean uncorked what may have been the hardest-hit ball all day. Off a feed by Dozier, the Falcon junior cut the ball back to his right to avoid an IPFW defender, and fired an absolute laser. But, the blast sailed just high of the target.
The 'Dons looked to score an 11th-hour winner, as Jorge Ramirez made a long run and took a shot with just over three minutes left. But, the shot was blocked by sophomore Tanner Fink at the top of the box. The teams headed to overtime, where the scoring chances continued.
In the first 10-minute OT period, Ebling got behind the defense courtesy of a pass by Lawrence. Ebling pulled the ball back to his right and fired a shot that went just wide of the far (right) post with 90 seconds gone.
Touloute had the visitors' two best chances of the period, with a long, low shot that was grabbed by Smoker with three minutes gone, and another hard shot that forced the BG goalkeeper to make a diving save in the final minute of the period. In between those two chances, Van Houten worked a give-and-go with Dozier at the other end of the field, but could not control the return pass enough to unleash a shot in traffic.
With just seconds left, Dozier put a shot on goal, but Dowling was in position to grab it as the period came to an end.
Both teams had Grade-A chances to end the game in the second OT period. With only 18 seconds gone, a long pass by D'Agostino found an onrushing Ebling, who headed the ball over the charging Dowling. But, an IPFW defender was able to get to the ball and clear it away from the goal line.
With less than two minutes gone, Ramirez made several moves to give himself some space, and fired a hard shot that hit the outside webbing of the net, just a few inches wide of the near post.
Touloute had a dangerous scoring chance with six minutes left, but his shot was blocked by a Falcon defender. With only a 90 seconds remaining, IPFW's Liridon Qafleshi took a shot from approximately 12 yards out that was headed toward the far (left) post. A teammate was stationed on the doorstep and redirected the ball into the net. But, offsides was called on the latter player, and the game remained tied.
With only 34 seconds left, Touloute fired his last shot of the game, forcing Smoker to make a diving save. The Falcons quickly countered, and Van Houten was able to get off a shot with only 17 seconds left, but Dowling made the stop. Believe it or not, back came the Mastodons the other way, but a long shot by Cory Keitz was blocked just before the match came to an end.
For the game, the 'Dons had 11 shots on goal to the Falcons' eight. As mentioned, Smoker had a career-high 10 saves, while Dowling made seven stops.
The Falcons now prepare for a two-game road swing against a pair of nationally-ranked teams, heading to Ann Arbor, Mich., for a Wednesday (Sept. 23) game vs. the University of Michigan. Then, BGSU will travel to the Rubber City to take on the University of Akron on Saturday night (Sept. 26) in the Mid-American Conference opener. In the latest rankings, the Wolverines were listed 16th in the nation by TopDrawerSoccer.com and 24th by Soccer America, while the Zips were ranked number one in the country in several polls.
FALCON NOTES
* Senior Chuko Evwaraye's goal was his first of the season and the ninth of his BGSU career ... Evwaraye's career goal and point (18) totals rank him second among active Falcons, trailing only classmate Cameron Hepple.
* Hepple drew an assist on Evwaraye's goal, the ninth of his career ... Hepple is BG's active career leader in goals (12), assists and points (33), and has scored seven points over the last two games.
* Hepple now has 11 points on the season, matching his career best ... he also had 11 points as a sophomore in the 2007 season.
* Ebling's assist on Evwaraye's goal was the first of his career ... Ebling now has totals of three points this fall and seven in his BG tenure.
* Redshirt freshman Jeff Smoker recorded the first double-digit save total of his BGSU career to date, with 10 stops vs. IPFW ... Smoker now has 37 saves and a goals-against average of 1.68 this season.
* BGSU has scored four first-half goals this season, topping the total for all of last season ... in 2008, BG scored only three goals before halftime.
* BGSU leads IPFW, 4-3-2, in the all-time series between the teams ... the teams are now 2-2-2 in games played in BG.
* BGSU 1, IPFW 1 - Final Stats
* BGSU 1, IPFW 1 - PDF Boxscore
* BGSU's Cumulative Stats - PDF
The Falcons are now 1-4-2 on the year, while the Mastodons are 3-4-1.
Despite the two-goal total, the game featured a great deal of back-and-forth play, with numerous scoring chances. IPFW held a narrow 23-19 shots advantage in the 110 minutes of action, but it was BGSU that nearly got on the board in the game's opening seconds.
Off the opening kickoff, a pass found senior Cameron Hepple heading down the right side of the pitch. BGSU's leading scorer played a ball ahead to sophomore Byard Ebling, who fired a shot, but the assistant referee's flag was up, indicating an offsides call with just 13 seconds elapsed.
With just over three minutes gone, IPFW's Raphael Martinez took a free kick from just outside the penalty area, but his hard shot was saved by a leaping Jeff Smoker. BGSU's redshirt freshman goalkeeper had 10 saves, the highest total of his young career.
With 13:15 elapsed, the Falcons got on the scoreboard. Ebling's right-side cross sailed toward the six-yard box, where Hepple, Evwaraye and IPFW goalkeeper Donovan Dowling all were stationed. Dowling made a leaping effort, but was unable to catch the ball. Hepple deflected the ball to Evwaraye, who deposited it into the vacated net. Hepple and Ebling drew the assists on Evwaraye's first goal of the year.
The goal began a stretch of several minutes in which the Falcons were buzzing around the IPFW goal, and the Ebling-Evwaraye-Hepple was involved in each chance.
Less than two minutes after the goal, Evwaraye picked the pocket of a Mastodon defender deep in the IPFW end of the field. Evwaraye brought the ball along the touch line from left to right, sliding a pass to Ebling in the box. Ebling attempted to slide the ball to an onrushing Hepple, but a 'Don defender got to the ball a split-second before Hepple, clearing it out of danger for the time being.
But, the Falcons brought the ball back into the danger area only 30 seconds later. This time, Evwaraye's through-ball found Ebling behind the IPFW defense, but Dowling came charging out of his net to reach the ball just before Ebling could get there.
Three minutes later, the Falcons were able to string several passes together, with Hepple, senior Hunter Van Houtena and Ebling working the ball up the field. Ebling's pass found Evwaraye in the box, and Evwaraye's shot caromed off Dowling's head and out of bounds for a corner kick.
And, off of that Hepple corner kick, junior Thomas McLean played the ball into the box for senior Jacob Lawrence. Lawrence headed the ball to Evwaraye, who fired a hard shot that was deflected out of bounds once again.
After all of those BGSU chances, however, the visitors took advantage of a chance at the other end, scoring against the run of play. Martinez stole the ball from a BGSU defender along the right side of the field, and played a pass to Max Touloute. Touloute moved right to left along the 18-yard line and fired a low shot that fond the back of the net. Martinez had the lone assist on the goal, Touloute's third of the season, which came midway through the half.
Late in the first half, senior Tyler Deal's free kick, taken near the midfield stripe, sailed into the penalty area. The diagonal ball was well struck, but was just out of the reach of both Lawrence and senior Gavin Dozier. The teams went to halftime with the score knotted at 1-all.
And, obviously, that is how the score would remain. But, there were many scoring chances over the remaining 65 minutes.
In the second half, freshman Joey D'Agostino got another BG scoring threat started, playing a pass into space for Hepple near midfield with nearly 10 minutes gone. Hepple made a long run and slid the ball toward a teammate, but offsides was whistled and the play was nullified.
Three minutes later, after an IPFW foul, Van Houten's free kick sailed into the box. The ball was knocked out of the area by an IPFW defender, but D'Agostino picked it up and fired a long, hard shot that sailed just high.
With just under a half hour remaining in regulation, Evwaraye played an entry ball to Ebling, who had gotten a step on his defender. Ebling hit a hard shot that seemed labelled for the far (left) post, but Dowling, who had come out to cut down the shooting angle, was able to dive and make the save.
Only three minutes after that, some nifty passing by the home team resulted in another scoring chance. Van Houten slid a pass to Ebling on the left side of the pitch. Ebling's cross into the box was met by the head of D'Agostino. The Falcon freshman's shot was on target, but was right at Dowling.
Midway through the period, another D'Agostino ball put Ebling through, and Ebling and Dowling raced toward a 50-50 ball on the left side of the penalty area. Ebling got a toe on the ball before Dowling could reach it, but the shot was wide. Ebling had a team-leading total of seven shots on the afternoon.
The 'Dons had several chances two-thirds of the way through the period. With 16 minutes on the Cochrane Field clock, Martinez's hard shot was tipped over the crossbar by Smoker for a corner kick. Then, the Falcon GK made a nice leaping effort to grab that corner kick in traffic, thwarting another scoring chance.
With exactly 10 minutes left, Deal took another long free kick from midfield. His diagonal ball found the head of Lawrence, who directed the ball into the center of the box. Ebling got a head on it, but his shot was just over the bar.
Only a minute later, junior Dusko Topolic fired a hard shot, but it was directly at Dowling.
With six-and-a-half minutes remaining, Thomas McLean uncorked what may have been the hardest-hit ball all day. Off a feed by Dozier, the Falcon junior cut the ball back to his right to avoid an IPFW defender, and fired an absolute laser. But, the blast sailed just high of the target.
The 'Dons looked to score an 11th-hour winner, as Jorge Ramirez made a long run and took a shot with just over three minutes left. But, the shot was blocked by sophomore Tanner Fink at the top of the box. The teams headed to overtime, where the scoring chances continued.
In the first 10-minute OT period, Ebling got behind the defense courtesy of a pass by Lawrence. Ebling pulled the ball back to his right and fired a shot that went just wide of the far (right) post with 90 seconds gone.
Touloute had the visitors' two best chances of the period, with a long, low shot that was grabbed by Smoker with three minutes gone, and another hard shot that forced the BG goalkeeper to make a diving save in the final minute of the period. In between those two chances, Van Houten worked a give-and-go with Dozier at the other end of the field, but could not control the return pass enough to unleash a shot in traffic.
With just seconds left, Dozier put a shot on goal, but Dowling was in position to grab it as the period came to an end.
Both teams had Grade-A chances to end the game in the second OT period. With only 18 seconds gone, a long pass by D'Agostino found an onrushing Ebling, who headed the ball over the charging Dowling. But, an IPFW defender was able to get to the ball and clear it away from the goal line.
With less than two minutes gone, Ramirez made several moves to give himself some space, and fired a hard shot that hit the outside webbing of the net, just a few inches wide of the near post.
Touloute had a dangerous scoring chance with six minutes left, but his shot was blocked by a Falcon defender. With only a 90 seconds remaining, IPFW's Liridon Qafleshi took a shot from approximately 12 yards out that was headed toward the far (left) post. A teammate was stationed on the doorstep and redirected the ball into the net. But, offsides was called on the latter player, and the game remained tied.
With only 34 seconds left, Touloute fired his last shot of the game, forcing Smoker to make a diving save. The Falcons quickly countered, and Van Houten was able to get off a shot with only 17 seconds left, but Dowling made the stop. Believe it or not, back came the Mastodons the other way, but a long shot by Cory Keitz was blocked just before the match came to an end.
For the game, the 'Dons had 11 shots on goal to the Falcons' eight. As mentioned, Smoker had a career-high 10 saves, while Dowling made seven stops.
The Falcons now prepare for a two-game road swing against a pair of nationally-ranked teams, heading to Ann Arbor, Mich., for a Wednesday (Sept. 23) game vs. the University of Michigan. Then, BGSU will travel to the Rubber City to take on the University of Akron on Saturday night (Sept. 26) in the Mid-American Conference opener. In the latest rankings, the Wolverines were listed 16th in the nation by TopDrawerSoccer.com and 24th by Soccer America, while the Zips were ranked number one in the country in several polls.
FALCON NOTES
* Senior Chuko Evwaraye's goal was his first of the season and the ninth of his BGSU career ... Evwaraye's career goal and point (18) totals rank him second among active Falcons, trailing only classmate Cameron Hepple.
* Hepple drew an assist on Evwaraye's goal, the ninth of his career ... Hepple is BG's active career leader in goals (12), assists and points (33), and has scored seven points over the last two games.
* Hepple now has 11 points on the season, matching his career best ... he also had 11 points as a sophomore in the 2007 season.
* Ebling's assist on Evwaraye's goal was the first of his career ... Ebling now has totals of three points this fall and seven in his BG tenure.
* Redshirt freshman Jeff Smoker recorded the first double-digit save total of his BGSU career to date, with 10 stops vs. IPFW ... Smoker now has 37 saves and a goals-against average of 1.68 this season.
* BGSU has scored four first-half goals this season, topping the total for all of last season ... in 2008, BG scored only three goals before halftime.
* BGSU leads IPFW, 4-3-2, in the all-time series between the teams ... the teams are now 2-2-2 in games played in BG.
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