Last-Minute Goal Sinks Falcons, 3-2

Sunday, September 27

Kalamazoo, Mich.

2:30 PM

Bowling Green State University

Western Michigan

Sophomore Katelyn Turner scored BG's second goal at WMU

September 27, 2009 | Women's Soccer

By: KALAMAZOO, Mich. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Stephanie Skowneski's last-minute goal lifted Western Michigan University to a 3-2 victory over the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team Sunday afternoon (Sept. 27). The Mid-American Conference match was held at the WMU Soccer Complex.

* WESTERN MICHIGAN 3, BGSU 2 - Final Stats
* WESTERN MICHIGAN 3, BGSU 2 - PDF Boxscore

With the win, the Broncos improve to 4-4-1 overall and 1-1-0 in MAC play, while dropping the Falcons to 4-6-1 and 0-1-1, respectively.

Western took a one-goal lead on three separate occasions, but the Falcons battled back to tie the score twice, on goals by freshman Sarah VonderBrink's and sophomore Katelyn Turner. However, Skowneski's goal with just 57 seconds remaining in the second half proved to be the winner.

"It was a disappointing result today, especially as we had fought our way back into the game not once, but twice," said Falcon head coach Andy Richards. "I don't think we so much ran out of goals as ran out of time. I felt that, if we had just had a little bit more time, we would have equalized again. Such was the 'to and fro' of this game."

Nicole Dulyea was involved in the scoring of all three Western goals, including an assist on the winner. Dulyea's pass found Skowneski in the middle of the box. With the clock ticking under a minute, Skowneski turned and fired, giving the Broncos that 3-2 lead.

Dulyea had assisted on the first goal of the day, midway through the first half. That initial goal came from Anina Cicerone, at the 22:13 mark.

But, with under seven minutes left before halftime, sophomore Alyssa Zuccaro found VonderBrink , who scored her first collegiate goal at 38:31.

Dulyea scored a goal of her own at the 54:03 mark, bending a shot into the right corner of the net. Once again, however, the Falcons battled back. A long free kick by senior co-captain Colleen Kordan found Turner, who put it home for her second goal of the year. Turner's goal tied the score until the final minute of the match.

The Broncos were credited with a total of 15 shots on the day, with six of those on goal. BGSU was credited with just three total shots in the 90 minutes of action, with all three on net.

WMU goalkeeper Sarah Phillips had one save on the day, while BGSU redshirt junior keeper Alexa Arsenault made three stops on the afternoon. The teams combined for just three fouls in the first half of play, but were whistled for 17 fouls (and two yellow cards) in the second period.

"I am delighted for Sarah VonderBrink to get her first collegiate goal," said Richards. "And, we are happy for Katelyn Turner to get another strike. She had a nice finish.

"We are just disappointed in the result, and feel that we were perhaps a little unlucky. Their three shots (goals) were right into the corner of the goal. Maybe on another day, one or two of those shots go wide or high.

"There is obviously a lot for us to work on, but we are excited to push forward and prepare for another weekend of MAC play."

The Falcons will be back on the road next weekend, taking on Ball State on Friday (Oct. 2) and Miami on Sunday (Oct. 4) to complete a stretch of six consecutive matches away from home. BG's next home match will be Friday, Oct. 9, vs. Ohio.

FALCON NOTES
* Western Michigan now holds a 9-7-1 lead over BGSU in the all-time series between the teams ... Sunday's win, however, snapped a four-game Falcon series winning streak ... the Broncos had not downed BGSU since Sept. 25, 2005 ... BG's four-game series win streak included a 1-0 win in Kalamazoo last Sept. 28, and a 2-0 victory at Cochrane Field in the MAC Tournament quarterfinals.

* Freshman Sarah VonderBrink's goal was the first of her collegiate career ... she was playing in just her sixth game ... VonderBrink was injured in the Falcons' season opener at Ohio State (Aug. 21), and missed the next five contests before returning to action.

* Sophomore Alyssa Zuccaro picked up the assist on VonderBrink's goal ... Zuccaro now has three assists on the year, tying her for the team lead with fellow sophs Megan Amann and Leah Johnson ... Zuccaro is one of four BG players with two goals on the year, and has seven points to match Amann for the BG lead.

* Zuccaro now has career totals of 18 points on seven goals and four assists ... her career point total ranks her third among active Falcons, behind only senior Stacey Lucas (21) and Amann (19).

* Sophomore Katelyn Turner's goal on Sunday was her second of the season and the fifth of her career ... Turner is tied for third in career goals among active BG players.

* With six points this year to date, Turner has matched her total for all of last season ... she had three goals as a freshman, and has a pair of goals and a pair of assists this year to date.

* Senior co-captain Colleen Kordan had the assist on Turner's goal vs. the Broncos ... it was Kordan's first assist of the year and the sixth of her career ... Kordan has 14 career points, with four goals and the six assists as a Falcon ... she leads active Falcons in career games played (74) and started (70) ... Kordan is tied for eighth in school history in career games started.

* The Falcons are 0-1-1 in MAC play through the first weekend of conference action ... the last time BGSU did not have a win after two league games came in the 2004 season ... that year, the Brown and Orange started MAC action with a record of 0-3-1 ... but, the '04 Falcons went 3-0-1 in the final four conference games to earn a berth in the MAC Tournament, then won three more games to capture the league tourney title and advance to the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history.