UL Scores Three Second-Half Goals to Down Falcons

Friday, September 4

Lexington, Ky.

5:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Louisville

September 04, 2009 | Men's Soccer

By: LEXINGTON, Ky. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The nationally-ranked University of Louisville scored three second-half goals to pick up a 3-0 win over the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team Friday evening (Sept. 4). The match, the first in the University of Kentucky Invitational, was held at the UK Soccer Complex.

* LOUISVILLE 3, BGSU 0 - Final Stats
* LOUISVILLE 3, BGSU 0 - PDF Boxscore
* BGSU Cumulative Stats - PDF

With the win, UL improves to 1-0-0 on the season, while dropping the Falcons to 1-1-0 on the year. Louisville was ranked 23rd in the nation in the Soccer America preseason poll and 25th in the NSCAA poll.

The Falcons hit the crossbar with shots on two first-half occasions, with the match still scoreless. Senior Cameron Hepple and junior Thomas McLean rang shots off the bar within seconds of one another midway through the half.

That half ended with the teams still deadlocked, nil-nil. At that point, the Falcons had gone a total of 315 minutes without allowing a goal this season (including a pair of exhibition matches and Tuesday's 2-0 win over Marshall in the regular-season opener). But, the Cardinals would get on the board early in the second half.

Colin Rolfe broke the scoreless tie with a goal exactly one minute into the half, which would prove to be the game winner.

Austin Berry headed home UofL's second goal at the 60:25 mark, and Freddie Braun concluded the scoring with just under 10 minutes left in the match.

"I'm very pleased with our effort, and the way we competed," BGSU head coach Eric Nichols. "The bottom line is, we just have to get better. Louisville is a very good team.

"We had a good first half - we really battled. We had a few letdowns in the second half, and Louisville capitalized on those moments. That's what happens when you play a good team. We had our opportunities -- we just need to learn from this. We need to keep working, and we need to get better.

"Losing is when you find out who you are and what you are made of. That's what we plan to do."

Louisville held a 19-9 advantage in the shots department, including an 11-5 edge in shots on goal. Andre Boudreaux made five saves in his complete-match effort, earning the shutout win for the Cards.

For the Falcons, redshirt freshman played the first half, making six saves in his 45 shutout minutes. True freshman Dylan Schoettley played the second half and made two stops.

The Falcons played without senior co-captain Jacob Lawrence for the second-straight game, due to injury.

Three BGSU players made their collegiate debut in Friday's match. True freshman Joey D'Agostino played 32 minutes, while redshirt freshman Zach Lemke played 33 minutes vs. the Cards. Redshirt sophomore Max Weston, a transfer from Indiana University, made his debut with 19 minutes of action.

Smoker, in his first season of collegiate action, has not allowed a goal in 90 minutes of work, making a total of 10 saves. Including the Falcons' two exhibitions, Smoker has played a total of 225 minutes of shutout futbol.

The Brown and Orange will remain in Lexington to take on the host University of Kentucky Sunday afternoon (Sept 6) at 2:30 p.m., in final-day action at the UK Invitational. The Wildcats picked up a 2-1 win over IUPUI in Friday's second match.