Falcons, Zips Play to 2-2 Draw in Double-OT

Friday, October 15

Bowling Green, Ohio

4:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

4-9-3, 2-3-2MAC

Akron

3-10-1, 1-5-1MAC

Team	1	2	OT 3	OT 4	Final F
Akron	1	1	0	0	2
Bowling Green	2	0	0	0	2

Megan Amann scored the opening goal of Friday's match

October 15, 2010 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Amann, Wideman score for Falcons, who move into tie for second in East Division

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team scored twice within the first 12 minutes of the match, but a University of Akron goal midway through the second half left the teams with a 2-2 draw Friday afternoon (Oct. 15). The Mid-American Conference game was held at Cochrane Field.

FINAL STATISTICS - HTML | BOXSCORE - PDF

The result leaves the Falcons with an overall record of 4-9-3 and a MAC ledger of 2-3-2. BGSU is tied with Ohio University -- the Falcons' next opponent -- for second in the East Division. Akron is now 3-10-1 and 1-5-1, respectively.

Junior Megan Amann and freshman Madeline Wideman scored for the Brown and Orange. Wideman had a three-point day, with one of the assists on Amann's goal.

Fifth-year senior Alexa Arsenault made nine saves in goal for the Falcons. Both of Akron's goals came on rebounds after difficult saves by Arsenault.

Those UA goals came from Katie Wise and Liz Cloutier, tying the score each time. Michelle Smith made three saves for the Zips in her complete-match effort in goal.

The Falcons' first goal of the game came on the Falcons' first shot attempt of the day. Wideman, on the right side of the pitch, slid a low cross toward the center. Junior Alyssa Zuccaro, with a defender breathing down her neck, got a touch on the ball as it rolled right-to-left across the field.

The ball came to Amann at the top of the penalty box. The BG junior took a dribble to her left, then fired a laser into the upper-left corner of the net. Zuccaro and Wideman picked up assists on the goal, which came at the 5:46 mark.

The Zips, however, answered almost immediately. Akron knotted the score just over 90 seconds later. A right-side cross by Kelly DeNiro found the boot of Wise, who was in the center of the six-yard box. Her one-time effort from point-blank range was bloked by Arsenault, but the rebound came directly back to Wise, who knocked the ball into the net to tie the score.

The Falcons took the lead once again, making it a 2-1 game with less than 12 minutes gone. Senior co-captain Katie Stephenson played a ball forward to Wideman on the left side of the pitch. Wideman made a nifty move to beat her defender to the end line, brought the ball along the line and hit it toward Smith. The shot banked off of Smith's ankle, went between her legs and across the line at the 11:41 mark.

The Zips, who had an 8-3 advantage in first-half shot attempts, increased the offensive pressure over the last half of the period. With 23 minutes on the clock, Arsenault came charging off of her line to break up a crossing attempt before the Zips' Leigh Cullen got to it.

Less than five minutes later, UA's Jordan Baranowski made a crowd-pleasing (the Akron crowd, at least) run through several BGSU defenders, ripping a shot that went just above the upper-right corner of the frame.

Late in the first half, the Zips had several more scoring chances. But, DeNiro's shot was blocked by Falcon sophomore defender Emily Rothwell at the far post, going out of bounds for a corner kick. Then, off of that CK, the ball bounced out to Cullen, but her effort was saved by Arsenault.

Early in the second half, Wideman -- who led all players with four shot attempts and three shots on goal -- hit a ball from the top of the 18. Smith punched the ball straight up into the air, then grabbed it when it came down.

UA equalized midway through the second period. Off of a corner kick, the ball caromed off one or more players in the box, winding up at the feet of Paige Foughty just outside the penalty area. Foughty's seeing-eye shot went through numerous players in the box, but Arsenault was able to make a kick save. The ball, however, bounded up into the air, and Cloutier headed it into the net to tie the game.

Several minutes after the goal, the Zips had another quality scoring chance, but Jordan Clark's turnaround shot sailed just over the net.

Late in regulation, the Falcons' had a brief numbers advantage, as Stephenson, Zuccaro and Wideman worked the ball into the offensive end. But, the UA defenders held up the play long enough for several teammates to get back into position, and Zuccaro's shot from distance was wide of the goal. The teams headed to OT.

BGSU had the lone shot attempt of the first overtime, and it was a grade-A opportunity nearly halfway through the 10-minute period. Zuccaro and Wideman successfully worked a give-and-go play, with 'Z' taking the return pass. As Smith left her line to cut down the angle, Zuccaro lunged to poke the ball by her, but it rolled just wide of the right post.

WIth three minutes left in the first OT, the Zips looked to threaten, but Arsenault grabbed a diagonal ball off the foot of Kyra Petrole in traffic.

Less than three minutes into the second overtime, Baranowski looked to get a clear shot at goal, but was hounded by BG freshman defender Alyssa Carmack. Baranowski was only able to muster a soft shot, which Arsenault easily saved.

One minute later, the Zips had an offensive flurry. A shot by Rachel Phillip nearly got past Arsenault, but the Falcon senior tipped the ball off of the crossbar at the last moment. The rebound went to Adrienne Steckel, but her header was grabbed by Arsenault.

With under three minutes remaining in the match, senior Jackie Tamerlano played a ball forward to Wideman. The Falcon freshman, raicing into the penalty area on the right side of the field, hit a shot that was deflected by the onrushing UA 'keeper. The ball trickled toward the UA goal, before a Zips defender knocked the ball over the end line for a corner kick.

The outcome was not determined until a shot by senior co-captain Alicia Almond was grabbed by Smith with just one second on the clock.

UA held a 17-10 advantage in shots for the game, while BGSU had five corner kicks to the Zips' two.

The Falcons will host Ohio on Sunday (Oct. 17) at 1:00 p.m. The match will also be a part of 'Senior Day' festivities at Cochrane Field, with BGSU's four seniors -- Almond, Arsenault, Stephenson and Tamerlano -- recognized in pregame ceremonies. The 'Senior Day' recognition ceremony will begin at approximately 12:40 p.m.

FALCON NOTES
* Freshman Madeline Wideman's three-point game was her third of the season, with all three coming in MAC play ... in addition to Friday's UA game, Wideman also had a goal and an assist vs. Buffalo and Eastern Michigan.

* Wideman is second on the team in scoring, with 11 points this fall ... she is tied for second on the Falcons with three goals, and is deadlocked for the team assists lead, with five.

* Akron's Liz Cloutier has scored two career goals, with both coming against the Falcons at Cochrane Field ... Cloutier scored at the 88:51 mark of last year's BG-UA game, a 2-1 win for the Zips (Oct. 11, 2009).

* Junior Megan Amann's goal was her first of the year, and the fifth of her career ... Amann now has 28 career points, moving her into a tie for 13th on the BGSU career list ... she is deadlocked with Leah Eggleton (2002-05).

* Another junior, Alyssa Zuccaro, now has 39 career points after picking up an assist on Friday ... 'Z' is ninth in BGSU history in points.

* Senior Katie Stephenson has nine points this season, the highest total of her career ... she now has 25 career points, on eight goals and nine assists.

* Stephenson is third on the team in scoring this fall, with her total of nine points trailing only Zuccaro (21) and Wideman (11) ... Amann and sophomore Sarah VonderBrink have seven points apiece this year to date.

* BGSU now has an all-time record of 18-15-29 in overtime matches ... the Falcons are 9-12-12 in overtime games played at Cochrane Field, 7-1-15 on the road and 2-2-2 in neutral-site OT contests.

*Freshman Melissa Zeigler made her first collegiate start in the Akron game ... Zeigler played 74 minutes, the highest total of her BG career, on Friday.

* Zeigler has set career standards for minutes played in each of the last three games ... after playing a total of 37 minutes over the Falcons' first 13 games (seeing action in just three of those 13 matches), Zeigler has played 195 minutes over the last three games.