Falcons, Bobcats Play to Nil-Nil Draw at Cochrane Field

Sunday, October 17

Bowling Green, Ohio

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

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

Ohio

5-6-4, 2-3-3MAC

Team	1	2	OT 1	OT 2	Final F
Ohio	0	0	0	0	0
Bowling Green	0	0	0	0	0

The Falcons' senior class consists of (left to right) Alicia Almond, Katie Stephenson, Jackie Tamerlano and Alexa Arsenault

October 17, 2010 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Arsenault picks up shutout on Senior Day

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team battled visiting Ohio University through one hundred and ten minutes of play Sunday afternoon (Oct. 17), but neither team could put a shot across the goal line. The 0-0 Mid-American Conference draw was held at BGSU's Cochrane Field.

FINAL STATISTICS - HTML | BOXSCORE - PDF | SENIOR DAY PROGRAM COVER - PDF

With the result, the Falcons are now 4-9-4 overall and 2-3-3 in MAC play, while the Bobcats are now 5-6-4 and 2-3-3, respectively. BGSU and Ohio remain tied for second place in the league's East Division with three regular-season matches remaining for each club.

On Senior Day at Cochrane Field, fifth-year senior goalkeeper Alexa Arsenault had her third complete-match shutout of the season, making three saves. The clean sheet was the 23rd of her BGSU career, extending her own school record in that category.

Mattie Liston also had a shutout for the visitors, with two saves on the day. The teams combined for a total of only 18 shots, including five shots on goal, in the 110 minutes.

Arsenault and BGSU's other three seniors -- fourth-year Falcons Alicia Almond, Katie Stephenson and Jackie Tamerlano -- were honored in ceremonies prior to the match on the Cochrane Field pitch.

Nine minutes into the match, Ohio nearly had a scoring chance, on a crossing ball from the right side. A BGSU defender misfired on a clearing attempt, but the Falcons were indeed able to clear the ball away before the Bobcats' Jackie Hanson, in the middle of the penalty area, could get a shot.

Just under 12 minutes into the match, freshman Madeline Wideman found junior Alyssa Zuccaro heading toward goal, and Zuccaro hit a shot that appeared to be rolling just wide of the left post. The shot was too close to the goalpost for Liston to ignore, and the Ohio 'keeper deflected the ball out of bounds for a corner kick. Off of that corner, a header try by Zuccaro sailed wide.

Midway through the period, Stephenson played a short diagonal ball to Zuccaro in the penalty box. 'Z' played the ball back to Tamerlano, but her shot went just wide of the target.

With 17 minutes before halftime, Ohio's Toye Famodu got her head on a cross and hit a hard shot, but it was off the mark. Nine minutes later, Famodu was on the distributing end of a cross, but Arsenault took charge, coming off her line to punch the ball away from several players in the box.

Six minutes remained in the period when the Ohio fans got a scare. Falcon freshman Tracy Togba played a cross from the right side of the pitch. Liston called for the ball, but the cross went through her hands as she made a leaping effort to grab it. The ball bounced through the 'danger area,' but an Ohio defender was first to reach it, clearing it out of the box.

Several moments later, Falcon fans got a scare of their own, as Rachael Goulding made a run toward the far (right) post, knocking in a cross from Famodu. But, the assistant referee's flag was up, and the goal was waved off due to offside.

With just over one minute left in the half, the Bobcats' Sara Seitz put a shot on goal that was saved by Arsenault. Ohio regained possession and looked to put another shot on frame, but another offside call gave the ball back to the Brown and Orange.

Early in the second period, Togba crossed another ball into the penalty area. This cross was headed out of the box by an Ohio defender, but Stephenson gathered it and fired a shot. Liston, however, was able to make the save.

The Falcons nearly had a scoring opportunity with 25 minutes left in regulation, as Wideman and Zuccaro worked a give-and-go play with several Ohio defenders around them. The last defender, however, was just able to knock the ball off Wideman's boot as the two headed into the penalty area.

Twenty minutes remained when Tamerlano's ball found Zuccaro in the box. The Falcon junior laid the ball off to Wideman, who fired a shot off the crossbar. But, the flag was up for offside.

With 11 minutes on the clock, Wideman went down in the box as the ball was knocked out of play for a corner kick. But, the Falcons could not get a shot off after that corner.

The teams headed to overtime, and neither team had a shot attempt in the first OT period. But, the Falcons and Bobcats, after combining for 13 total shots in the first 100 minutes, had a total of five shots in the final 10-minute period.

In the first minute of the second OT, the Falcons were fouled just outside the box on the left side of the pitch, setting up a free kick. Wideman's kick went through Liston's hands, but the Bobcat D was able to clear the ball.

Less than a minute later, Stephenson's cross found the boot of Wideman at the 18-yard line, just left of center. Wideman settled the ball, cut it back to avoid a defender and fired a low shot that was inches wide of the left post.

Midway through the period, Zuccaro won a corner for the Falcons. Wideman took that corner kick, which was deflected to Almond approximately 25 yards from goal. The senior co-captain hit a hard shot, but the ball sailed wide of the target.

The Bobcats had several late flurries in the final moments. In the first instance, the ball pinballed around the box, but Ohio could not get a shot away.

Ohio threatened again in the final seconds, putting a corner kick into the box as the clock wound down. Seitz got her head on that cross, and got a lot of force behind her shot, but the bullet went wide right as the game ended.

The Bobcats had a 12-6 advantage in total shots, with a narrow 3-2 margin in shots on goal.

The Falcons return to action next weekend, taking to the road for a pair of contests. BG will head to Kalamazoo, Mich., for a Friday (Oct. 17) match against Western Michigan. Then, the Falcons venture to the MAC's 'West Coast' to face Northern Illinois on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 19).

FALCON NOTES
* The Falcons have seen three consecutive games finish in a tie ... BGSU drew at Ball State, 3-3, last Sunday (Oct. 10), before tying Akron (2-2) and Ohio at Cochrane Field this weekend.

* This marks the third time in school history that BGSU has played three consecutive overtime games ... the Falcons played back-to-back-to-back OT contests on two occasions within an eight-game span to end the 2007 season.

* The current streak marks the first time in BGSU history that the Falcons have played to a draw in three consecutive games.

* BGSU has now seen five games go to overtime this season ... the school record is nine OT matches, in the 2007 campaign.

* The Falcons have seen four games end in ties this year to date, tying that school record ... the 2008 team also tied four matches, finishing with a 12-6-4 overall record.

* BG has tied three MAC matches to date, tying that school mark ... the 1999 (2-6-3) and 2009 (1-7-3) Falcon teams each played to a draw three times in conference contests.

* Sunday marked the eleventh scoreless tie in the history of the BGSU program ... three of those 0-0 draws have come against Ohio ... the Falcons also have tied Kent State, nil-nil, on three occasions.

* BGSU now has an all-time record of 18-15-30 in overtime matches ... the Falcons are 9-12-13 in OT games played at Cochrane Field, 7-1-15 in road games and 2-2-2 in neutral-site OT contests.

* Senior Alexa Arsenault recorded the 23rd complete-match shutout of her BGSU career on Sunday, extending her own school record in that category ... Arsenault broke the old record of 17 with the first shutout of her junior season.

* Arsenault moved up several BGSU career goalkeeping lists on Sunday ... she made her 65th career start in goal, tying Ali Shingler (2001-05) for second on that Falcon list ...additionally, she passed Shingler to move into second place in career minutes played, and now has played 5935:15 in her career ... Arsenault currently has a career goals-against average of 1.00 and a saves percentage of .830, and is on pace to set the BGSU career records in each category ... she is third in BG history in matches played (68) and saves (323).

* Senior Jackie Tamerlano played in her 81st career match on Sunday ... to put it another way, Tamerlano has played in every BGSU game since her arrival on campus in the fall of 2007 ... she is on pace to move into the school's top-10 in games played next weekend.

* Tamerlano has started 74 matches, and also is on track to move onto the top-10 list in that category next weekend.

* Senior co-captain Katie Stephenson has played in 80 of BGSU's 81 games since coming to the school, and is on track to move into the top 10 in school history before the end of the regular season.

* Freshman Ashley Miller made her first collegiate start on Sunday vs. Ohio.

* As mentioned earlier, Sunday marked 'Senior Day' for the BGSU women's soccer program ... the match snapped a streak of five consecutive wins on 'Senior Day' for BG, but the Falcons remain undefeated (5-0-2) in the last seven such games at Cochrane Field ... BGSU's last 'Senior Day' loss came to nationally-ranked Ohio State, 3-2 in overtime, in 2003.

* BGSU has recorded six consecutive shutouts in 'Senior Day' matches at Cochrane Field, dating to 2005.