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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Toledo
Falcons Continue Cross-Divisional Play with Trips to Toledo, Ball State
October 05, 2010 | Women's Soccer
The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, after facing two of the Mid-American Conference's top teams last weekend, faces yet another unbeaten team this weekend ... the Falcons of head coach Andy Richards will head to the Glass City for a Friday (Oct. 8) game against the arch-rival University of Toledo ... that game is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. at Scott Park ... then, the Brown and Orange will venture to Muncie, Ind., for Sunday (Oct. 10) action against Ball State University ... kickoff for that game is 1:00 p.m. at the Ball State Soccer Field ... five of BGSU's six games vs. MAC West Division foes are on the road.
PDF LINKS
BGSU NOTES & STATS | MAC NOTES & STATS
FREE ADMISSION
Although the Falcons are on the road this weekend, BG returns to Cochrane Field to face Akron (Oct. 15) and Ohio (Oct. 17) next weekend ... as part of BGSU's Centennial celebration, admission to all home Falcon soccer regular-season matches in the 2010 season is free.
LIVE STATISTICS
Again in 2010, all BGSU home women's soccer matches, and most (if not all) away contests, will have live statistics available on the web ... if you can't make it to Toledo or BSU this weekend, simply log on to BGSUFalcons.com at game time ... the live stats links can be found on the front page of the site (in the 'schedule' section) or by clicking on the women's soccer 2010 schedule and choosing the corresponding match.
LAST WEEKEND
The Falcons dropped a pair of matches against the teams that finished one-two in last year's MAC standings ... BGSU lost a 6-4 shootout at Eastern Michigan on Friday (Oct. 1), then fell to defending conference champion Central Michigan, 1-0, Sunday afternoon (Oct. 3) at Cochrane Field ... the Falcons got goals – all in the second half – from senior Katie Stephenson, freshmen Madeline Wideman and Tracy Togba and junior Alyssa Zuccaro ... but, EMU scored five times in the second half en route to the win ... on Sunday, CMU scored with 10:18 left in the second half for the win ... senior Alexa Arsenault made two saves against the Chippewas.
ZUCCARO NAMED MAC S-A-O-W
On Friday (Oct. 1), Falcon junior Alyssa Zuccaro was named the MAC's Female Scholar-Athlete of the Week ... Zuccaro earned the honor after scoring a total of seven points in BGSU's wins over Buffalo (Sept. 24) and Kent State (Sept. 26) ... she had a hat trick in the UB match, and assisted on the winning goal against KSU ... in the classroom, Zuccaro has a 3.01 cumulative GPA as an adolescent/young adult/secondary education major ... the MAC Scholar-Athlete-of-the-Week honor is presented to one male and one female student-athlete each week ... to qualify for nomination, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore academically, must have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher, and must have performed well during the prior week's competition ... the winners are selected by a group of the conference's faculty athletic representatives.
LEADERS OF THE MAC
The Falcons are well-represented in the MAC statistics ... junior Alyssa Zuccaro is tied for first in the conference in both goals (seven) and points (18), while classmate Megan Amann is tied for third in the MAC in assists (five) ... sophomore Sarah VonderBrink is deadlocked for third in game-winning goals, with two ... in conference games only, Zuccaro is tied for first in goals (four) and ranks third in points (10), while Amann is tied for second in assists (three) ... senior goalkeeper Alexa Arsenault is tied for second in shutouts in MAC games, with two.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
BGSU enters Friday's Toledo match with an overall record of 4-8-1, and the Falcons are 2-2-0 in Mid-American Conference play ... the Falcons' non-conference opponents included two teams each from the Big East, Big Ten and Atlantic 10 conferences ... BGSU started the season by going 0-5-1, then won four of the next five games before losing to Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan last weekend ... BG is 3-6-0 at home and 1-2-1 on the road ... junior Alyssa Zuccaro leads the team with 18 points on the year, including seven goals – more than twice the total scored by any BGSU player last year ... senior co-captain Katie Stephenson and freshman Madeline Wideman have eight points apiece, while sophomore Sarah VonderBrink has scored six points ... junior Megan Amann's five points all have come on assists, as she leads the team in the latter category ... each of the team's three goalkeepers – fifth-year senior Alexa Arsenault, redshirt sophomore Becca Ison and true sophomore Laura Arnold – started at least one match in non-conference play ... Arsenault has started nine matches, including each of the last eight ... she leads the Falcons in minutes played (812:16), saves (44), shutouts (two) and goals-against average (1.44) ... Arnold has played in five games, starting three ... she has 14 saves and a 2.97 GAA in 242-plus minutes ... Ison has played just over 147 minutes, and has seven stops and a 2.44 GAA ... head coach Andy Richards, in his 11th season at the helm, welcomed back a total of 17 letterwinners, including eight starters, from last year's club ... BGSU's returning players combined for over 81 percent of the team's goals and 76% of the assists a year ago ... eight of the top-nine scorers returned from a season ago ... Amann paced the Falcons with nine points last fall, including two goals and a team-high five assists ... additionally, all three goalkeepers returned from last season's roster ... Arsenault started 17 of the Falcons' 20 matches between the posts last fall, while Arnold made three starts.
FALCON COACH ANDY RICHARDS
BGSU head coach Andy Richards, in his 11th season at the helm, has proven himself to be one of the most successful mentors in MAC women's soccer history ... he has guided the Falcons to an overall record of 102-104-23, and a record of 55-51-12 in MAC regular-season play ... he picked up the 100th victory of his collegiate head-coaching career in the Falcons' 3-2 win at Indiana State earlier this season (Sept. 19) ... Richards' teams perennially play one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the MAC ... in his first 10 years in BG, he led the Falcons to the MAC Tournament on eight occasions, with the team advancing to the semifinals seven times ... BGSU is 10-5-5 in MAC Tournament matches during his tenure, and no coach has more trips to the league tourney title game than Richards' five ... two of those appearances – in 2004 and 2005 – resulted in MAC Tournament titles and trips to the NCAA Championships ... Richards and the Falcons also won the '05 regular-season crown ... a native of Warwick, England, Richards earned his Bachelor of Education degree from Sheffield City Polytechnic in 1989 ... he received his Master of Education degree from Oregon State in 1997.
OFFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT
• Sunday's shutout loss to Central Michigan notwithstanding, the Falcon offense has enjoyed much success over the past few weeks ... BGSU scored just five goals over the season's first eight games, but the Falcons then scored 12 times in the next four contests.
• Last year, BGSU scored a total of 16 goals in 20 games, including just seven goals in 11 MAC matches ... this fall, the Falcons have scored 17 times, and BGSU had nine goals over the first three MAC games.
YOU CAN'T SPELL 'GOALZ' WITHOUT 'Z'
Junior Alyssa Zuccaro has become one of the top offensive threats in the MAC ... she had her seventh goal of the season in Friday's (Oct. 1) game at Eastern Michigan ... 'Z' leads the team and is tied for the MAC lead in both goals and points (18) this season to date.
A FEW MORE NOTES ABOUT ALYSSA ZUCCARO
Junior Alyssa Zuccaro has had a great deal of involvement in the Falcons' offensive output over the past several games ... a few more notes about 'Z' ...
• As mentioned, Zuccaro had a goal at Eastern Michigan ... her three-point game vs. the Eagles increased her team-high total to 18 points on the year ... she leads the Falcons in both goals (seven) and points, and is tied for second on the team with four assists.
• Zuccaro's goal and point totals are the highest by a BGSU player since 2005 ... that season, Samantha Meister had eight goals and 22 points as the Falcons won the MAC regular-season and tournament titles.
• Zuccaro scored 10 points (four goals, two assists) in BGSU's first three MAC games of the season ... last year, no Falcon had more than four points in conference play, covering 11 games.
• 'Z' scored 15 points over four matches, a school record for points in a four-match span ... she had a then career-high five points in the Indiana State game (Sept. 19), then topped that total with six points on a hat trick vs. Buffalo (Sept. 24) ... Zuccaro assisted on the game-winning goal vs. Kent State (Sept. 26), and had a three-point match at Eastern Michigan.
• With her performances in the Indiana State and Buffalo games, Zuccaro became the first Falcon to score five goals over a two-game span in over six years.
• Zuccaro shattered her goal and point totals for all of last season ... as mentioned, she has 18 points, on seven goals and four assists ... Zuccaro totalled seven points in the 2009 season, with a pair of goals and three assists.
• Zuccaro has been involved in the scoring of nine of the Falcons' last 12 goals.
• Zuccaro has scored twice as many points as any Falcon had during all of '09 ... Megan Amann led last year's club with a total of nine points ... Zuccaro's total of six goals on the year is more than double the total amassed by any BGSU player last fall (two Falcons had three goals apiece in 2009).
• Zuccaro, BG's active career scoring leader, now has 36 career points ... she sits in 10th place on the school's career list ... 'Z' ranks eighth on the BG list for career goals, with 14.
FRESHMEN FINDING THE NET
A pair of Falcon freshmen, Tracy Togba and Madeline Wideman, have stepped up their scoring over the last few games ... Togba scored in back-to-back games, with her first collegiate goal holding up as the game winner vs. Kent State ... she also found the net at Eastern Michigan ... Wideman has eight points this season, including seven in a four-game span ... she had three-point games vs. both Buffalo and EMU, with a goal and an assist in each match.
THE FALCONS ARE ...
• 121-138-27 in the history of the program, which began in 1997;
• 55-52-13 overall in the last five seasons (plus 13 matches);
• 62-68-16 in Mid-American Conference regular-season matches;
• 42-30-11 vs. MAC schools over the last six-plus seasons (including regular-season & tourney matches), and 34-25-9 vs. league foes in the last five-plus years;
• 64-59-11 at home, and 34-20-5 at Cochrane Field in the last five-plus seasons;
• 15-9-3 at Cochrane since the start of the '08 season;
• 49-69-14 in road contests in program history;
• 8-10-2 all-time in neutral-site matches;
• 50-60-11 in the month of October through the years;
• 45-40-8 in October games in the Andy Richards Era;
• 50-1-2 in the last 53 games when scoring first (20-0-1 since the start of 2008); and
• 1-26-3 since the start of the '08 season in matches in which the opponent scored first (with the win coming at Indiana State).
THE ROCKETS / THE BGSU-TOLEDO SERIES
Toledo will enter the weekend with an overall record of 8-2-2, and the Rockets will bring a perfect 4-0-0 MAC record into the BGSU match ... last weekend, UT picked up a pair of shutout wins on the road, with a 2-0 triumph at Ohio Friday (Oct. 1) and a 1-0, double-OT win at Akron Sunday (Oct. 3) ... the Rockets are 4-0-2 at home this year, including 2-0-0 in MAC matches at Scott Park ... Toledo has outscored the opponents by a 9-1 count in the four conference games to date ... Kristen Lynn and Rachel MacLeod each have five goals this season to tie for the team lead, while Brittany Hensler has four ... Lynn paces the Rockets with 13 points on the year ... Vicki Traven has played in 11 of the team's 12 matches, and has 54 saves, four shutouts and a goals-against average of 1.05 ... head coach Brad Evans, in his 10th season at Toledo, welcomed back 18 letterwinners, including seven starters, from last year's club ... the 2009 Rockets went 11-6-4 overall and 6-3-2 in MAC play ... the school's athletics web site is www.utrockets.com.
The Falcons lead Toledo, 7-6-4, in the all-time series between the teams ... BGSU is just 1-3-3 in home games vs. the Rockets, but the Falcons are 6-3-0 in road games in the series, including a 6-2-0 record at Scott Park ... one of those UT home wins, however, came last season, a 1-0 decision in the final game of the regular season (Oct. 29, 2009) ... the teams met twice in each season between 2005 and 2008, facing off in the MAC Tournament in all four years ... UT has won the last two meetings at Scott Park, after the Falcons posted six-straight road wins in the series ... the home team has won only four times in the 17 series meetings ... seven of the 17 games have gone to overtime ... interestingly, none of the nine matches played in the Glass City have required OT.
THE CARDINALS / THE BGSU-BALL STATE SERIES
Ball State has a record of 6-6-0 on the season ... the Cardinals are 0-4-0 in the MAC heading into a Friday game vs. Miami ... last weekend, the Cards dropped a pair of road matches, losing at Akron, 3-1, and falling by a 1-0 count at Ohio ... BSU enters the weekend having played only three home matches ... the Cardinals are 2-1-0 at the Ball State Soccer Field, with wins over Xavier and Indiana State on the first weekend of the season, and a loss to Western Michigan in the MAC opener ... individually, Sarah Orisich has team-leading totals of three goals and seven points ... Abby Milillo and Missy Gordon have two goals apiece ... Aubrey Buehler has played nearly 750 minutes in goal, and has 21 saves, two shutouts and a 1.21 GAA ... Layne Schramm has seen 354 minutes of action, and has 14 saves and a GAA of 2.03 this year to date ... Craig Roberts is in his first season in Muncie and his fifth year as a collegiate head coach ... he inherited 12 letterwinners, including nine starters, from last year's team that went 4-13-1 overall and 2-8-1 in conference play ... the school's athletics web site is www.ballstatesports.com.
The Falcons trail Ball State, 7-3-2, in that series, and BSU captured last year's meeting ... the Cardinals won a 1-0 decision on a soggy day in Muncie last season (Oct. 2, 2009) ... prior to that meeting, three-straight games between the Falcons and Cardinals had required double overtime ... the Falcons are 1-4-2 against the Cards in games played at the BSU Soccer Field.
THE 89TH MINUTE (A FEW FINAL FALCON NOTES)
Freshman Madeline Wideman has eight points this season to date ... that is the highest total by a Falcon freshman since Megan Amann (12) and Alyssa Zuccaro (11) each reached double digits in 2008, their first fall in Falconland • Amann picked up an assist at Eastern Michigan, her team-leading fifth of the season ... she has had at least five helpers in each of her first three seasons at BGSU, with eight as a freshman and five last season • Amann now has 18 career assists at BG ... she has moved into a tie for fourth on the school list, matching Leah Eggleton's (2002-05) total ... Julie Trundle (2002-05) holds the school record, with 33 career assists • Amann has moved into sole possession of 14th on the BGSU career scoring list, and now has 26 career points ... senior co-captain Katie Stephenson, with 24 points as a Falcon, is one point away from moving into the BG top 15.
THE 2010 CAPTAINS
Seniors Alicia Almond and Katie Stephenson are the co-captains of the 2010 women's soccer Falcons.
