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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Windsor (scrimmage)
Women's Soccer Season Begins this Weekend at Cochrane Field
August 17, 2010 | Women's Soccer
Falcons, after Friday exhibition vs. Windsor, host Cincinnati in Sunday's regular-season opener
STORYLINES ...
• The Falcons begin the 14th season in program history this weekend ... after a Friday (Aug. 20) exhibition vs. Windsor, BGSU will welcome Cincinnati to Cochrane Field on Sunday (Aug. 22) to open the regular season.
• BGSU head coach Andy Richards is just two wins away from reaching 100 career victories ... Richards has an overall record of 98-96-22 in his 11th season as a collegiate head coach, all with the Falcons.
• The Cincinnati match is the first of 12 regular-season home games for the Falcons, a school record ... BGSU also played 12 matches at Cochrane Field in 2006, but the last of those matches came in the MAC Tournament.
* BGSU Women's Soccer Weekly Release - PDF
KICKOFF
The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team begins the 2010 campaign at home this weekend ... the Falcons of head coach Andy Richards, after a Friday (Aug. 20) exhibition against the University of Windsor, will begin the 14th season in program history with Sunday's (Aug. 22) match against the University of Cincinnati ... Friday's exhibition will begin at 5:00 p.m., while kickoff for Sunday's UC match is set for 1:00 p.m. ... both matches will be held at Cochrane Field on the BGSU campus ... the Brown and Orange will be home next weekend as well, hosting West Virginia (Aug. 27) and Xavier (Aug. 29).
FREE ADMISSION
As part of BGSU's Centennial celebration, admission to all BGSU soccer exhibition and regular-season matches in the 2010 season will be free.
LIVE STATISTICS
Again in 2010, all BGSU home women's soccer matches, and most away contests, are scheduled to have live statistics available on the web ... if you can't make it to Cochrane Field this weekend, simply log on to BGSUFalcons.com ... 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.
AN EARLY START
The Falcons' Aug. 22 kickoff is tied for the second-earliest start to a season in program history ... last year, the Falcons opened the season on Aug. 21 at Ohio State ... BGSU opens the year against Cincinnati for the second time in the last three years ... the Falcons and Bearcats also met on Aug. 22 in 2008, with the Bearcats pulling out a 3-1 win ... Sunday's match will be the earliest home opener in program history ... the previous earliest match at Cochrane Field came on Aug. 26, 2005, vs. Oakland.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
Head coach Andy Richards, beginning his 11th season at the helm, welcomes 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 return ... junior Megan Amann paced the Falcons with nine points last fall, including two goals and a team-high five assists ... juniors Katelyn Turner and Alyssa Zuccaro scored eight and seven points, respectively, during their sophomore campaigns ... Turner tied for the team lead with three goals ... sophomore Keely Chandler also had three goals in her initial season at BGSU ... additionally, all three goalkeepers return from last season's roster ... fifth-year senior Alexa Arsenault started 17 of the Falcons' 20 matches between the posts last fall, while soph Laura Arnold made three starts.
FALCONS PICKED TO FINISH FIFTH IN EAST
The Falcons have been picked to finish fifth in the MAC's East Division standings in 2010, according to the preseason coaches poll, released Monday (Aug. 16) ... the 2010 season marks the first year that a divisional format has been utilized for MAC women's soccer.
2010 MAC PRESEASON POLL
East Division
1 - Miami (6)
2 - Akron (4)
3 - Ohio (2)
4 - Kent State
5 - Bowling Green
6 - Buffalo
West Division
1 - Central Michigan (9)
2 - Eastern Michigan (2)
3 - Toledo (1)
4 - Western Michigan
5 - Northern Illinois
6 - Ball State
LOOKING TO BOUNCE BACK
As the regular season wound down in October of 2009, the Falcon players and coaches found themselves in an unfamiliar position ... for the first time since the 2001 season, BGSU did not qualify for the MAC Tournament ... the Falcons had made seven consecutive league tourney appearances – a school record by far – prior to missing the tournament in 2009 ... BGSU had posted a top-four regular-season finish and hosted a tourney quarterfinal match in each of the prior four seasons (2005-08).
THE FALCONS ARE ...
• 117-130-26 in the history of the program, which began in 1997;
• 51-44-12 overall in the last five seasons;
• 60-66-16 in Mid-American Conference regular-season matches;
• 40-28-11 vs. MAC schools over the last six seasons (including regular-season & tourney matches), and 32-23-9 vs. league foes in the last five years;
• 61-53-11 at home all time, and 31-14-5 at Cochrane Field in the last five seasons;
• 12-3-3 at Cochrane since the start of the '08 season;
• 48-67-13 in road contests in program history;
• 8-10-2 all-time in neutral-site matches;
• 8-13-1 in the month of August through the years;
• 4-5-0 in home games in August;
• 0-1-0 in games played on Aug. 22 in the history of the program;
• 0-0-0 in home matches on that date;
• 0-1-0 against Cincinnati, Sunday's opponent, on Aug. 22 (a 3-1 loss in the Queen City in the season opener in 2008);
• 47-1-2 in the last 50 games when scoring first (17-0-1 since the start of the 2008 season); and
• 0-18-3 since the start of 2008 in matches in which the opponent scored first.
BGSU head coach Andy Richards, beginning 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 98-96-22, and a record of 53-49-12 in MAC regular-season play ... in his first 10 years in BG, Richards has led the Falcons to the MAC Tournament on eight occasions, leading the team 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.
Cincinnati will open the season with a Friday (Aug. 20) match vs. Morehead State, prior to heading to BG for Sunday's contest ... the Bearcats hosted Ball State in an exhibition Saturday night (Aug. 14), and played the Cardinals to a 2-2 draw ... UC went 8-10-1 overall and 3-7-1 in Big East play last season ... the three leading scorers from that club – Emily Hebbeler, Kendall Loggins and Julie Morrissey – all return ... head coach Michelle Salmon enters her third year at UC ... she came to the Bearcats after two seasons (2006 and '07) at the Ball State helm ... Salmon welcomes back 13 letterwinners, including eight starters, from last year's club ... the school's athletics web site is www.GoBearcats.com.
The Falcons trail Cincinnati, 2-1-0, in the all-time series between the teams ... the home team has won all three previous matches ... in the lone previous match at Cochrane Field, the Falcons picked up a 1-0 win nearly seven years ago (Sept. 14, 2002) ... the prior season, the Bearcats had posted a 2-0 victory in the Queen City (Oct. 8, 2002) ... the most recent meeting came exactly two years prior to this season's matchup ... on Aug. 22, 2008, host UC picked up a 3-1 win over the Falcons in the season opener for both teams.
THE 2010 CAPTAINS
Seniors Alicia Almond and Katie Stephenson are the co-captains of the 2010 women's soccer Falcons.
