Oakland Tops Falcons, 2-1, in Scrimmage

Sunday, August 22

Rochester, Mich.

2:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Oakland (scrimmage)

Senior Dusko Topolic scored for the second time in as many matches

August 22, 2010 | Men's Soccer

Topolic scores for second time in as many matches

By: ROCHESTER, Mich. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Host Oakland University got a late goal to pick up a 2-1 win over the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team in scrimmage play Sunday afternoon (Aug. 22). The exhibition was held at the OU Soccer Field.

BOXSCORE - PDF | FINAL STATS - HTML

Senior Dusko Topolic scored the Falcons' goal, giving him two goals in as many matches. Topolic scored one of BGSU's three first-half goals in Friday's (Aug. 20) 3-0 scrimmage win over Windsor.

On Sunday, the Falcons and Golden Grizzlies played two 45-minute halves, followed by an additional 30-minute session that was agreed upon by the coaches prior to the match. It just so happened that the teams were deadlocked, 1-1, at the end of the first 90 minutes.

OU's Makesi Lewis scored the first goal of the match, intercepting a pass and putting a shot past BGSU goalkeeper Miguel Rosales just 5:39 into the contest. The Grizzlies took that 1-0 lead into the half.

Topolic knotted the score in the 54th minute, scoring from the top of the 18-yard box off an assist from freshman Ryan Comiskey.

The match stayed tied until Alex de Leon scored on a diving header at the 118:33 mark. BGSU could not equalize in the final minute-and-a-half of play, and the hosts had the victory.

The teams each had a total of 13 shots on the afternoon, but Oakland was credited with six shots on goal to the Falcons' one. The Grizzlies had a narrow 8-7 edge in corner kicks.

"Overall, we competed well today," said BGSU head coach Eric Nichols. "We gift-wrapped a goal for them in the first five minutes, but it is good to do that in an exhibition rather than in a regular-season game. This is a good opportunity for us to learn from.

"We did some good things against Oakland. We were well-organized defensively, and had some good moments on the attack. Just like on Friday, we were able to get everyone some game minutes, which gets them some valuable experience and also gives us another opportunity to evaluate. In all, it was a good performance on the road against a very strong team."

Rosales played the first 90 minutes in net for the Falcons, making two saves, while sophomore Dylan Schoettley was in the net for the final 30 minutes on Sunday afternoon. A total of 22 different players saw action for Nichols and assistant coach Paul Habrecht.

The Falcons have one more scrimmage scheduled, a home contest on Saturday (Aug. 28) against Indianapolis. The regular season begins the following weekend with a trip to Davidson, N.C., for a tournament. BGSU will face Appalachian State (Sept. 3) and host Davidson (Sept. 5) at that tourney.