Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
.png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
Western Michigan *
BGSU Returns to MAC Play, Hosting WMU Friday
September 30, 2010 | Men's Soccer
The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team closes a three-game homestand and begins the month of October by returning to Mid-American Conference play ... the Falcons of head coach Eric Nichols host Western Michigan University in Friday (Oct. 1) action, with kickoff scheduled for 4:00 p.m. ... following the WMU match, the Falcons will play three of the next four games on the road, beginning with a match at IPFW on Wednesday (Oct. 6) ... the Brown and Orange will return home on Saturday, Oct. 9, to face the University at Buffalo ... that match will be BGSU's final home conference game of the 2010 regular season.
BGSU NOTES & STATS - PDF | MAC NOTES & STATS - PDF
FREE ADMISSION FOR HOME MATCHES
As part of BGSU's Centennial celebration, admission to all BGSU home soccer matches in the 2010 regular season will be free.
MISS OHIO RETURNS TO BGSU
The reigning Miss Ohio, Becky Minger, will sing the National Anthem prior to Friday's match vs. Western Michigan ... Minger, a native of Sylvania, is a recent graduate of BGSU ... she will be involved in a number of activities on campus this Homecoming weekend.
LIVE STATISTICS
Again in 2010, all BGSU home men's soccer matches, and most away contests, will have live statistics available on the web ... if you can't make it out to Cochrane Field Friday afternoon, 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 men's soccer 2010 schedule and choosing the corresponding match.
LAST WEEK
The Falcons split a pair of home matches, downing Wright State by a 3-0 count on Wednesday (Sept. 22) and falling to Lipscomb, 2-0, Sunday morning/afternoon (Sept. 26) ... senior Dusko Topolic scored just two-and-a-half minutes into the WSU match, and juniors Colin Armstrong and Max Weston scored midway through the second half to seal the victory ... Weston had a three-point game, with an assist on Topolic's goal ... another junior, Miguel Rosales, made two saves in goal to earn his third shutout in six games ... on Sunday, Lipscomb scored with just over half a minute gone in the second half, then added a second goal in the 70th minute, while holding the Falcons to just one shot on goal ... Rosales had a total of seven saves vs. the Bisons.
I-75 CUP RESIDES IN BG
The Falcons' win over Wright State means that BGSU takes possession of the I-75 Cup ... last week's game was the inaugural battle for the cup, which was the brainchild of head coaches Eric Nichols of BGSU and Bryan Davis of WSU ... the Falcons and Raiders will compete for the travelling trophy, which will be kept by the winning school until the teams' next meeting.
FALCON FIRSTS
Two Falcons scored their first collegiate goals in BGSU's win over Wright State ... senior Dusko Topolic notched his first goal as a Falcon with less than three minutes gone in the match, and junior Colin Armstrong had his first collegiate goal in the second half to give BG a 2-0 lead ... freshman Ryan Snashall's assist on the third goal of the day was his first point as a Falcon ... Sam Galloway made his first collegiate start in that WSU contest.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons will enter Friday's Western Michigan match with an overall record of 2-3-2, and BGSU is 0-1-0 in Mid-American Conference action ... BG's wins have come at Detroit (1-0; Sept. 15) and against Wright State last week (3-0; Sept. 22), and the Falcons' two ties came vs. Appalachian State (0-0; Sept. 3) and host Davidson (2-2; Sept. 5) in the Davidson adidas Classic on the season's opening weekend ... for the Brown and Orange, the losses have come against Akron (the top-ranked team in the country in every poll), Valparaiso (ranked 33rd in last week's TopDrawerSoccer.com listings) and Lipscomb, all by 2-0 scores ... junior Max Weston leads the team with eight points, having been involved in the scoring of five of BGSU's six goals this season ... Weston leads the Falcons in goals, with three, and has two assists to tie for the team lead ... four teammates have two points apiece ... senior tri-captain Dusko Topolic, junior Colin Armstrong and freshman Zach Schewee each have scored one goal this year to date, while junior Chris Jurtovski has two assists ... junior Miguel Rosales has played all 670 minutes in goal, and has three shutouts, a MAC-leading 35 saves and a goals-against average of 1.07 ... Schewee has played 667 of the 670 minutes over the first seven matches, as has junior tri-captain Tanner Fink ... freshman Brandon Silva has played 658 total minutes and senior tri-captain Thomas McLean 657 ... Falcon coach Eric Nichols is in his second season at the BG helm ... Nichols and assistant coach Paul Habrecht welcomed back a total of 14 letterwinners, including seven starters, from last year's club ... the 2009 Falcons went 3-12-3 overall and posted a MAC mark of 2-3-1, placing fifth in the league standings ... BG scored a total of 21 goals last season, and the departed players combined to score 17 of them ... the Falcons' top-two scorers last season were the graduated Cameron Hepple (10 goals, 21 points) and Jacob Lawrence (five goals, 13 points) ... the Falcons have 12 newcomers on the 2010 team ... junior Byard Ebling is the top returning scorer, having recorded two goals and five points last season ... the only other players on the 2010 roster who scored in '09 are juniors Jurtovski and Weston, who had one goal apiece ... in goal, the lone returning 'keeper is sophomore Dylan Schoettley ... he played in 10 matches a year ago, starting the final seven ... Schoettley had 44 saves and a GAA of 2.27 in 2009 ... Rosales is in his first season at BGSU after transferring from the Univ. of Cincinnati.
FALCON COACH ERIC NICHOLS
BGSU coach Eric Nichols is in his second season at the Falcon helm ... he was hired on Feb. 17, 2009, and is just the fifth head coach in the 46-year history of the program ... Nichols came to BGSU after spending the 2008 season as assistant coach at Davidson College ... he had a successful debut to his BGSU head-coaching career, as the Falcons defeated Marshall, 2-0, in the 2009 regular-season opener, and picked up his first MAC victory at Buffalo ... Nichols has a 5-15-5 record at the helm of the men's soccer Falcons, and is 64-37-6 overall in his sixth season as a collegiate head coach ... prior to his stint at Davidson, Nichols was the head men's soccer coach at Ohio Dominican for four seasons (2004-07) ... under his guidance, the Panthers recorded a 59-22-1 (.728) record, including a final ranking of fourth in 2007 ... that team advanced all the way to the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Tournament ... Nichols served as an assistant coach at Ohio Wesleyan for four seasons ... he played collegiately at Ohio State, and also played five years of professional soccer for several teams, including the Columbus Xoggz and Indiana Blast of the USISL ... Nichols is joined on the BGSU staff by assistant coach Paul Habrecht and director of operations Alma-Lynn Dupont in 2010.
ROSALES, FALCONS COLLECTING CLEAN SHEETS
Junior goalkeeper Miguel Rosales and his defenders posted a shutout against Wright State ... that was the Falcons' third clean sheet in six games, as BGSU blanked both Appalachian State and Detroit ... the three shutouts matches the total for all of last season (18 games).
ROSALES COLLECTING CLEAN SHEETS II
Junior goalkeeper Miguel Rosales, as mentioned, has three complete-match shutouts this year to date ... he is the first BGSU 'keeper to post three shutouts in a season since Paul Shoemaker in 2007 ... no Falcon goalie has had more than three shutouts since David DeGraff had five in the 2003 season.
AN EARLY GOAL
Senior Dusko Topolic's goal, just 2:37 into the Wright State match, was the Falcons' first goal in the first half of a game this season ... the last time BGSU scored in the opening half was in another 3-0 win, in last season's final game ... on that day, Cameron Hepple (34:03) and Byard Ebling (37:14) each scored before halftime in last season's finale, against Florida Atlantic at Cochrane Field (Nov. 7, 2009).
A REALLY EARLY GOAL
Senior Dusko Topolic's goal was the earliest BGSU goal in a match since Nov. 2, 2007 .. on that date, Thomas McLean scored just 1:33 into a match ... in fact, BGSU scored twice in the first 5:11, en route to a 3-1 win over Northern Illinois at Cochrane Field.
WESTON LEADS THE OFFENSE
Junior Max Weston has been a thorn in the collective side of BGSU's opponents this season ... Weston has a team-leading eight points this fall, and has been involved in the scoring in five of BG's six goals this year to date ... a few more notes about Weston ...
• His three-point game vs. Wright State tied a career best ... he also had a goal and an assist in the match at Davidson earlier in September (Sept. 5).
• Weston has doubled his point total for all of last season ... he had four points in 2009, his first with the Falcons, on a goal and two assists.
• Weston is BGSU's active career scoring leader, with 12 points in 20 career matches as a Falcon.
FALCONS PICKED TO FINISH SIXTH
The Falcons were picked to finish sixth in the MAC standings in 2010, according to the preseason coaches poll ... the poll is the result of voting by the league's seven head coaches ... Akron, ranked No. 1 in the nation in every poll, was picked to capture the 2010 MAC title ... last year, the Zips captured both the regular-season and tourney titles ... Northern Illinois was predicted to finish second, while Hartwick and Western Michigan were picked to tie for third place ... Hartwick and Florida Atlantic are affiliate members of the MAC in men's soccer.
2010 MAC PRESEASON POLL
1 - Akron (7 first-place votes)
2 - Northern Illinois
3 - Hartwick & Western Michigan
5 - Buffalo
6 - Bowling Green
7 - Florida Atlantic
MIGHT WANNA GRAB A PROGRAM ON THE WAY TO YOUR SEAT
Fans who come to Cochrane Field for Friday's WMU match might want to head to the holder along the fence at the south entrance to the grandstand and grab a match program ... head coach Eric Nichols and the Falcons have no fewer than 12 newcomers on the 2010 roster, including 11 freshmen ... three of those newcomers – junior Miguel Rosales and freshmen Zach Schewee and Brandon Silva – have been in the starting lineup for all seven matches to date ... an additional five true freshman have made at least one start ... that list includes Ryan Comiskey, Jacob Eganhouse, Sam Galloway, Matt Griesinger and Ryan Snashall ... Nichols started five newcomers vs. Akron, Detroit and Wright State, and no fewer than six in the Valparaiso and Lipscomb matches.
THE BRONCOS / THE BGSU-WMU SERIES
Western Michigan will enter the weekend with an overall record of 5-2-1 on the season ... Friday's BGSU match will be the first Mid-American Conference contest of the season for the Broncos ... Western's wins have come over Concordia, Dayton, Niagara, IPFW and Eastern Illinois ... the Broncos have lost to Wright State and Robert Morris, and WMU tied Green Bay ... Western has scored at least three goals in four of the eight matches, and the Broncos have a total of 20 goals to date ... WMU is 2-1-1 in away games ... Shane Lyons leads the team with five goals and 13 points, and Oliver Mayer and Kai Mendes have eight points apiece ... Mayer and C.J. Brown each have three goals this fall, while Mendes has a team-leading four assists ... three different goalkeepers have started at least one game for WMU this year ... Mike Sweers has played a team-high 495 minutes, and has 17 saves and a goals-against average of 1.64 ... Stu Riddle is in his second season at the WMU helm ... he welcomed back 10 letterwinners from last year's club that went 6-10-1 overall and 3-2-1 in MAC play ... Western was picked to tie for third in the conference's preseason poll in 2010 ... the school's athletics web site is wmubroncos.com.
The Falcons lead Western Michigan, 26-11-3, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Broncos have won the last two meetings ... last season (Oct. 3, 2009), Western picked up a 1-0 win at Cochrane Field ... the Falcons have records of 14-3-2 at home, 11-8-1 on the road and 1-0-0 in neutral-site meetings with the Broncos ... WMU has won two of the last three games at Cochrane after the Falcons had gone 13-1-2 over the first 16 home meetings.
THE 2010 CAPTAINS
Seniors Thomas McLean and Dusko Topolic and junior Tanner Fink are the captains of the 2010 men's soccer Falcons.
.png&width=84&height=84&quality=100&type=webp)