Falcons, Hawks Play to 1-1 Draw in First Men's Night Game at Cochrane

Saturday, October 22

Bowling Green, Ohio

8:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Hartwick

A great many BGSU men's soccer alumni were on hand to witness the first home night game in program history (photo by Brandon Heiss)

Falcons, Hawks Play to 1-1 Draw in First Men's Night Game at Cochrane

October 22, 2011 | Men's Soccer

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team opened a new era in Cochrane Field history by playing a wildly entertaining match against Hartwick College Saturday night (Oct. 22). When all was said and done, the Falcons and Hawks had battled to a 1-1, double-overtime tie. The match was the first home night contest in BGSU program history.

FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
PHOTO GALLERY - Brandon Heiss, BGSU Marketing & Communications
Scroll down for postgame interviews with BGSU coach Eric Nichols and senior Byard Ebling

The result gives the Falcons a 7-4-3 overall record, and BGSU is now 1-1-1 in Mid-American Conference play. The Hawks are now 5-5-3 and 1-1-1, respectively.

Senior Colin Armstrong gave the Brown and Orange the lead late in the first half, taking a pass from freshman Danny Baraldi and beating HC goalkeeper Mateo Munarriz at the 38:56 mark. But, the Hawks' Jherrett Maroney equalized with just under nine minutes gone in the second half, and the teams battled through the remainder of regulation and a pair of 10-minute overtime periods without another ball hitting the back of the net.

Colin Armstrong scores vs. Hartwick - Oct 22 2011

The Falcons had two shots hit the crossbar, including a header by sophomore Ryan Snashall in the first OT period. Junior Joey D'Agostino also had hit the woodwork on a free kick in the first half.

Sophomore Michael Wiest worked a scoreless first half in goal, and did not face a shot on net. Fifth-year senior Miguel Rosales made three saves in 65 minutes of relief work for the hosts.

For Hartwick, Munarriz had a total of three saves in his complete-match effort.

With senior tri-captain Tanner Fink out of the lineup due to injury, sophomore Sean Sikich drew his first collegiate start at a center-back position. Sikich, who had played a total of seven minutes in his career prior to Saturday night, played all 110 minutes vs. the Hawks.

In addition to Fink, the Falcons also played without junior Rodcliff Hall. Hall, who led the Falcons with four goals on the season entering Saturday's action, sat out due to receiving a double-yellow red card in BGSU's match at Michigan State on Wednesday (Oct. 19). It marked the first red card to a BG player in over three years, since early September of 2008.

Armstrong's goal on Saturday night was his fourth of the season, tying him for the team lead with Hall.

Just five minutes into the match, BG redshirt junior Zach Lemke stole the ball and fired a shot on goal. Munarriz was able to block that shot, and the freshman 'keeper scrambled to cover up the rebound before sophomore Ryan Comiskey could knock it home. Lemke led all players with five shot attempts on the night.

With 12 minutes gone, Lemke played a diagonal ball toward the penalty area. Munarriz came off of his line to grab the ball in midair. But, in the process, the HC goalie stepped out of the 18-yard box, giving the Falcons a free kick.

D'Agostino took that free kick from just over 18 yards out. slightly left of center. And, the BG junior drilled a curving shot toward net. Munarriz had no chance to stop the shot, but it rang off the crossbar near the left post and caromed out of the penalty area.

With just over 10 minutes remaining in the half, redshirt sophomore Brandon Silva took the ball into the danger area after a BG throw-in. The tri-captain fired a shot that was blocked in the box. The rebound came to D'Agostino, but his rebound try sailed just over the goal.

Two minutes later, Baraldi's nifty backheel put Armstrong through the Hartwick defense, but the assistant referee's flag was up, indicating offside against the Falcons. But, Baraldi and Armstrong would team up again just two minutes later.

This time, Baraldi's short cross from the left side of the pitch found Armstrong, and the senior found himself wide open after a Hartwick defender went to the ground after a failed lunging try at the ball. Munarriz tried to come off of his line to cut down the shooting angle, but Armstrong made no mistake, firing a shot from 18 yards out. The shot found the lower-left corner of the frame, putting the Falcons ahead at the 38:56 mark.

Early in the second half, the Hawks had a chance off of a corner kick by Greg Mathers. The ball sailed toward the far post and deflected off of a BGSU defender, but Rosales grabbed it out of the air just before it reached the goal line.

But, with just under nine minutes gone in the half, the visitors worked the ball down the center of the pitch. Will Broomfield played a pass ahead to Jason Keefe, who in turn poked it ahead to Maroney. The senior settled the ball, then hit a turnaround shot that sailed over Rosales and into the net from 10 yards out. Keefe and Broomfield each drew assists on the tying goal, which came at 53:57.

While neither team would score again, both the Falcons and the Hawks had numerous scoring chances over the remaining 56-plus minutes.

An hour into the match, D'Agostino played a forward ball to Comiskey. For an instant, it appeared that the BG sophomore would get to it first. But, a Hawk defender beat Comiskey to the ball by a split-second as the two players crossed the 18-yard line.

Several minutes later, an errant clearing attempt by the Hawks went directly to Baraldi. The freshman blasted a shot from distance that Munarriz clearly did not expect. It was all the 'keeper could do to scramble back and tip the ball over the bar at the last second with a leaping effort.

At the other end, however, HC's Tim Crawford attempted to cross the ball from the right side, but saw his cross slice ever so slightly. The ball sailed between Rosales and the goal line, but passed through the goalmouth and went out of bounds for a goal kick.

Hartwick applied a great deal of pressure in the latter stages of regulation. With 13 minutes on the clock, a flurry saw the Falcons struggle to clear the ball out of danger. Jhevaughn Beckford's shot was stopped by Rosales, but Joel Collins got to the rebound. His follow try was blocked out of play for a corner kick. That corner found the head of Collins, but that shot was also blocked by a BG defender.

After going nearly 18 minutes without a shot attempt, the Falcons saw Baraldi take a crack at goal with 10 minutes left in the half. But, his hard shot went wide of the left post.

Under eight minutes remained when the visitors again made a foray into the BG end. The Hawks were able to string several passes together, and Collins found Cleyon Brown in the box for a quick shot. Rosales was equal to the task, however, blocking Brown's shot from point-blank range.

The final 90 seconds saw a flurry of end-to-end action. With 1:17 left, BG put together several passes to work the ball into the offensive end of the pitch. Lemke, Snashall and Baraldi all were involved in the sequence, and Snashall uncorked a shot from the top of the box. But, Munarriz made the save and quickly threw an outlet pass to a defender.

It was Hartwick's turn to mount an attack, as Munarriz's quick distribution led to a dangerous chance for the Hawks. With 54 seconds left, Crawford hit a shot that Rosales had to tip over the crossbar. HC had two corner kicks in the final 34 seconds of regulation, but BG defended both of them to send the match to overtime.

And, the Falcons very nearly ended the contest just a minute into the OT period. Lemke and Armstrong's give-and-go on the right side of the field resulted in a cross from Lemke. The ball sailed toward the far post, and Snashall got his head on it roughly four yards from goal. The ball hit off of the crossbar, just a few inches too high to end the match.

Four minutes into the period, the Falcons had another chance, but Armstrong's shot in the box was blocked out of play. Armstrong had the only other shot in the remaining six minutes of the period, heading a corner kick wide of net.

In the second overtime stanza, BGSU again had a close call midway through. Baraldi played the ball ahead to Armstrong. The senior tracked it down, cut the ball back and laid it off for Lemke on the right side of the box. Lemke took two touches and hit a shot that rolled just wide of the left post. Baraldi attempted to get a boot on Lemke's shot at the far post, but it was just out of reach of his lunging effort.

Lemke had another chance with just under three minutes left. Silva stole the ball at midfield, knocking it to Lemke. The fourth-year junior found Snashall on the left side, and Snashall returned the ball to Lemke at the top of the box. Lemke hit a one-time effort off of Snashall's square pass, but the shot was high of the target.

With roughly 90 seconds remaining, a long free kick by freshman Alex Bechtol sailed into the box, and Lemke got off yet another shot. But, the ball was blocked out of play. Neither team could muster another shot attempt in the remainder of the period.

BGSU had a narrow 15-14 advantage in total shot attempts, including a 6-1 margin in the two overtime periods. Each team put four shots on goal in the match.

The Falcons continue a stretch of three consecutive MAC matches with a difficult midweek test. BGSU will travel to Akron to face the defending national champion Zips on Wednesday night (Oct. 26). Then, the Brown and Orange will close the home portion of the schedule with another Saturday night game. BGSU will host Northern Illinois University next weekend (Oct. 29), with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m.

FALCON NOTES
* The match was televised on a tape-delay basis by BCSN ... the Toledo-based channel will air the contest on Sunday morning (Oct. 23) at 3:00 a.m. and again at 11:00 a.m. ... BCSN will rebroadcast the game on Monday (Oct. 24) at 8:30 a.m. and on Tuesday (Oct. 25) at 2:30 a.m. as well.

* Senior Colin Armstrong's goal was his fourth of the season, tying him for the team lead ... he entered the 2011 campaign with a career total of one goal.

* Former Falcon men's soccer standout Gary Kovacs was honored at halftime of Saturday's match ... Kovacs was one of the lead donors to the Cochrane Field lights project.

* In addition to Kovacs, a large number of BGSU men's soccer alumni were in attendance at the match (see photo at top of page) ... approximately 35 alums made the trip back to their old stomping grounds for the game.

* BGSU leads Hartwick, 2-1-3, in the all-time series between the teams, and both the Falcons and Hawks have scored a total of seven goals in the six meetings.

* Each of the three meetings between BG and HC at Cochrane Field has ended in a draw ... the teams battled to 2-2, double-OT ties in both 2007 and '09 in Northwest Ohio.

* Freshman Danny Baraldi now has eight assists and 14 points, leading the Falcons in both categories ... his assist total is the highest by a BG player since Eric Duda had eight helpers in the 2003 season.