Tobin's Late Strike Lifts BGSU to 2-1 Win

Sophomore Kaitlyn Tobin scored in the 90th minute, giving the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team a 2-1 win at Youngstown State University Sunday afternoon (Sept. 11). The non-conference match was held at Stambaugh Stadium.

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With the win, the Falcons improve to 2-5-0 on the season. The Penguins drop to 3-4-1.

"Overall, this was a great team win today," said Falcon coach Andy Richards. "We got a bit of luck at the end, but overall we deserved to win the game, especially given our performance in the second half."

Senior captain Alyssa Zuccaro scored the Falcons' first goal, with under 20 minutes remaining in the match. The Penguins responded with a goal from Heather Coonfare, but Tobin redirected a ball from junior Sarah VonderBrink into the net with only 32 seconds left.

Still, the Falcons were not out of the proverbial woods. YSU's Jade Flory received a crossing ball and blooped a soft shot off the top of the crossbar with only two seconds remaining.

The first half featured precious few scoring chances at either end of the pitch. YSU's Rachel Morrison redirected a crossing ball on goal, but the shot was directly at redshirt junior goalkeeper Becca Ison, who made the save. That shot attempt, coming just 4:24 into the match, was the Penguins' lone shot of the first half.

Freshman Sidney Huth, making her first collegiate start, put a shot on net with just under 25 minutes gone. Senior Megan Amann and VonderBrink each put shots on frame as well during the opening half, but YSU 'keeper Ali Viola was up to the task in each case. VonderBrink had another chance in the final minute of the half, but her shot went high.

"I thought Youngstown State came out very strong at the beginning of the game," said Richards. "They had had a big loss on Friday (6-1 at Kent State), and being back on their home field, I'm sure they had a point to prove. We did well to withstand that start, and gradually found our way.

"From halftime on, we totally dominated the game. 'Z' scored after a bit of a melee on the goal line, and at that point we were poised to get a second goal and finish the game off. Unfortunately, we didn't do a great job of defending after that, and we let them back into the game with a very good goal.

"Becca nearly got to the shot, but it was all tied up, and we were at a critical point where our team has been before - having a lead and now no longer up. The coaching staff wanted to see how the team responded, and I was very proud of the bravery they showed to go on and win the game."

The Falcons had a decisive advantage in the second period. While much of the first half was played in the middle of the park, BGSU had the ball in the YSU end for the majority of the second period. The Falcons had a 10-4 margin in total shots in the latter 45 minutes, firing six shots on net to YSU's two during that time.

Amann took the first shot of the second half, with a turnaround effort, but Viola was in position to make the stop with just over four minutes gone in the period. Two minutes later, sophomore Madeline Wideman took a corner kick from the left side of the pitch. Redshirt fresham Kylie Briem got her head on the kick, but Briem's effort sailed to Viola, who grabbed it near the right goalpost.

Youngstown's first shot of the half came just over 10 minutes in. Geneva Strelka eluded a defender, brought the ball along the end line to Ison's right, and fired a bad-angle shot toward net, but the BG goalie made the save.

Moments later, Briem ran onto a loose ball approximately 25 yards away from goal, but her hard shot went just wide right.

In the 70th minute, a long free kick by junior Emily Rothwell sailed into the box, where Amann got her head on it. The resulting shot was blocked out of bounds for a BGSU corner kick.

Amann took that corner kick, and Zuccaro, after a scramble in the box, knocked it home to give the visitors the lead. Amann picked up the assist on the goal, which came at the 71:06 mark.

Two minutes later, Zuccaro had another chance. The captain got a great deal of force behind her shot, but Viola was able to make the stop and keep her team's deficit at a single goal. Moments later, the Penguins tied the score.

With just over 12 minutes left, Strelka's long cross from the right side found Coonfare in front of the net. Coonfare settled the ball and fired a shot that curved into the right side of the net, just out of the reach of a BG defender as well as Ison.

With less than seven minutes remaining, Falcon freshman Leslie Henny got her head on a diagonal ball, and the shot was mere inches wide of the left post as Viola scrambled after it. A YSU player had touched the ball last, giving the Falcons a corner kick.

Freshman Kaylee Draper took that kick, and the ball bounced off of several players in the box, coming to Zuccaro on the right side of the goal. Zuccaro, only about two yards off of the line, was facing away from goal when she picked up the ball, with three defenders between her and the goal. In the midst of that traffic, Zuccaro tried to turn toward goal, but she was unable to get a shot off, and the Penguins cleared the ball out of play for another corner kick.

Amann took that kick, and found Rothwell on the far side of net. The junior's shot went just wide of the mark with just over five minutes left.

Neither team had another shot until Tobin's decisive strike. Tobin received a left-side pass from VonderBrink, took a touch and, as Viola came off of her line, tucked the ball underneath the YSU 'keeper and just inside the far post with only 32 ticks on the clock. VonderBrink picked up the assist on what would (just barely) prove to be the decisive goal.

Somehow, the Penguins got the one final try, as Flory's shot hit the top of the crossbar and glanced out of bounds as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

The Falcons had a 15-5 advantage in total shot attempts, including a 9-3 margin in shots on goal. Zuccaro and Amann each had three shots, while Briem and VonderBrink fired two apiece. No YSU player had more than one shot attempt on the afternoon.

Ison made two saves en route to the complete-match win. At the other end of the field, Viola made seven stops.

"Katie Tobin showed great composure, and I couldn't be more delighted for her to get the winning goal," said Richards.

"Overall, it was a good weekend, with a solid performance at Michigan State (Friday) and a great win today. We are happy, and we are ready to go back to work again on Tuesday."

BGSU returns home for a pair of matches next weekend. The Falcons host IPFW Friday (Sept. 16) and Valparaiso Sunday (Sept. 18) to close the non-conference portion of the schedule.

FALCON NOTES
* Sophomore Kaitlyn Tobin's goal on Sunday was the first of her collegiate career, and obviously was her first game-winning score ... the goal came on her first shot attempt of the season.

* BGSU's other scorer on Sunday, senior captain Alyssa Zuccaro, has done this before ... her goal was the 17th of her collegiate career ... 'Z' has moved into sole possession of seventh place on that list.

* Zuccaro now has 44 career points, and ranks ninth on that Falcon career list.

* The Falcons now have a record of 2-3-0 in road games this season ... BGSU won only one match away from home in both 2009 and 2010.

* Junior Sarah VonderBrink has played a major part in each of the Falcons' last three road wins ... last season, she scored with under 12 minutes left, giving the Brown and Orange a 3-2 win at Indiana State ... last weekend (Sept. 2), 'Vondy' scored the lone goal in BG's win at Cleveland State ... and, of course, she had the assist on Tobin's winner on Sunday.

* Senior Megan Amann's assist on Zuccaro's goal was the 20th of her career ... Amann is fourth on the BGSU career list, and is three assists behind third-place Janice Mentrup (23 assists from 1997-2000) ... Julie Trundle (2002-05) holds the BGSU record with 33 career assists.

* The Falcons' starting lineup on Sunday included four true freshmen and a redshirt frosh ... two of the first-year Falcons, Leslie Henny and Sidney Huth, each were making their first collegiate start.

* The Falcons are now a perfect 6-0-0 lifetime against Youngstown State ... BGSU has scored 25 goals and allowed only four in the six series meetings.

* BGSU has played a Horizon League opponent in each of the first four weekends of the season, and the Falcons are now 2-2-0 against HL foes ... BG has one game remaining vs. a Horizon League program, hosting Valparaiso next weekend.

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Alyssa Zuccaro

Kaitlyn Tobin

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