Falcons Blank Jaguars, 1-0, on Armstrong's First-Half Buzzer Beater

Senior Colin Armstrong scored with just six seconds left in the first half, lifting the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team to a 1-0 win over visiting IUPUI Friday afternoon (Sept. 30). The non-conference match was played at a soggy, breezy Cochrane Field.

FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
PHOTO GALLERY 1 - photos by Brandon Heiss (unless noted)
PHOTO GALLERY 2 - photos by Galloway Photography

With the victory, the Falcons improve to 6-2-1 on the season. BGSU has matched the win total for all of last season, and the Falcons are off to the program's best start since 1996. The Jaguars drop to 1-7-2 on the year.

Sophomore Michael Wiest made four saves to earn his fourth shutout of the season. BG is now 3-1-0 at home this season.

Armstrong's goal came after redshirt junior Zach Lemke stole the ball from an IUPUI player near midfield. Lemke played the ball ahead to freshman Danny Baraldi, who high-tailed it down the right side of the pitch.

As the public-address announcer began counting down the last 10 seconds of the half, Baraldi fired a low, hard shot. Jag goalkeeper Tyler Keever was able to make a diving save, but could not hang on to the ball, which rolled right-to-left across the goalmouth. Armstrong, hustling all the way, easily rammed the rebound into the open net. The goal was Armstrong's third of the season, and was the first game-winning goal of his collegiate career.

The Falcons had a 19-10 advantage in shots, including a 7-4 margin in shots on goal. Baraldi and Lemke each took five shots on the day.

On a 50-degree day in Northwest Ohio, the teams took the pitch under overcast skies. It was not raining at kickoff, but the field was wet from morning rain. While the slick field affected teams' low passes, the 20-mile-per-hour winds wreaked havoc with the air attacks as well.

Neither team had a shot attempt until nearly 10 minutes had expired, then Lemke left a ball in the path of sophomore Ryan Snashall. Snashall, back in action after missing the last three matches due to injury, fired a shot just wide left.

The Jags' first chance came two minutes later. Wiest attempted to punch a diagonal ball out of the box, but -- in traffic -- was only able to get a piece of it. The ball went to an IUPUI player in the penalty area, but his shot was blocked by a BGSU defender.

With 30 minutes gone, Baraldi stole the ball and was fouled just outside the 18-yard box at the other end of the pitch. As it began to rain, Baraldi's shot on the ensuing free kick was saved by a diving Keever. The precipitation, combined with the winds, made it appear that it was raining sideways for a span of approximately five minutes late in the half.

After the rain had stopped, IUPUI had a scoring chance with just over five minutes left, but Ian Block's shot was, appropriately enough, blocked out of bounds for a corner kick, and BG cleared the ball out of the danger area after that corner kick.

Just when it appeared the teams would go to halftime locked in a scoreless tie, Lemke's steal and Baraldi's shot led to Armstrong's goal.

BGSU had a 12-5 advantage in second-half shot attempts, but could not put another ball past Keever. The Falcons had several close calls, however.

Early in the period, junior Rodcliff Hall brought the ball along the end line to the left of goal, and slid a pass back to the charging Snashall. The sophomore's shot, however, was wide by inches.

After a Baraldi cross, Lemke drilled a shot into the back of the net. But, the assistant referee's flag was up, as he ruled the cross had gone out of bounds before curving back into the field of play.

With 25 minutes left, a Lemke steal nearly led to a goal for the second time in the match. This time, Lemke fed the ball to Hall, who beat several players, took the ball into the box and ripped a shot just high of the target from about 15 yards out.

Only two minutes later, sophomore Sam Galloway made a nifty run, taking the ball past multiple would-be defenders before finding Hall with a pass. But, the junior was just a few millimeters offside.

Hall again was at the heart of a scoring chance with 21-plus minutes left. Sophomore Zach Schewee's left-side cross found the head of Hall, who ran right to left across the box. Hall ran onto the cross, nodding it back toward the left post, but Keever guessed correctly, lunging to his right to make the point-blank stop.

With 20 minutes on the clock, senior Tanner Fink got his head on a Baraldi corner kick. The ball caromed high into the air, and Keever was able to grab it in traffic, a split-second before freshman Jon Kumher arrived.

Wiest was tested with just under 16 minutes left. A free kick by Kyle Hyland was blocked by a BG defender. The ball caromed to Tyler Thatcher, who fired a low shot from the top of the box. Wiest, however, smothered the shot and did not allow a rebound in traffic.

Less than a minute later, Lemke nearly doubled the Falcons' lead at the other end. But, Keever charged off of his goal line to make the save on the semi-breakaway.

IUPUI had a flurry with under 12 minutes remaining, but Wiest grabbed one shot, and a second effort went wide of the mark.

With only 30 seconds left in the match, Baraldi pounced on a bad pass by the Jags, but the Falcon freshman shot just high. The visitors, however, were not able to mount another attack, and the home team had the victory.

BGSU returns to Cochrane Field on Sunday (Oct. 2), opening Mid-American Conference play by hosting Florida Atlantic University. Kickoff for that match is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.

FALCON NOTES
* Friday's win, as mentioned, was BGSU's sixth of the season ... the Falcons have matched the victory total for all of last year ... the 2010 team finished 6-9-3 overall.

* BGSU is off to a 6-2-1 start, the team's best since the 1996 season ... that '96 squad, coached by Mel Mahler, went 4-0-1 to start the year, lost the next three games, then won 14-straight matches to advance all the way to the second round of the NCAA Championships.

* The Falcons have scored 16 goals this year to date, surpassing the total for all of last year ... BG scored 15 goals in 18 matches in 2010, an average of 0.83 goals per game ... this fall, the Falcons are averaging 1.78 goals per contest.

* BGSU has scored nine goals in the first half this season ... last year, in 18 matches, the Falcons scored a total of just four first-half goals.

* Senior Colin Armstrong is now tied for the team lead with three goals this year ... he has four goals in his Falcon career ... Friday's goal vs. IUPUI was the first game-winning strike of his BG tenure.

* Freshman Danny Baraldi's assist on the goal was his seventh of the season ... Baraldi leads the Falcons in both assists and points (11) ... his assist total is the highest by a BGSU player since Eric Duda had eight helpers in the 2003 season.

* Baraldi now has a five-game point-scoring streak, including a goal in the Pittsburgh match (Sept. 11), assists vs. both Belmont (Sept. 16) and Lipscomb (Sept. 18), and a two-assist game at Detroit (Sept. 21).

* Baraldi's streak is the longest by a Falcon since the 2005 season ... Omari Aldridge had a five-game point-scoring streak that fall, from Sept. 18 to Oct. 2 of '05.

* Sophomore Michael Wiest now has four shutouts in his six career starts ... all six of those starts have come this season ... he played a total of 29-plus minutes as a freshman in 2010.

* The Falcons have surpassed the home win total for all of last year ... the 2010 club went 2-4-0 at Cochrane Field ... this year to date, the Falcons have a 3-1-0 record, including shutout wins vs. Michigan, IPFW and IUPUI.

* BGSU has scored first in seven of this year's nine games to date ... last year, BGSU scored first only six times in 18 matches.

* Not surprisingly, it helps to score the opening goal of the match ... in 2011, the Falcons are 6-0-1 when scoring first, and BGSU is 0-2-0 when the opponent scores the first goal ... last fall, BG was 5-1-0 when scoring first, and 1-8-1 when the opposition scored first.

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