Tuesday, October 23
Ann Arbor, MI
7:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
2
at
0
Michigan
BGSU Strikes Quickly in Second Half for 2-0 Win at Michigan
October 23, 2012 | Men's Soccer
Grant, James score for Falcons; Wiest & BG defense earn sixth shutout of season
PDF LINKS
BGSU 2, Michigan 0 - Box Score
BGSU Cumulative Stats - Through Tuesday's match
Scroll down for postgame interviews with Eric Nichols & Michael Wiest
Junior Anthony Grant and freshman Ryan James scored goals for the Brown and Orange, as BG (6-7-3) found the back of the net twice in a span of just 2:29. Sophomore Danny Baraldi assisted on both goals for the Falcons, while juniors Zach Schewee and Ryan Snashall each had one assist in the win.
Junior Michael Wiest made five saves, including a diving stop of a penalty kick by Michigan's Fabio Pereira with 3:52 left in the match. For Wiest, the shutout was his sixth of the season, the 12th of his career and his second in as many seasons against the Wolverines.
Adam Grinwis made two saves for Michigan, now 5-8-1 on the year.
The winning goal began when Schewee hit a diagonal ball from just over midfield. His left-to-right ball found Baraldi on the right side of the penalty area. The sophomore took a touch or two, then lofted a ball toward the far post, where Grant was waiting. Grant nodded the ball home at the 46:51 mark, and the Falcons had a 1-0 lead.
For Grant, the goal was his team-leading seventh of the season, and his fourth over the last four matches.
Just over a minute after Grant's goal, the junior was at it again. Senior Sean Hastings sent James down the right side, and the freshman hit a low cross to Grant at the near post. Grant redirected the ball toward goal, but Grinwis was there. But, less than a minute later, the Falcons doubled the lead.
The visitors' second goal came when Baraldi played a short through-ball to Snashall on the right side. Snashall eluded a defender, cut the ball back along the end line and crossed the ball to the far post. The charging James met the ball in stride, heading hit into the back of the net at 49:20.
After the goal by James, both teams had a total of seven shots on the night. Over the final 40-plus minutes, the Wolverines had a 15-3 shots advantage as the home team increased the pressure and threw numbers forward. But, U-M could not get on the scoreboard.
With just under four minutes left, the Falcons were called for a foul on the left side of the box, and a penalty kick was awarded. Wiest, however, made the save on Pereira with a diving effort. The junior 'keeper went to his left to stop the ball at the left post, and he then grabbed Tyler Arnone's follow try from the right side.
The opening half saw the hosts take six total shots to BGSU's five, but the Falcons had the only two shots on goal of the period. With nine minutes left before the half, James chested down a failed clearing attempt by the Wolverines, firing a long, dipping shot that went just over the crossbar.
With just over a minute left in the period, Baraldi took a pass from junior Ryan Comiskey and hit a long shot that went just wide left.
The home team had several chances in the opening period, but could not put any of those shots on frame. Latif Alashe put a shot over the bar with nine minutes gone, and James Murphy fired wide off of a give-and-go midway through the period. Wiest made a diving effort to take a ball off of the boot of Ezekiel Harris with 20 minutes left in the half, and a shot by T.J. Roehn went wide of the far post with seven minutes on the first-half clock.
The Falcons took the two-goal lead early in the period, and the BG offense was buzzing. With 37 minutes left, James nearly put Grant through, but a U-M defender got his foot on the pass at the last second.
As the match neared the hour mark, Arnone hit a turnaround shot that went just wide of the far post. Wiest seemed to have the goal well-guarded, as it appeared that his diving effort would have been more than enough to stop the shot had it been on frame.
Twenty-six minutes remained when fifth-year senior Zach Lemke's pass found James on the left side of the 18-yard box. James played a short ball in the direction of Grant, and Grant, while facing away from goal, headed the ball behind him. The shot went just over the bar and landed on top of the net.
Wiest's first save of the night came with under 25 minutes left. Alashe drilled a shot from straightaway center, just outside the penalty box, but the BG junior parried the shot.
Under 20 minutes remained when a U-M corner kick was blocked out of the box. Alashe's header from about 20 yards out was blocked by a defender. The ball went to Etienne Lussiez, who nodded the ball toward the upper 90, but Wiest made a leaping effort to grab the shot in traffic.
The Wolverines were pressing forward, and it was leaving Michigan open in the back. The Falcons very nearly had a breakaway on several occasions.
One near counterattack came with 18 minutes remaining. BG thwarted a U-M offensive chance, and the Falcons got the ball to Comiskey near midfield on the right side. Comiskey saw sophomore Vlad Lekarev streaking down the middle of the field with no defender around him, but there were several defenders near Comiskey, and one of those Wolverines was able to block the junior's passing attempt to prevent a sure breakaway.
Just over 15 minutes remained when Schewee saved a ball from going out of bounds, made a long run down the left side, cut back and headed across the top of the box. But, his shot was blocked by a U-M defender.
Alashe, who led all players with five shot attempts, had back-to-back shots during a flurry with 12 minute remaining. Wiest stopped the first shot at the near post, and freshman Jake Genrich blocked the second.
The Wolverines threatened again in the 80th minute, lofting a ball into the box on the left side. But, junior Matt Griesinger made a nice play, heading the ball back to Wiest to enable the 'keeper to grab it out of the air and end the threat.
The home team was credited with no fewer than seven shot attempts over the last seven minutes of the match. But, the BG defense blocked four of those shots, Wiest saved two (including the penalty kick) and one sailed high.
For the match, Michigan had 22 total shots to the Falcons' 10, and the Wolverines had a narrow 5-4 edge in shots on goal. Wiest's five saves all came in the second half, as he earned his second consecutive shutout.
The Falcons conclude a season-long four-match road swing this weekend, returning to Mid-American Conference action with a Friday (Oct. 26) match against Florida Atlantic. Then, BGSU closes the regular season with home games vs. Wright State (Oct. 30) and West Virginia (Nov. 3).
FALCON NOTES
* Tuesday night's win was the Falcons' first road victory over a Big Ten Conference team in over 11 years ... BG defeated Michigan by a 1-0 count on Oct. 11, 2001, less than a month after a 3-1 victory at Michigan State (Sept. 17, 2001).
* The Falcons defeated Michigan by a 2-0 count for the second consecutive year ... last season, the Brown and Orange also got a pair of second-half goals, downing the Wolverines at Cochrane Field in the season opener for both teams (Aug. 26, 2011).
* Last year's win over U-M came in the first start of Michael Wiest's collegiate career ... his lone action as a freshman in 2010 came when he played the final 29-plus minutes of a BG loss to the Wolverines in Ann Arbor (Oct. 27, 2010).
* Wiest now has played a total of 209:16 against the Wolverines, and has not surrendered a goal ... he has a total of 10 saves and a 2-0-0 record vs. U-M in his career.
* Wiest has six shutouts this season to date, matching his 2011 total ... Miguel Rosales had six complete-game shutouts in 2010, but no BGSU 'keeper has had more shutouts in a season since Dave DeGraff had seven clean sheets in 2001.
* Junior Anthony Grant now has a team-leading seven goals this season ... four of those goals have been game-winning scores ... Grant's GWG total is the highest by a BGSU player since Bobby Biggs scored six winners in 1997.
* Grant and sophomore Danny Baraldi each have 16 points this season ... Grant has the seven goals and a pair of assists, while Baraldi has five goals and a team-leading six assists.
* Baraldi's two-assist game against Michigan was the fourth of his career ... he now has 34 career points in 33 games as a Falcon.
* Junior Zach Schewee's assist on BG's first goal Tuesday night was his first of the season ... he now has career totals of two assists and four points, with both of his career helpers coming against the Wolverines ... Schewee had an assist on Ryan Snashall's goal vs. U-M in the 2011 opener.
* Snashall had his fourth assist of the season on Tuesday night in Ann Arbor, and ranks second on the team in that category ... Snashall has nine career points on a goal and seven assists.
Eric Nichols Post-Match Interview (Sept. 5, 2025)
Saturday, September 06
Off The Pitch: Bennett Painter (Sept. 3, 2025)
Thursday, September 04
Eric Nichols Post-Match Interview (Sept. 1, 2025)
Monday, September 01
Bennett Painter Post-Match Interview (Aug. 21, 2025)
Friday, August 22