Titans Top Falcons, 2-0

Tuesday, September 18

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Detroit

September 18, 2012 | Men's Soccer

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Zach Schewee v Detroit - Sept 18 2012 - John Enright photo

The University of Detroit Mercy scored once in each half to deal the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team a disappointing 2-0 loss Tuesday night (Sept. 18). The non-conference match was held at Cochrane Field on the BGSU campus.

DETROIT 2, BGSU 0 - PDF Boxscore
DETROIT 2, BGSU 0 - HTML Stats
PHOTO GALLERY - John Enright, BGSU Athletic Communications
Scroll down for video of postgame comments from Eric Nichols and Brandon Silva

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

Patrick Soltys got the visitors on the scoreboard with 16:08 gone in the contest, heading home a Kevin Pinkos corner kick. Detroit got an insurance goal from Adam Bedell with just 4:02 remaining in the match. Bedell, the two-time reigning Horizon League Player of the Week, knocked home the rebound of a shot by Matt Ybarra.

For Bedell, it marked the fifth consecutive match in which he has scored a goal.

The Titans held narrow advantages of 15-12 in shot attempts and 6-5 in shots on goal for the match. In the early going, however, UDM had eight of the first 10 shots of the match, and the visitors got on the board with the Soltys header.

A shot by the Titans' Trevor Flynn was blocked out of play for a corner kick. Pinkos took the kick from the northwest corner of the field, and served the ball to Soltys in the middle of the penalty area. The Titan junior rose above the crowd and headed the ball into the net to give the visitors the only goal they would need.

Several minutes later, the Falcons had a scoring chance, as redshirt junior Brandon Silva hit a turnaround shot from the right side of the 18-yard box. The shot was blocked by a lunging UDM defender, and the ball caromed high into the air and toward the goal. Titan goalkeeper Nathan Steinwascher was forced to leap and tip the ball over the crossbar for a corner kick.

That corner, taken by sophomore Danny Baraldi, curved toward the goal, but glanced off the top of the bar and out of play.

Steinwascher again had to make a leaping effort with 12 minutes left before halftime, going high in the air to snare Baraldi's free kick in the box. Several minutes later, senior Zach Lemke hit a left-side cross which deflected off of a defender and toward the goalmouth, but the UDM 'keeper was there to grab it.

Only 60 seconds later, another free kick by Baraldi curved into the box. The diagonal ball found the head of a leaping Marco Ilao, but the junior's shot sailed just wide of the frame.

The Falcons had several chances in the final minute of the half. First, a crossing ball by Ilao went through the penalty area, just out of the reach of junior Ryan Comiskey. Then, as the final seconds ticked off of the clock, Baraldi played yet another free kick into the 'danger area.' Steinwascher and Comiskey went up for the ball, and the Titan 'keeper was able to punch it away.

The rebound, however, went to Lemke. With only two or three seconds remaining before halftime, Lemke had to quickly fire a shot, and the volley sailed high, crashing into the fence behind the goal as the horn sounded.

The Falcons dominated the possession time in the early part of the second half, but could not find the scoresheet. Nine minutes into the half, junior Anthony Grant's cross found Baraldi in the box. The sophomore settled the ball, but a Titan defender was able to boot it out of play just before Baraldi could get a shot off. Steinwascher grabbed the ensuing corner kick a split-second before sophomore Jon Kumher could reach it.

With 59 minutes gone, the Falcons had a goal waved off. Kumher played a diagonal ball into the box for junior Ryan Snashall. Snashall slipped as he tried to cut left across the box. Still, he managed to get a boot on the ball, which was deflected by a Detroit defender. The ball went to the onrushing Grant, who quickly cut right to elude Steinwascher, then poked the ball into the open net. But, the assistant referee's flag was up, and the score remained 1-0, Titans.

Grant had another chance several minutes later. After working a give-and-go play with Baraldi, Grant fired a hard shot, but it was hit directly at the Titan 'keeper.

Midway through the period, Silva played a ball to Baraldi, who poked it to Comiskey in the open field. Comiskey ripped a shot from just outside the penalty area, forcing Steinwascher to make a difficult save.

Just over 18 minutes remained when Lemke, who led the Falcons with four shots on the night, took a pass from Snashall, made a right-to-left run toward the center of the park and blasted a low shot that whizzed just wide of the left post.

The Titans, however, got the insurance they were looking for with just over four minutes remaining. Ybarra hit a long shot which went through a maze of players. BGSU junior Michael Wiest saw enough of the shot to block it, but the rebound went directly to Bedell, who banged the ball into the center of the net for a two-goal Detroit lead. From there, Steinwascher and the Titans were able to preserve the shutout.

Steinwascher made five saves to earn the shutout for the visitors, while Wiest had four saves at the other end of the pitch.

BGSU now prepares for a Saturday (Sept. 22) matchup with the nationally-ranked University of Akron. The Falcons and Zips will meet in a 7:00 p.m. start at Cochrane Field, and it will be an Orange Out, as all fans are encouraged to wear orange.

BGSU NOTES
* Junior Ryan Snashall made his first appearance of the season, checking in with approximately 25 minutes gone in the match and playing the remainder of the contest. Snashall, who had been sidelined due to injury, has now played in a total of 33 matches in his BG career.