Bowling Green State University Athletics
Saturday, September 22
Bowling Green, OH
7:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
vs
Akron
Nationally-Ranked Akron Comes to Cochrane for MAC Opener
September 20, 2012 | Men's Soccer
Falcons face Zips on Saturday, Milwaukee Tuesday
BGSU MEN'S SOCCER NOTES - PDF
Saturday's Akron match has been designated an Orange Out, with fans encouraged to wear orange to the match.
Following the UA game, the Falcons will conclude the homestand against a regionally-ranked foe, as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee comes to town for a Tuesday (Sept. 25) match. The Milwaukee match begins at 6:00 p.m. at Cochrane. Please note the start time for Tuesday's match, as it is the lone 6:00 p.m. start on the Falcons' home schedule this fall.
Admission for both the Akron and Milwaukee matches, and for all Falcon men's and women's home regular-season action again this season, is free. Live stats for both matches will be available via BGSUFalcons.com.
The UA and UWM matches are part of a soccer-filled stretch at Cochrane Field, as the BGSU men's and women's teams will play a combined four home games in a five-day span. The complete list of matches during this futbol extravaganza can be found at the bottom of the page.
The Zips are ranked seventh in the nation in the Soccer America rankings and 10th in three polls: NSCAA/Continental Tire, College Soccer News and Soccer Times. UA is also listed fourth by Top Drawer Soccer, which attempts to predict the NCAA Tournament qualifiers with a Tournament 48 listing.
Milwaukee entered the week ranked 10th in the Great Lakes Region in that NSCAA/Continental Tire poll. The Panthers are listed 46th by Top Drawer Soccer.
The Falcons are 2-3-2 on the season, most recently having split a pair of matches with Horizon League foes. On Friday (Sept. 14), the Falcons picked up a 1-0 win at Cleveland State. Junior Anthony Grant's goal in the 15th minute of the match held up as the winner, while junior Michael Wiest made five saves to pick up his third shutout of the season.
On Tuesday (Sept. 18), however, visiting Detroit scored in each half en route to a 2-0 win over the Brown and Orange at Cochrane Field. The Titans got a goal off of a corner kick with just over 16 minutes gone in the match, and UDM picked up an insurance tally with four minutes left.
The Falcons are 1-2-1 at home, 1-0-1 on the road and 0-1-0 in neutral-site matches this year to date. Individually, sophomore Danny Baraldi leads the Falcons in scoring, with totals of three goals and six points. Grant and freshman Ryan James each have four points on a goal and two assists, while senior Zach Lemke has scored three points this year to date.
Three different BGSU players have two points apiece. That list includes juniors Brandon Silva – a transfer from Akron – and Ryan Comiskey, each of whom have one goal this year, and senior Chris McLean, who has recorded a pair of assists. Sophomore Vlad Lekarev has one assist on the season.
Lemke paces the Falcons with totals of 17 shot attempts and eight shots on goal. Baraldi and Grant have fired 14 and 13 shots, respectively.
In goal, Wiest has played all 670 minutes. He has 36 saves, a goals-against average of 1.07 and three shutouts. Wiest has a save percentage of .818 this year to date.
In front of Wiest, junior Sean Sikich has played all 670 minutes at a center-back position. Silva has played 661 minutes this fall, while Lemke has been on the pitch for 652 minutes and freshman defender Jake Genrich 647.
Akron will enter Saturday's match with an overall record of 4-1-2. The Zips, as mentioned, are ranked in the top 10 nationally in every poll. Last weekend, UA posted home shutouts against two other ranked teams at their own tournament, tying then-#10 St. John's, 0-0, and obliterating then-#11 South Florida by a 5-0 count. The Zips have played five ranked teams in their first seven matches. UA's lone loss came at Notre Dame (3-1, Sept. 9), and the Zips tied Creighton as well as SJU.
Scott Caldwell leads a balanced scoring attack with four goals and nine points for the Zips, while Eric Stevenson has three goals and seven points. David Meves, the reigning MAC Player of the Week, has played every minute in net, and has 21 saves, four shutouts and a GAA of just 0.67. UA's Caleb Porter owns the highest winning percentage among all active Division I coaches. He has guided the Zips to a 109-18-16 record, including a MAC mark of 32-1-1, in his first six-plus years. Last year, the Zips went 15-4-4 overall and a perfect 6-0-0 in league play for the fourth-straight year. Akron has won the last seven MAC regular-season championships.
The Falcons trail Akron, 40-8-3, in the all-time series between the teams, and the Zips have won the last 12 meetings. Last season, UA scored three second-half goals for a 3-0 win over the Brown and Orange in the Rubber City (Oct. 26, 2011). In the last meeting at Cochrane Field, the Zips scored twice in the second period for a 2-0 win (Sept. 11, 2010). BGSU's last victory over the Zips came 10 years ago, a 1-0 triumph at Cochrane (Oct. 27, 2002), and the Falcons have not scored a goal against Akron since the 2006 campaign.
Milwaukee has a record of 4-3-0, and the Panthers are idle until coming to BGSU for Tuesday's match. Two of UWM's losses have come to nationally-ranked opponents, Xavier and Northwestern. The team has wins over Northern Kentucky, IUPUI, Eastern Illinois and Northern Illinois this year to date. Milwaukee is 3-0 at home and 0-3 on the road, with the NIU match being played at a neutral site.
Laurie Bell leads the Panthers in every offensive category. He has nine points on three goals and there assists, and has team-leading totals of 26 shots, 10 SOG and two game-winning goals. Both Declan Rodriguez and Stuart McBain have two goals this season to date. In net, John Shakon has played every second of every match, and has 29 saves, two shutouts and a 1.57 GAA. He is the reigning Horizon League Defensive P-O-W. First-year coach Kris Kelderman inherited 15 letterwinners, including nine returning starters, from last year's club. The 2011 Panthers went 6-10-2 overall and 2-4-2 in the HL.
The Falcons and Milwaukee are tied, 3-3-1, in that series, although BG has not met the Panthers since the 2001 season. The Falcons have a 2-1-0 record vs. UWM at Cochrane Field, including a 1-0 win in that '01 meeting. The teams played four times between 1977 and '83, then met in 1992 before playing in Milwaukee in 2000 and in BG the next fall.
Following the Milwaukee match, the Falcons will take to the road for a MAC matchup at Hartwick on Friday, Sept. 28.
FALCON FUTBOL
Four matches in a five-day span at Cochrane Field
Friday, Sept. 21 - BGSU women vs. Ohio, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 22 - BGSU men vs. Akron, 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 23 - BGSU women vs. Kent State, 1:00 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 25 - BGSU men vs. Milwaukee, 6:00 p.m.
Off The Pitch: Gonzalo Carranza (Oct. 30, 2025)
Thursday, October 30
Off The Pitch: Jack Bennett (Oct. 22, 2025)
Thursday, October 23
Off The Pitch: Ryko Bodurov (Oct. 16, 2025)
Friday, October 17
Eric Nichols Post-Match Interview (Oct. 10, 2025)
Saturday, October 11