Falcons Keep I-75 Cup with Double-OT Win over WSU

Tuesday, October 22

Dayton, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Wright State

October 22, 2013 | Men's Soccer

Own goal in second overtime gives BGSU the road victory

By: DAYTON, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

An own goal in the second overtime gave the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team a 1-0 victory over host Wright State University Tuesday night (Oct. 22). The non-conference game was held at Alumni Field.

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With the win, the Falcons are now 5-6-4 on the season, and BGSU has a two-game winning streak for the first time this fall. The Raiders drop to 3-8-1 on the year.

The victory also allowed BGSU to maintain possession of the I-75 Cup, which goes to the winner of the BGSU-WSU match each year. The Falcons are now 3-1-0 vs. the Raiders since the teams' head coaches, BG's Eric Nichols and WSU's Bryan Davis, came up with the idea for the cup prior to the 2010 season.

The winning goal came when a BG crossing ball was knocked into the goal by a Wright State defender in the 104th minute of the match.

"Obviously, we were fortunate to get the own goal," said Nichols. "I definitely feel for Wright State. That's a tough way to lose a game, and they battled hard.

"But, having said that, I also think we deserved to get the win. We did a lot of things well tonight: we defended very well, we created a lot of chances, we had better possession, and we had good focus and a good spirit all the way through. I think if we had come out of the match with anything but a win, it wouldn't have been just."

Senior Michael Wiest made four saves on the night as he and the Falcons posted their seventh shutout of the season. BG has kept seven clean sheets in each of the last three seasons, with Wiest in goal for 20 of those 21 shutouts.

Wiest now has a goals-against average of just 0.74 along with a saves percentage of .829 this season. In his career, he now has 201 saves, a GAA of 0.97 and a saves pct. of .807.

Tuesday night marked the Falcons' second overtime win in as many years over WSU. Last Oct. 30, Ryan James scored a pair of goals, including the OT winner, as the Brown and Orange picked up a 3-2 win over the Raiders at Cochrane Field. The Falcons now lead the overall series with Wright State by a 7-6-2 count.

Additionally, the victory was BGSU's third consecutive road win, and the fourth-straight shutout on the road. Wiest and the Falcons have not allowed a goal away from home since late in regulation of the Marshall match back on Sept. 27. BG has gone 415:18 without surrendering a goal on the road.

BGSU had a 17-9 advantage in shots on Tuesday night, with junior Danny Baraldi leading all players with four total shots and two shots on goal. The Falcons put six shots on goal to the Raiders' four.

James fired a shot just wide of goal with four minutes gone, and junior Vlad Lekarev stole the ball, found some space and hit a shot toward the goal in the 12th minute. Lekarev's shot was deflected, and WSU goalkeeper Tyler Blackmer made a diving effort to save the ball at the left post. Blackmer had five saves in the match.

In the 14th minute of the match, WSU's Wesley Cain hit a shot against the run of play, and Wiest made a leaping save, tipping the ball over the crossbar.

With 17 minutes left in the half, a nifty backheel pass by Baraldi found senior Zach Schewee near the end line. Schewee hit a ball toward the center of the six-yard box, and the cross/shot was deflected by Blackmer and knocked out of the box by a defender.

Baraldi and Schewee teamed up for another BG offensive effor with 10 minutes left in the half. Again, Baraldi found Schewee with a pass, but Schewee was tripped up as he headed into the box. The ball went to redshirt freshman Max Auden, who quickly fired a shot in traffic, but the shot sailed high.

Each team threatened in the final minute of the half, but Wiest made a nice diving grab of Eric Lynch's left-side cross in the center of the six-yard box, and James saw his shot blocked at the 18-yard line at the other end.

Early in the second period, after the teams had battled for possession near midfield, the Falcons took control of the ball. Senior Anthony Grant slid a pass to Schewee on his left. Schewee headed into the penalty area on the left side and, with two defenders hounding him, still hit a hard shot that forced Blackmer into a save at the upper-left-hand corner of the goal.

Twenty minutes into the half, James took a pass from Grant and slid a ball to freshman Joe Sullivan on the left side of the pitch. Sullivan cut back to his right and, from just outside of the box, put a diagonal pass in the direction of Grant, who was behind the defense. The two just missed connections on the pass, however, and the ball went out of bounds for a goal kick.

Midway through the period, the Falcons threatened again. Schewee's cross from the left side of the box was tipped by Sullivan at the six-yard line. The ball hit a WSU defender, and Baraldi poked at it at the far post, but his shot was grabbed by Blackmer.

With 16 minutes to go, Grant laid a pass in the path of the onrushing Sullilvan. The freshman uncorked a blast, but the shot was high.

BG had several chances over the next two minutes, as the Raiders had difficulty breaking up the Falcons' many lengthy possesions. But, senior Rodcliff Hall's cross rolled through the box without anyone able to get on the other end of it, and a Baraldi shot went over the bar a few moments later.

Six minutes remained when senior Ryan Snashall stole the ball at midfield. Snashall's pass found Baraldi, who hit a well-struck ball toward goal. But, Blackmer was there to stop the line drive.

With just over a minute to go, junior Jon Kumher put a ball into the box, and Grant fired a shot just wide from a sharp angle.

One of the Raiders' best chances of the night came in the final minute of regulation. The home team's leading scorer, Brett Elder, hit a shot from the left side that forced Wiest into a leaping save. The ball stayed in play, and WSU tracked it down, but the sequence ended with Elder shooting over the crossbar, and the teams went to overtime.

In the first extra session, the Falcons had three shots, but Lekarev put a shot wide midway through the period; a James effort was just off line, hitting the outside of the net on the right side; and Grant fired wide in the final seconds of the period as he raced toward the box.

WSU's lone shot of the first OT period came against the run of play, as Lynch shot high on a counterattack with two minutes on the clock.

While the winning goal was an own goal, the Falcons applied pressure in the second overtime stanza, with shots by Baraldi and Auden before the ball crossed the goal line with 3:18 gone in the period.

BGSU has now played seven matches that have gone to overtime this season, the program's highest total in a decade. The 2003 Falcons saw a school record-tying eight games go to OT. The 1984 team also played eight overtime contests.

The 2013 Falcons now return home to prepare for a key Mid-American Conference matchup this weekend. BGSU will host Hartwick College on Saturday night (Oct. 26), with kickoff at 7:00 p.m. The match is Senior Night for the Falcons, as the 10 seniors in the program will be recognized in ceremonies prior to the match.

"I'm proud that we were able to come down here and win the cup on away soil," said Nichols. "We are excited to come back to Cochrane Field, and we are looking forward to Saturday's match."