Chippewas Stop Falcons, 2-0, as Season Comes to a Close

Thursday, October 31

Mount Pleasant, MI

3:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

0-15-2, 0-9-2MAC

Central Michigan

8-10-1, 8-3-0MAC

Team	1	2	Final F
Bowling Green	0	0	0
Central Michigan	1	1	2

October 31, 2013 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Madeline Wideman v Miami - Bianca Garza photo

Nicole Samuel's goal gave host Central Michigan University an early lead, and the Chippewas posted a 2-0 victory over the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team Thursday afternoon (Oct. 31). The Mid-American Conference match was held at the CMU Soccer Complex.

Emily Cooksey added a second-half goal for the Chippewas (8-10-1, 8-3-0 MAC), while Grace Labrecque made eight saves in net. Freshman Jenna DiTusa had six stops for the Falcons (0-15-2, 0-9-2).

FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF

"I'm really proud of the team's fight and competitiveness throughout the entire game," said BGSU head coach Lindsay Basalyga. "We knocked the ball around really well and had some dangerous chances on goal.

"We started out flat in the first few minutes of the game, and a very good Central Michigan team was able to capitalize early."

The Falcons and Chippewas were dead even in both shot attempts and shots on goal on Thursday. Both teams fired a total of 18 shots, putting eight on target. For BGSU, the 18 shots tied a season high.

BGSU senior Madeline Wideman led all players with a career-high eight shot attempts vs. the Chippewas. Classmate Kaitlyn Tobin had five shots, tying her career high, on Thursday.

CMU got on the board with just under three minutes gone, as Samuel headed home a right-side cross from teammate Eli Van De Kerkhove. Samuel nodded the ball into the left corner of the goal.

The Chippewas took that 1-0 lead into the halftime break. DiTusa had all six of her saves on the day in that opening half.

In the second half, the Falcons were called for a foul with just under 10 minutes gone, and a penalty kick was awarded. Cooksey converted the PK to give the home team a two-goal advantage.

The Falcons had a 4-2 advantage in corner kicks in the match. Thursday was just the fifth time all year that BG had more corners than the opponent, but it marked the third time in the last four matches. After surrendering 78 corner kicks in the first 13 games, BGSU allowed the opponents a total of just 10 corners over the final four matches.

Wideman's total of eight shot attempts was a season high for the Falcons. The Troy, Mich., native had taken six shots in the Ball State match last weekend (Oct. 25), and that six-shot total was her previous career high as well as BG's previous season high for an individual. The last Falcon to take as many as eight shots in a match was Alyssa Zuccaro over two years ago (Oct. 7, 2011).

Tobin's total of four shots on goal tied a season high. Freshman Haley Malaczewski also had four shots on goal in the season opener, at Cleveland State on Aug. 25.

"This season has been much more than results," said Basalyga. "We had to change training habits, learn how to compete consistently, build team chemistry, and we also changed our overall style of play. That's a huge undertaking, but the players bought in, and it's largely due to our senior class. They set the bar high individually, and they led -- not only on the field but off -- and held their teammates accountable along the way.

"Our goal was to 'Break the Cycle - Change the Culture,' and unfortunately, it can't be measured in results. But, the players feel the change and see the change. It will now be up to the rest of the team to uphold our new standards throughout the spring and into next fall."

Thursday's game, the Falcons' final 2013 contest, was the last game for seven seniors in the BGSU program. Six of those seniors -- Alyssa Carmack, Ivi Casagrande, Jenny Fowler, Kailey Paszko, Tobin and Wideman -- all played in the match. The seventh, Amanda Nelson, was medically disqualified prior to the season, but served as a student assistant coach in '13.

"Our senior class is a special group," said Basalyga, "and they can walk away from the game knowing they left everything on the field and laid the groundwork for the future of Bowling Green Women's Soccer."