Falcons' Homestand Continues This Weekend as NIU, Toledo Come to Town

The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team concludes a season-long, four-match homestand with a pair of Mid-American Conference games this weekend. The Falcons of first-year head coach Lindsay Basalyga host Northern Illinois University on Friday night (Oct. 11), with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane Field.

BGSU NOTES & STATISTICS - PDF

Then, on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 13), the Brown and Orange will conclude the homestand with a match vs. the University of Toledo. Kickoff for that contest will be 1:00 p.m. at Cochrane.

FREE ADMISSION TO HOME FALCON FUTBOL
Admission for all Falcon men's and women's soccer home matches again this season is free. For those who can't make it to Cochrane Field, live stats are scheduled to be available for each home game via BGSUFalcons.com.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons are 0-10-0 on the season, having dropped five of those 10 matches by one goal apiece, and BGSU is 0-4-0 in Mid-American Conference play. Head coach Lindsay Basalyga and her staff returned 11 letterwinners, including eight starters, from a year ago. The 2012 club finished with an overall record of 1-17-1 and a MAC mark of 0-10-1. Ten of the Falcons' losses last fall, including six in conference play, came by a single goal.

Six of BGSU's first eight matches this year came on the road, including non-league games at Cleveland State (Aug. 25), IUPUI (Sept. 8), Michigan State (Sept. 13) and Detroit (Sept. 17). BG's first three home matches all were 2-1 setbacks, including overtime vs. Butler (Aug. 31) and Evansville (Sept. 22).

Last weekend, the Brown and Orange dropped a 2-1 verdict to Eastern Michigan on Friday night (Oct. 4), then fell by a 5-0 count vs. Western Michigan Sunday afternoon (Oct. 6).

Senior Madeline Wideman leads the Falcons in scoring, with seven points on the season. Wideman and fellow senior Kaitlyn Tobin each have two goals apiece this fall. Tobin scored in the MAC opener at Ohio (Sept. 27), while Wideman had a goal at Kent State two days later. Tobin is second on the team with four points this year.

Junior Ashley Garr and freshmen Taylor Bucaro and Haley Malaczewski each have one goal on the season. Malaczewski came off the bench to score her first collegiate goal in her first collegiate match, at CSU. Garr scored the first goal of her BGSU career vs. Butler, and Bucaro scored on a blast from distance vs. Eastern Michigan last Friday evening.

Wideman leads the Falcons with three assists on the year, while classmate Alyssa Carmack and junior Sidney Huth each have one assist apiece this fall to date.

In goal, redshirt freshman Lauren Cadel has started all 10 matches this season. She has a total of 76 saves, a saves percentage of .768 and a goals-against average of 2.60. True freshman Michelle Denley has seen action in a pair of games in relief, both in MAC play, and has played just under 113 minutes this fall.

BGSU's list of returning starters includes the team's two 2013 co-captains, Carmack and Jenny Fowler. Carmack was one of just two players to start all 19 matches last fall, playing at a center-back position. Fowler, a fifth-year Falcon, made 17 starts in 2012.

Other returning letterwinners include seniors Tobin, Wideman and Ivi Casagrande, redshirt junior Kylie Briem, true juniors Garr, Huth and Kaylee Draper and sophomores Emma Norris and Haley Parkinson. Huth led the Brown and Orange in scoring with three goals and seven points a year ago, while Wideman had a pair of goals and five total points in '12.

Cadel, the lone returnee among the goalkeepers, is in her first playing season with the Falcons, having sat out the 2012 season as a redshirt. The goalkeeping corps also includes true freshmen Denley and Jenna DiTusa.

Cadel is one of three Falcons on the current roster who did not see action last fall. Fourth-year Falcon Kailey Paszko and redshirt freshman Lexie Schmidt both missed the 2012 campaign due to injury.

Denley and DiTusa are two of the nine true freshmen on the roster this season. That list also includes Bucaro, Malaczewski, Paige Amodio, Sabrina Cisneros, Jessica Creech, Taylor Dackin and Melissa Needham.

Carmack has played all 909-plus minutes for the Falcons this season. Amodio has been on the field for 803 minutes, while Cadel (796), Wideman (779) and Garr (746) each have played more than 700 minutes this fall to date.

CADEL, FALCONS AMONG THE NCAA LEADERS
Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Lauren Cadel leads the MAC, and ranks among the top 10 in the nation, in saves per game. Cadel has 76 saves in 10 contests, an average of 7.60 per game. She ranks 10th in NCAA Division I in that category. Cadel also leads the MAC, and ranks 14th nationally, in total saves.

As a team, BGSU is eighth in the country in saves per game.

FAST FALCON FACTS
• Redshirt freshman Lauren Cadel made 12 saves vs. Eastern Michigan on Friday night, tying her career best. Cadel also had 12 stops in the Falcons' match vs. Butler on Aug. 31. She has made 76 saves this season to date.

• Cadel's total of 76 saves in her first playing season with the Falcons ties her for fifth on the BGSU career list. Becca Ison, a senior on last year's team, is fourth on that list after ending her BG tenure with 143 saves. Each of the top-three players on the list – Erika Flanders, Alexa Arsenault and Ali Shingler – made over 330 saves in their respective careers.

• The Falcons have scored seven goals this season. Last year, BGSU had a total of just nine goals in 19 matches.

• BGSU has scored three goals in four MAC matches this season to date. The 2012 Falcons scored a total of four goals in 11 MAC games.

• Falcon goalkeepers have combined to post double-digit save totals in eight of the last 13 matches, dating to last season. BGSU had 10 or more saves in each of the last three 2012 games, and Cadel has had totals of 12 stops vs. both Butler and Eastern Michigan, along with 10 saves against both IUPUI and Evansville this fall. The Falcons had 11 total saves on Sunday vs. Western Michigan, with Cadel making four saves and freshman Michelle Denley six (BG was credited with a 'team save' in that game).

• Senior Madeline Wideman's goal at Kent State (Sept. 29) was the seventh of her BGSU career. She leads all active Falcons in that category, and also paces all members of the 2013 team in career assists and points, with 12 helpers and 26 total points as a Falcon. With seven points this season, Wideman already has topped her total (five) for all of last year.

• Wideman leads the Falcons with seven points this season. No BGSU player scored more than seven points during all of last year.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Northern Illinois has an overall record of 4-7-1, and the Huskies are 2-2-0 in MAC action heading into Friday's match at Cochrane Field. Northern snapped a seven-match winless streak with a pair of home wins last weekend, downing Akron, 2-0, and Buffalo, 2-1 in overtime. The Huskies are 4-0-1 at home, 0-6-0 on the road and 0-1-0 in neutral-site matches. NIU was picked to finish sixth in the West Division in the MAC's preseason coaches poll. Individually, Nicole Gobbo leads the team in scoring, with 12 points on the year. She has six of the Huskies' 16 goals this fall. Cori Frankenberg has six points, including a pair of goals and two assists. In goal, Amy Carr has played every second of every match, and has 49 saves, two shutouts and a goals-against average of 1.75. Head coach John Ross welcomed back a total of 23 letterwinners, including nine starters, from a year ago. The 2012 edition of the Huskies went 8-9-2 overall and 4-5-2 in MAC play.

A LOOK AT THE ROCKETS
Toledo has an overall mark of 4-8-0, and the Rockets are 1-3-0 in the MAC to date. UT plays a Friday (Oct. 11) match at Central Michigan before venturing to Cochrane Field on Sunday afternoon. Last weekend, the Rockets split a pair of home matches, losing a 3-1 decision to Buffalo before downing Akron, 1-0. Toledo is 3-4 at home, 1-3 on the road and 0-1 in neutral-site contests in 2013. The Rockets were picked to finish first in the West Division in the MAC's preseason coaches poll. Individually, Rachel MacLeod has a team-leading 20 points, and has scored nine of the Rockets' 19 goals. Three of her teammates have two goals apiece. Sam Tiongson has seen action in 10 of Toledo's 12 matches in net, and has 42 saves, a pair of shutouts and a 2.07 GAA. Brad Evanss returned 16 letterwinners, including six starters, from a 2012 team that finished 7-12-2 overall and 5-5-1 in the MAC.

COACHING TIES
Sunday's match will see BGSU head coach Lindsay Basalyga matched up against a former employer. Basalyga spent three-plus years with the Toledo program from 2001-04, working under Rocket head coach Brad Evans. Basalyga joined the UT staff in 2001 as a graduate assistant and, two years later, was promoted to an assistant-coaching position. She left Toledo in October of 2004 to start the program at Eastern Kentucky, where she remained until taking the BGSU job this past winter.

THE SERIES
The Falcons trail Northern Illinois, 9-7-1, in the all-time series between the teams, and the Huskies captured a narrow 2-1 decision in last year's meeting in DeKalb, Ill., (Oct. 5, 2012). In that match, the home side scored with just 1:28 remaining in the second half. In the last meeting at Cochrane Field, the Falcons posted a 2-0 win two years ago (Oct. 23, 2011). Sidney Huth scored for the Brown and Orange, while Madeline Wideman assisted on both BG goals that day. The win snapped a four-match unbeaten streak for the Huskies in the series, after the Falcons had gone 4-0 in the prior four matchups. BGSU is 3-5-0 at home, 4-3-1 on the road and 0-1-0 in neutral-site matches vs. the Huskies over the years. The home team has only won five times in the 17 series meetings.

BGSU trails Toledo, 9-7-4, in that series, and the Rockets have won five consecutive meetings, including a 3-0 decision in last year's game (Oct. 7, 2012) at Scott Park. Prior to that match, UT had won four-straight games vs. the Falcons by identical 1-0 scores, including the last meeting at Cochrane (Sept. 30, 2011). BGSU is 1-4-3 at home, 6-5-0 on the road and 0-0-1 in neutral-site matchups vs. the Rockets. The home side has won just six times in 20 BG-UT games through the years.

Series information and match-by-match results for all of BGSU's opponents can be found on pages 40-42 of the BGSU Women's Soccer Media Guide, which is available here at BGSUFalcons.com.

THE 2013 CAPTAINS
Seniors Alyssa Carmack and Jenny Fowler are the co-captains of the 2013 Falcons. Fowler, a fifth-year Falcon, is a team captain for the second-straight year.

UP NEXT FOR THE FALCONS
Following Sunday's Toledo match, the Falcons take to the road to face a pair of MAC East Division foes the following weekend. BGSU will travel to Buffalo on Friday, Oct. 18, before meeting Akron two days later. Then, BG closes the home schedule by facing Ball State (Oct. 25) and Miami (Oct. 27), and the final regular-season match will be at Central Michigan on Thursday, Oct. 31.

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