Free Kick Lifts WMU Past Falcons, 1-0

Saturday, November 2

Kalamazoo, MI

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Western Michigan

November 02, 2013 | Men's Soccer

BGSU tied for fourth in the MAC entering final weekend of regular season

By: KALAMAZOO, Mich. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Oliver Mayer scored on a free kick late in the first half, and host Western Michigan University hung on for a 1-0 win over the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team Saturday afternoon (Nov. 2). The Mid-American Conference match was held at the WMU Soccer Complex.

FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
Scroll to the bottom of the page for updated MAC standings

With the win, the Broncos improve to 7-7-1 overall, and WMU remains the MAC's lone unbeaten, with a 3-0-1 mark in conference play. The Falcons dropo to 5-7-5 and 2-2-1, respectively.

The result sets up a must-win match for the Falcons next weekend. BGSU has one MAC match remaining, at West Virginia University on Friday evening, and the Falcons and Mountaineers will enter that match with identical league records. The teams are tied for fourth place in the conference standings, and only the top-four regular-season finishers advance to the MAC Tournament.

The Broncos' goal came after Marco Lobo was fouled outside the box. Mayer curled his free kick up and around the BGSU defensive wall and into the right side of the net with just 2:10 remaining in the half.

The Falcons had a 13-11 advantage in total shot attempts, while the Broncos had a 5-3 margin in shots on goal. Chase Rau made three saves to record his fourth shutout in as many MAC matches this season. BGSU senior Michael Wiest made four saves on the day.

For the Falcons, Saturday's match snapped a streak of four consecutive shutouts in road matches. Wiest and the BGSU defense had not allowed a goal away from home in over a month, since the Sept. 27 match at Marshall. Mayer's goal ended BG's road shutout streak at 458:08.

Fourteen of BGSU's matches this season, including 12 of the last 13 games, have been decided by one goal or fewer. The Falcons have five ties, and BG is now 3-5 in one-goal games this fall to date.

BGSU returns home for one last non-conference match, as the Falcons face IPFW on Tuesday night (Nov. 5) in a 7:00 p.m. start. BG's Friday match at WVU also begins at 7:00 p.m.

As mentioned, the Falcons are tied with WVU for fourth place entering the final week of the regular season. The BGSU-WVU winner would earn a berth in the MAC Tournament, while the loser of that game would be eliminated. In the event Friday's match in Morgantown finishes in a draw, the Falcons and Mountaineers would remain tied in the standings. The MAC's first tiebreaker is head-to-head competition. The second tiebreaker is point accumulation vs. ranked conference teams.

Currently, Akron, Western Michigan and Hartwick are the top three teams in the standings. Both BGSU and WVU lost to Akron. BGSU lost to WMU, while WVU tied the Broncos. Conversely, WMU lost to Hartwick, while BG tied the Hawks.

The MAC Tournament semifinals will be played on Friday, Nov. 15, at the site of the regular-season champion. The league tourney championship match will be played Sunday, Nov. 17, at the semifinal site.