Falcons Tie with WVU, But Fall Just Short of MAC Tournament

Friday, November 8

Morgantown, WV

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

West Virginia

November 08, 2013 | Men's Soccer

Senior Ryan Comiskey scores twice & classmate Ryan Snashall gets the late equalizer, but Mountaineers earn fourth & final league tourney spot

By: MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Ryan Snashall v Hartwick - Bianca Garza photo

Seniors combined for all of the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team's points, but the Falcons fell just shy of earning a Mid-American Conference Tournament bid Friday night (Nov. 8). Needing a win to earn the final league tourney berth, the Brown and Orange instead played host West Virginia to a 3-3, double-overtime tie at Disk Dlesk Soccer Stadium.

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The Falcons see the season come to an end with an overall record of 6-7-6. The Mountaineers are now 7-6-5 on the year.

"Obviously, we are hugely disappointed that our season is over," said BGSU head coach Eric Nichols. "We put ourselves in a tough spot, having to come to West Virginia and get a win.

"We came up short in a couple of earlier games when we needed to take care of business. So, if was a tall order coming here, but we were playing to win tonight, and I couldn't be more proud of the effort. We scored three goals, and we had a couple letdowns defensively, but I couldn't be more proud of the way we approached this game and the way we went about our business."

Both teams finished MAC play with 2-2-2 records, tying for fourth place in the final regular-season standings. The Mountaineers, however, earn the final league tournament berth by virtue of the second tiebreaker. The first MAC tiebreaker is head-to-head results.

The second tiebreaker is results against the rest of the league schools, starting at the top of the standings. Akron and Western Michigan will finish as the league's top-two teams (the Zips and Broncos play on Saturday, with the winner earning the regular-season championship). Both BGSU and WVU lost to Akron. WVU, however, played to a draw with WMU, while the Falcons fell to the Broncos, thus giving the Mountaineers the tiebreaker.

On Friday night in Morgantown, senior Ryan Comiskey had the second two-goal game of his career, and his second in as many games. He gave the Brown and Orange the lead with under three minutes gone, then put BG up by a 2-1 score midway through the opening half.

After the home team rallied for two second-half goals to take a 3-2 lead, senior Ryan Snashall tied the contest with a header with just 5:01 left in regulation. That, however, would prove to be the final goal of the night.

Seniors Rodcliff Hall and Brandon Silva each picked up an assist in the final game of their BGSU careers. Another senior, Michael Wiest, made six saves in net.

Each team scored on its first shot attempt of the game. With less than three minutes gone, Hall put Comiskey through, and the Grantville, Pa., native slotted his shot past WVU goalkeeper Lee Johnson and into the lower left corner of the goal.

But, the hosts equalized at the 4:49 mark. A corner kick by the Mountaineers was deflected out to Christian Diaz, and he scored from roughly 25 yards out.

The home team threatened in the next few minutes, as Wiest leaped to save a blooper of a header from Jack Elliott, and Jamie Merriam put a shot into the outside netting.

In the 18th minute of the match, a crossing ball found its way to sophomore Ryan James near the right goalpost. James headed the ball back the other way, and Hall got a shot off from near that right post. The senior was unable to get a great deal of force behind the ball, though, and Johnson grabbed it.

Midway through the period, however, Comiskey put yet another shot just inside the left post. The senior battled a West Virginia defender for the ball after the initial forward pass from a BG teammate. Comiskey eventually won possession, and he took several touches, moving to his left. Comiskey hit a low shot that again beat Johnston and found the left corner of the goal. With 22:45 gone, the Falcons had a 2-1 lead.

It marked the second two-goal game of Comiskey's career, and his second in as many games. Comiskey also scored twice in the Falcons' 8-0 win over IPFW at Cochrane Field on Tuesday night (Nov. 5).

With 27 minutes gone, Wiest made a point-blank save on a shot by Haydon Bennett.

At the other end, Silva stole the ball and played a long diagonal pass from right to left, but the ball was just barely out of the reach of the lunging effort of James at the left post.

With six minutes left before halftime, Comiskey hit a shot that was deflected by a WVU defender just after it left his boot. The ball went over the crossbar for a corner kick. Off of that corner, a ball by Hall found sophomore Jake Genrich, but his header went over the bar.

In the final minute of the half, the home team drew even on a goal by WVU's leading scorer, Andy Bevin. A crossing ball was deflected, and found its way to a wide-open Bevin near the left goalpost. He drilled a shot toward net, and Wiest was able to get a piece of the ball, but could not keep it from squirting between him and the near post. The teams went to the half locked in that 2-all draw.

BGSU and the opponent had not combined for four goals in a half over the first 17-and-a-half games of the season. Then, it happened in back-to-back halves, the second period of Tuesday's win over IPFW and the first half in Morgantown.

The home team looked to be the aggressors early in the second period. Craig Stephens hit a shot over the bar, and Elliott redirected a ball just wide. An errant BG clearance attempt went to Ryan Cain, but his blast was stopped by Wiest. All three of those shots came within the first 10 minutes of the period.

In the 59th minute, however, Cain and the Mountaineers took the lead for the first time. A cross toward the top of the box was deflected by a player in traffic, and it went directly to Cain. He made no mistake with his shot, scoring from about 15 yards out to give the home side a 3-2 advantage.

And, for a while, it looked as if that might be the winning goal. WVU continued to pressure the Falcons, and Wiest was forced to make a nice diving save on Majed Osman to keep it a one-goal game.

With 15 minutes remaining, senior Anthony Grant played a ball forward to Hall. Hall ripped a hard shot, but the ball caromed off the back of a WVU player and caromed high into the air. That deflection turned a potential scoring chance into a relatively easy stop for Johnston.

With the Mountaineers on an odd-man rush a minute or two later, the ball was laid into the path of WVU's Zak Leedom. Leedom and Wiest collided in the box as Wiest broke up the play. The senior goalkeeper, who played every minute of every match over the last two years, was momentarily shaken up, but remained in the match.

With just over five minutes left, the Falcons won a corner kick. Silva took that kick from the right side of the field, and Snashall met the ball in the air on the right side of the goal. The senior's header sailed over Johnston and nestled in the upper-left-hand corner of the goal, tying the match with 5:01 remaining.

Neither team was credited with another shot attempt over the remainder of the half, and the teams went to overtime.

The only shot attempt in the first overtime period came after senior Zach Schewee was fouled several yards outside the penalty area. But, Silva's free kick sailed high.

The second OT saw the Falcons take four total shots to WVU's one. Early in the period, Grant put a ball into the box, but a shaky first touch by a teammate allowed the Mountaineers to clear the ball away. Soon after, another ball into the box was blocked by a WVU defender. The ball went to freshman Joe Sullivan, who hit a volley that went wide of the target.

During the overtime periods, the Mountaineers seemed content to sit back, pack it in on defense and look for the occasional counterattack. One such counter came with four minutes gone in the final period, and very nearly ended the game. Cain led the break, and put a shot inches wide of the left post.

BG had several more shots, but Schewee's rocket sailed high, and Hall's flick-on of a diagonal ball was saved by Johnston. The 'keeper slipped as he headed toward the ball, but was able to make the stop with just 1:15 to go.

The Falcons put numbers forward in a frantic bid to get the winning goal, but BG could not get another shot off in the remaining 75 seconds, and the match ended in a draw.

WVU had a 22-15 advantage in shot attempts, and the Mountaineers were credited with nine shots on goal to the Falcons' four. Wiest made six stops in net, while Johnston had just one save on the night.

Nichols and the Falcons bid farewell to a 10-member senior class. That group includes Comiskey, Grant, Hall, Schewee, Silva, Snashall, Wiest, Joey D'Agostino, Matt Griesinger and Sean Sikich.

"I am extremely sad for our seniors," said Nichols. "They have left an indelible mark on this program, and they set high standards that we will all strive to live up to as we move forward. But, no question, this group will be missed."