Falcons Fall Just Short in Season-Opening 2-1 Setback at CSU

Sunday, August 25

Cleveland, OH

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

0-1

Cleveland State

2-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Bowling Green	1	0	1
Cleveland State	1	1	2

Michael Nemeth, BGSU Mkt & Comm - Aug 8 2013

Freshman Haley Malaczewski scored a goal in her collegiate debut

August 25, 2013 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Malaczewski scores first collegiate goal in first collegiate match

By: CLEVELAND, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Freshman Haley Malaczewski scored a goal in her collegiate debut, but the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team fell just short against Cleveland State University Sunday afternoon (Aug. 25). The host Vikings picked up a 2-1 win at Krenzler Field.

FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF

With the win, CSU improves to 2-0 on the young season. Sunday's match was the regular-season opener for the Falcons.

"We have nothing to be ashamed of in today's performance," said Falcon head coach Lindsay Basalyga. "This was the best soccer we've played to date, and we did a great job transitioning into the attack, creating quite a few dangerous chances on goal in both halves.

"We still aren't 90-minutes fit, which caused some tactical breakdowns late in the second half, but I think both teams definitely battled for the result today."

After falling behind in the seventh minute, Malaczewski and the Falcons struck back just before halftime. The freshman from Toledo (Central Catholic H.S.) ran on to a nifty through ball from senior Alyssa Carmack, and had only CSU goalkeeper Sarah Wood to beat. As Wood came off of her line to attempt to cut down the angle, Malaczewski coolly slotted the ball past the 'keeper and into the lower-left corner of the net. That goal tied the match with 3:43 remaining in the period.

The Vikings' initial goal had come when Frederike Dubeau scored off of a corner kick by Amanda Sivic. That goal had come after a giveaway by a BG defender resulted in a shot that forced BGSU redshirt freshman goalkeeper Lauren Cadel to make a diving save. Cadel deflected the ball wide of the goal and over the end line, resulting in the corner kick.

In the second half, the home team broke the tie with just over an hour gone. Shea Levi's short right-side cross found Brittney Koester on the doorstep, and Koester's one-timer gave the Vikings what proved to be the winning goal.

CSU held an 18-10 advantage in total shot attempts, but every one of BGSU's shots was on target. The Falcons had a 10-8 margin in shots on goal. Malaczewski led the way with four shots off the bench, while senior Madeline Wideman and freshman Courtney Hendrix had two apiece.

"We did a pretty good job by putting all of our shots on frame," said Basalyga. "Now, we just need to do a better job of finishing our opportunities."

Trailing by a goal in the late going, the Falcons applied some pressure. With roughly three minutes on the clock, a long, curving shot by Hendrix forced Wood to deflect it wide of the goal with a headlong dive. After the ensuing corner kick, a right-side serve barely missed making connections with several Falcons in the box, and went out of bounds just beyond the left post.

Sunday's match marked the collegiate debut for six Falcons -- redshirt freshmen Cadel and Hendrix and true frosh Malaczewski, Paige Amodio, Sabrina Cisneros and Jessica Creech. Five of those players made their first collegiate start, with Cadel, Amodio and Creech playing all 90 minutes, Hendrix 70 and Cisneros 66. Malaczewski played 50 minutes off the bench.

In addition to the three aforementioned freshmen, Carmack played all 90 minutes in Sunday's match. Her assist on Malaczewski's goal was the second of her career.

Cadel made six saves on the afternoon. At the other end of the pitch, Wood had nine saves in her complete-match effort for the Vikings.

The Falcons return to Northwest Ohio to prepare for the regular-season home opener. BGSU will face Butler University on Saturday (Aug. 31) in a 4:00 p.m. start at Cochrane Field, and admission is free.