BG Battles Buffalo as MAC Play Continues

Saturday, October 18

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Buffalo (Hispanic Heritage Night)

Jon Kumher v Akron - Ruben Kappler photo - Oct 11 2014

Senior tri-captain Jon Kumher & the Falcons host UB Saturday night

Photo by: Ruben Kappler, BGSU Marketing & Communications

October 16, 2014 | Men's Soccer

Falcons look to extend best start to a season in nearly two decades

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team concludes a two-game homestand this weekend, playing a second-straight Saturday night Mid-American Conference match. This Saturday (Oct. 18), the Falcons of head coach Eric Nichols face the University at Buffalo, with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane Field. Admission to all BGSU home soccer matches is free.

LINKS
BGSU Notes & Stats - PDF | BGSU Men's Soccer Story Archives
BGSU Statistics | 2014 Media Guide | Career Stats of Current Falcons
Buffalo Men's Soccer

UP NEXT IN FALCON SOCCER
BGSU vs. Buffalo	Sat., Oct. 18 7:00 p.m.	Live Stats \| Twitter
BGSU at Ohio State	Wed., Oct. 22 7:00 p.m.	Live Stats \| Twitter

ROTH EARNS CSM WEEKLY HONORS
Sophomore Jacob Roth was the College Sports Madness web site's choice for MAC Player of the Week, it was announced Tuesday (Oct. 14). Roth earned the honor after scoring his first collegiate goal in overtime in his hometown as the Falcons downed Cleveland State seven days prior. He also is part of a BG back line that has surrendered just one goal over the last four matches.

LAST WEEK
Sophomore Jacob Roth scored on a free kick in overtime, giving the Falcons a 1-0 win over Cleveland State last Tuesday night (Oct. 7). The goal was the first of Roth's BGSU career, and came in his hometown. It also marked BG's first 'Golden Goal' of the season. Redshirt sophomore Ryan Heuton kept a clean sheet as the Falcon defense held the Vikings to just four total shot attempts, and no shots on goal.

On Saturday (Oct. 11), Adam Najem's penalty-kick goal in the 16th minute held up as the winner, as Akron escaped Cochrane Field with a 1-0 win in the MAC opener for both teams. Heuton made six saves on the night, and the Falcons nearly converted on several second-half chances, but UA 'keeper Jake Fenlasen also made six stops in the Zips' victory.

GOOD START
Despite the loss to Akron, BGSU is still off to the program's best start to a season in nearly two decades. The Falcons' 9-3-0 record is the best since the 1995 team went 9-2-1 through the first 12 matches. That '95 club went on to a 16-3-2 record, a MAC Tournament title and the first of three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
The Falcons have scored eight goals in the 76th minute or later this season. Five of those eight goals have come with the score tied and have given BGSU the lead for good. The most recent of those 11th-hour goals, Jacob Roth's OT marker at Cleveland State, ended the match.

SURPASSING LAST YEAR'S WIN TOTAL
The Falcons' total of nine wins is the program's highest in 14 years, since the 2000 team finished with a 9-8-1 overall record. BGSU has not posted a double-digit win total since the 1998 club went 10-8-2.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons' overall record of 9-3-0 includes marks of 4-2 at home, 4-1 on the road and 1-0 in neutral-site matches to date. BGSU has outscored opponents by a 25-7 margin over the first 12 games. All three of the team's losses have come by one goal, including a pair to teams (Michigan State and Akron) either ranked or receiving votes in national polls.

Sophomore Pat Flynn leads the Falcons with 12 goals and 27 points. He leads the entire nation in goals per game and points per game. Flynn also has three assists, and five of his goals have been game winners. He is tied for second in the country in the latter category.

Sophomore Joe Sullivan has 13 points on the year, with four goals and five assists. Sullivan has a pair of game-winning goals this fall. Senior Danny Baraldi has 10 points on the season. He is tied with Sullivan for second on the Falcons in goals, with four.

Sophomore Jacob Roth and redshirt soph Max Auden have eight and seven points, respectively. Roth leads the Brown and Orange with six assists, while Sullivan has five and junior Ryan James four. Auden has a pair of goals and three assists this fall to date. Freshman Brad Macomber has six points in his initial season, while James has four.

In goal, redshirt sophomore Nick Landsberger has started eight games, and has three complete-match shutouts, 26 saves and a goals-against average of 0.78. Redshirt soph Ryan Heuton has played in five matches, starting the last four. Like Landsberger, Heuton has three complete-match shutouts. He has 16 saves, a saves percentage of .941 and a stellar 0.22 GAA. The only goal Heuton has allowed in over 414 minutes of work came on a penalty kick.

Head coach Eric Nichols and his staff lost 10 seniors off of last year's team, which went 6-7-6 overall and 2-2-2 in MAC play and tied for fourth in the conference.

Nichols and his staff – Eric Reed, Zach Lemke and Brandon Silva – have utilized the same starting lineup for all but four matches this season to date. Auden, Baraldi, Flynn, James, Roth, Sullivan, seniors Jon Kumher and Vlad Lekarev and junior Jake Genrich have started all 12 games, while junior Jake Martin has made nine starts and Landsberger eight.

BUILD FROM THE BACK
If you don't let the other team score, you will never lose. (If you're in the postseason, you might go to PKs and the other team might advance to the next round, but that's an issue to worry about in mid-November, not mid-October.) Anyway...

Slowly but surely, the Falcons have improved defensively during the Eric Nichols Era. BGSU's totals/averages in a multitude of categories have gotten better in nearly every season since Nichols took over in 2009. Last year, the Falcon defense ranked 26th in the nation in saves pct., 33rd in the country in goals-against average and 36th in NCAA Division I in shutout pct. This season to date, the Falcons are in the top-15 in the nation in each of those categories. And, the 2014 team ranks 14th in the country on another rather important list: winning percentage. To view a few more statistics that illustrate BG's defensive improvement over the last few seasons, click on the PDF link near the top of this page.

CHART-TOPPERS
The Falcons are very well represented in the latest NCAA Division I statistical rankings, released Wednesday (Oct. 15). BGSU is ranked among the top 15 teams in the nation in 10 of the 11 categories kept by the NCAA, while sophomore Pat Flynn leads the country in two individual stats and ranks second on three other lists. Several of Flynn's teammates are listed among the nation's leaders in various categories as well. For a more detailed list of BGSU's rankings, consult the handy PDF version of these notes, just a click away at (near) the top of this page.

FASCINATING FALCON FACTS
• BGSU has topped last year's totals in home wins, road wins and neutral-site wins. This year's team is 4-2-0 at home, 4-1-0 on the road and 1-0-0 at neutral sites. Last year, BG went 3-2-3 at Cochrane Field, 3-4-3 at hostile venues and 0-1-0 in neutral-site meetings.

• The Falcons have allowed just one goal over the last four matches, and that goal came on a penalty kick. That PK, in the Akron game, ended a BGSU shutout streak of 305:31.

• The BGSU defense has not allowed a goal from the run of play in 379:37, since late in the Michigan State match on Sept. 24.

• One of the Falcons' defenders, sophomore Jacob Roth, has been involved in the scoring of seven goals this season, with a goal and a team-high six assists. At the other end of the pitch, Roth and his teammates have surrendered a total of just seven goals all year.

• On Monday (Oct. 13), for the fourth week in a row, the Falcons received votes in the College Soccer News poll.

• BGSU has scored 25 goals this season, matching the total for all of last year.

• Sophomore Pat Flynn has 12 of those goals, and has 27 points this season. No BG player scored more than six goals or 13 points during all of last year.

• No BGSU player had scored as many as 12 goals since Steve Klein had 18 in the 1996 season, and no Falcon had reached 27 points since Klein exploded for 50 points in that '96 campaign.

• Senior Danny Baraldi has 10 points this year to date. He has posted double-digit point totals in each of his four years at BGSU, the first Falcon to do so since Chris Dore (1996-99).

• Sophomore Joe Sullivan has scored six goals in his BGSU career. Four of those six goals have been game-winners. He had a pair of winners last season, and scored the GWG in Falcon victories over Niagara and St. Bonaventure this fall.

• Three of Sullivan's game-winning goals have come against teams from the state of New York. Sullivan scored the winner in last year's Buffalo match, and both of his GWG this fall have come against Western New York Big 4 members.

• Sullivan ranks second on the Falcons with 13 points. He has doubled his goal total – and more than doubled his assist and point totals – from a year ago. The Naperville, Ill., native had two goals and two assists for six points as a freshman in 2013, and has four goals and five assists this fall to date.

• BG has won four consecutive road games, all by 1-0 scores. The Falcons have downed Michigan, SBU, IPFW and Cleveland State during that stretch.

• BGSU is 4-1-0 in road games and 5-1-0 in all matches away from home in 2014. Last year, BG was 3-5-3 in games played away from Cochrane Field.

• Redshirt sophomore Ryan Heuton has started each of the last four matches, and has a GAA of just 0.22 this year to date. The only goal he has allowed in over 414 minutes of work came on a penalty kick.

• The Falcons have seven shutouts in 12 matches this season. Both Heuton and fellow redshirt sophomore Nick Landsberger have three complete-match shutouts this year, and the duo combined for a shutout in the Findlay game.

• The Cleveland State match marked just the second time the Falcons have gone to overtime this season. BGSU played a school-record nine OT contests last year.

SCOUTING THE BULLS
Buffalo enters Saturday's match with a 3-8-1 overall record, and the Bulls are 0-0-1 in MAC play after a 2-2 tie with Western Michigan last Friday (Oct. 10). UB dropped a 1-0 contest at Lafayette on Tuesday night (Oct. 14). The Bulls are 2-1-1 in home games and 1-7-0 on the road this season to date. The team's victories have come against Bryant and Detroit at home, and Houghton on the road. Sophomore Russell Cicerone leads the team in scoring, with six of the Bulls' 12 goals on the season and a UB-high 13 points. Classmate Nicolai Berry has a UB-best four assists this fall. In goal, senior Waleed Cassis has made eight starts and has 28 saves and a GAA of 1.92. Freshman Cameron Hogg has started four times, and has one shutout, 17 saves and a 2.25 GAA. Head coach Stu Riddle welcomed back 17 letterwinners, including nine starters, from a year ago. The 2013 Bulls went 3-11-4 overall and 1-4-1 in MAC play.

THE SERIES
BGSU leads Buffalo, 11-7-0, in the all-time series between the teams, and the Falcons have captured the last two meetings. Last season, Joe Sullivan scored in the 81st minute as BG picked up a 1-0 win in Western New York (Oct. 4, 2013). Two seasons ago, in the Bulls' last trip to Cochrane Field, the Brown and Orange picked up a 3-0 win (Oct. 13, 2012). The Falcons are 4-4-0 in home games, 6-3-0 in road contests and 1-0-0 in neutral-site meetings with Buffalo through the years, and BG has scored 27 goals to UB's 24 in the first 18 series matchups.

A list of the Falcons' match-by-match results against BG's upcoming opponents can always be found in the right column.

UP NEXT FOR THE FALCONS
Following the Buffalo contest, the Falcons will prepare for a three-match road swing which will take the team to Ohio State (Oct. 22), West Virginia (Oct. 25) and Detroit (Oct. 29). Then, BGSU will begin the month of November with home games vs. Western Michigan (Nov. 1) and Wright State (Nov. 4), before ending the regular season on the MAC's 'West Coast' with a Nov. 8 match at Northern Illinois.