Two Second Half Goals Lift Falcons to 2-1 Win Over Ohio

Friday, October 17

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

3-11-0, 2-5-0MAC

Ohio (Alumnae Weekend)

6-9-0, 3-4-0MAC

Team	1	2	Final F
Ohio	1	0	1
Bowling Green	0	2	2

Photo by: Larry Clapper

October 17, 2014 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: by Kevin Davis, Assistant Director for Athletic Communications

Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team overcame rain, wet field conditions and a 1-0 halftime deficit with two second half goals from freshmen Madison Schupbach and Leah Runkle to upend the Ohio Bobcats 2-1 on Friday night at Cochrane Stadium in Bowling Green, Ohio.

"It's great (to win at home). It has been a long time coming in terms of piecing the final product together. But for our players to win at home on a Friday night in front of their home crowd (it was great)," commented head coach Lindsay Basalyga. "We had a great week of training and to see some of the things we worked on through the week play out in a game, and again at home, I am just really, really happy for the players."

Not to be lost in the come from behind win was Lauren Cadel's career-high 14 saves, surpassing her previous career-high of 13 stops set just last time out on Sunday, Oct. 12, versus Toledo.

The win puts BGSU at 3-11-0 on the season and 2-5-0 in MAC play, while the loss drops Ohio to 6-9-0 overall and 3-4-0 in conference play.

Bowling Green's win on Friday night was the first home win for the Falcons at Cochrane Stadium since a 2-1 win at home over IUPUI on August 26, 2012. The win was also the first home MAC win for BGSU since shutting out Northern Illinois 2-0 at home back on Oct. 23, 2011.

"This week we've been really focusing on looking for space and not being so direct. We made it very clear to one another that we needed to be more dynamic in the attack and I think overall we did a great job with that," said Runkle. "Just from here we just need to keep working toward that. I mean it wasn't perfect, but we need to just keep working for the goals we set for ourselves."

Ohio put pressure on the Falcons from the opening touch, as the Bobcats registered five shots to the Falcons one over the first eight minutes of play and eventually broke through in the ninth minute to go up early 1-0 on a shot from Megan Niebuhr off a rebounded save from Cadel in front of the net.

BGSU attempted to stay in the contest early with shots from Runkle in the eighth minute, Skylar Fleak in the 18th minute and Schupbach in the 23rd minute, however, Ohio's Nicole Amari made saves in goal for the Bobcats on the first two shots and then watched as the third flew high and out of play to keep the score at 1-0 in favor of the visitors in green with 20 minutes to go in the opening half.

The Bobcats, who recorded 13 shots overall and put 10 on frame in the first half, continued to put pressure on Cadel and the BGSU defensive backline, as the redshirt-sophomore goalkeeper made back-to-back saves on an Erin Freeney shot and a Tonya Frasik attempt over a 33 second span to keep the score at 1-0.

Following another save by Ohio's Amari on a Fleak shot in the 32nd minute, Cadel made a save on a shot in the 33rd and another in the 45th minutes of play to send the game into the halftime break at 1-0 in favor of the Bobcats.

The Falcons began the second half with what appeared to be a sense of urgency, as the home team in white got an early shot from Fleak in the 49th minute and a stop once again by Cadel in the 50th minute which seemed to set the tone for the final half of play.

In the 53rd minute, the Orange and Brown found an opening, as Runkle played a ball through the Ohio defense that went across the midline and down towards the right side of the box. Schupbach raced past an Ohio defender, beat the player in green to the ball and made a one touch slide move to the center of the field. There the freshmen put a strong left leg behind the ball and sent it screaming through the air toward the goal and past the Ohio goalkeeper to tie the score up at 1-1.

The goal was the second of the season for Schupbach, while the assist was Runkle's team-high fourth on the year.

With the score tied at 1-1 and the rain continuing to soak the already wet field, the Falcons weathered an offensive barrage right in front of the goal by Ohio in the 57th minute, in which Ohio's Hannah Jaggers had a shot blocked by a defender off a corner kick just in front of the net. The blocked ball bounded back into the box, where Liz Finley took a shot, but had it sent right back to her by a BGSU defender in goal. Ohio's Finley abruptly fired another shot toward the goal which was again cleared out by a BGSU defender into the box, where this time Alexis Milesky tried with a shot toward the goal only to see Cadel make a save on the play.

Ohio threatened again in the 59th minute on a Milesky shot from 25 yards out, which was stopped once again by Cadel, while BGSU's Fleak and Schupbach each looked for the go-ahead goal over the next several minutes, but to no avail.

However, just a minute later, the Falcons would strike again, as freshman Mikaela Couch made a great move to the center of the box and played a pass to a cutting Runkle along the right side who found herself behind the Ohio defense and 1-v-1 with the Ohio goalkeeper. Runkle went top self with the shot, putting it over Amari's head and just under the crossbar to put the home team on top 2-1 in the 68th minute.

The goal was Runkle's first career goal as a Falcon, while the assist was the first of Couch's career.

Not satisfied with the 2-1 lead, BGSU looked to add an insurance goal, as senior Sidney Huth posted two shots over the next three minutes, while Runkle forced Ohio into another save on a shot from the right side of the box in the 71st minute.

Looking for the equalizer, Ohio had one shot blocked in the 76th minute, two shots fly offline in the 83rd minute and a fourth shot go wide of the frame in the 85th minute, as the BGSU defense refused to give the Bobcats an open scoring chance.

BGSU came within inches of adding another goal late, as freshman Rachel Winters put a free kick on target in the 87th minute which was stopped by Ohio's Amari. However, the Bobcat goalkeeper was unable to catch the ball cleanly and lost the ball in front of the goal where Couch put her foot on the ball and sent it toward the goal. The Couch shot hit Amari once again sending the ball back into the box where Fleak tried to score the goal, but had an Ohio defender get in the way of the shot and clear it out.

The Falcons' Cadel made sure that the win would not slip away, as she made a save in front of the back post on a long shot from Jaggers, a flicked shot over the BGSU defense in the 89th minute, and another stop late on a shot from outside the top of the box by Annie Beard as the final seconds ticked away.

Cadel's total saves of 14 on the night gives her four games this season with double digit saves and a new BGSU career record of 10 games with double digit saves overall.

Ohio outshot BGSU 27-20 for the match and held a 5-4 edge in corner kicks on the night.

Bowling Green totaled 12 fouls to the Bobcats' nine and totaled 16 saves on the night.

The Falcons will look to make it two in a row on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 19, as BGSU will return to Cochrane Stadium to host Kent State at 1 p.m. on Senior Day. Prior to the game the Falcons will recognize redshirt-senior Kylie Briem, as well as seniors Ashley Garr and Sidney Huth.

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