Buckeyes, Mountaineers Await Men's Soccer Falcons this Week

Wednesday, October 22

Columbus, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Ohio State

Pat Flynn v Buffalo - Larry Clapper photo

Pat Flynn & the Falcons face Ohio State & West Virginia on the road this week

Photo by: Larry Clapper

October 21, 2014 | Men's Soccer

Falcons will end October with three-straight road matches

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team embarks upon a three-match road swing to end the month of October, beginning with a pair of trips this week. The Falcons of head coach Eric Nichols head to Columbus for a midweek matchup with The Ohio State University. BG battles the Buckeyes on Wednesday night (Oct. 22) in a 7:00 p.m. start at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

Then, the Brown and Orange will return to Mid-American Conference action this weekend, venturing to Morgantown for a Saturday (Oct. 25) matchup with West Virginia University. That contest is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.

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

U P N E X T I N F A L C O N S O C C E R
BGSU at Ohio State	Wed., Oct. 22 7:00 p.m.	Live Stats \| Twitter Video Stream (fee required)
BGSU at West Virginia	Sat., Oct. 25 1:00 p.m.	Live Stats \| Twitter Video Stream

LAST WEEK
The Falcons battled Buffalo to a 1-1, double-overtime draw at Cochrane Field Saturday night (Oct. 18), in last week's lone match. BGSU took the lead on an own goal in the 19th minute, as a UB defender, under pressure from the Falcons, headed the ball over his goalkeeper and into the net. The Bulls tied the match five minutes later, and both BGSU redshirt sophomore Ryan Heuton and UB 'keeper Waleed Cassis kept the opponent off of the scoreboard the rest of the night. Heuton made five saves for the Brown and Orange.

GOOD START
BGSU is off to the program's best start in nearly two decades. The Falcons' 9-3-1 record is the best since the 1995 team went 10-2-1 through the first 13 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.

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.

LATE-GAME HEROICS
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 marker at Cleveland State (Oct. 7), came in overtime.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
BGSU is 9-3-1 overall, and the Falcons have a Mid-American Conference record of 0-1-1. BG is tied for fourth in the six-team league. The Falcons' are 4-2-1 in home matches, 4-1 on the road and 1-0 in neutral-site contests to date. BGSU has outscored opponents by a 26-8 margin over the first 13 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 ranked third or better in the entire nation in five individual categories.

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 six matches, starting the last five. Like Landsberger, Heuton has three complete-match shutouts. He has 21 saves, a saves percentage of .913 and a stellar 0.34 GAA. Heuton has allowed only two goals – with one coming on a penalty kick – in over 524 minutes of work.

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.

A total of eight players have started all 13 matches for Nichols and his staff this fall. That group includes Auden, Flynn, James, Roth, Sullivan, seniors Jon Kumher and Vlad Lekarev and junior Jake Genrich. Baraldi has made 12 starts, while junior Jake Martin has started nine games and Landsberger eight.

BUILD FROM THE BACK
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-20 in the nation in each of those categories. And, the 2014 team ranks 18th in the country on another rather important list: winning percentage. A highly-informative chart with a few more statistics that illustrate BG's defensive improvement over the last few seasons can be found in the PDF version of these notes, and that PDF version of these notes can be found near the top of this very page.

CHART-TOPPERS
The Falcons are very well represented in the latest NCAA Division I statistical rankings, released Monday (Oct. 20). BGSU is ranked among the top 18 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 or third on three other lists. Several of Flynn's teammates are listed among the nation's leaders in various categories as well...
FALCONS AMONG THE NATIONAL LEADERS (as of Oct. 20, 2014)
Player/Team (Rank, Category[ies], Total/Average)
BGSU
10 -- Total Assists (29)
11 -- Assists/Game (2.23); Goals-Against Average (0.59)
12 -- Saves Pct. (.860)
13 -- Points/Game (6.23)
14 -- Total Points (81)
16 -- Shutout Pct. (0.54)
17 -- Total Goals (26); Goals/Game (2.00)
18 -- W-L-T Percentage (.731)

Pat Flynn
1 -- Goals/Game (0.92); Points/Game (2.08)
2 -- Total Goals (12); Total Points (27)
3 -- Game-Winning Goals (5)

Jacob Roth
15 -- Total Assists (6)
19 -- Assists/Game (0.46)

Joe Sullivan
34 -- Total Assists (5)
50 -- Assists/Game (0.38)

Nick Landsberger
34 -- Saves Pct. (.813)
36 -- Goals-Against Avg. (0.78)

FASCINATING FALCON FACTS
• Buffalo's goal midway through the first half on Saturday night ended a lengthy streak for the BGSU defense. The Falcons had not allowed a goal in the run of play in a span of 402:59, since late in the Michigan State match on Sept. 24.

• BGSU has topped last year's totals in home wins, road wins and neutral-site wins. This year's team is 4-2-1 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.

• Redshirt sophomore Danny Shea made the first start of his BGSU career on Saturday night. Shea, who had played a total of 156 career minutes prior to the UB match, was on the field for all 110 minutes vs. the Bulls. He sat out the 2012 season and played a total of five minutes last fall, but has seen action in seven matches, including each of the last four contests, this year.

• True freshman Chase Betenson played 66 minutes, by far the highest total of his brief BGSU career to date, vs. the Bulls. Betenson entered the UB match having played a total of 32 minutes this season.

• BGSU has scored 26 goals this season, topping the total (25) 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.

• 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.

SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State enters Wednesday's match with a 5-5-3 overall record, and the Buckeyes are 3-2-0 in Big Ten Conference play after a 2-0 win at Wisconson on Saturday (Oct. 18). OSU is 1-2-2 at home, 2-3-1 on the road and 2-0-0 at neutral sites this season to date. Senior Yianni Sarris leads the team in goals, assists and points, having amassed 10 points on four goals and a pair of helpers, while junior Liam Doyle has six points on three goals this fall. Senior Alex Ivanov has played every second of every match in goal, and has 59 saves, five shutouts and a GAA of 0.95. Head coach John Bluem welcomed back 15 letterwinners, including nine starters, from a year ago. The 2013 Buckeyes went 5-8-5 overall and 1-3-2 in the Big Ten.

A LOOK AT THE MOUNTAINEERS
West Virginia is 6-6-1 overall, heading into a midweek match at Penn State. The Mountaineers, like the Falcons, are 0-1-1 in MAC play to date. WVU is 5-2-0 at home and 1-4-1 on the road. Senior Andy Bevin and junior Jamie Merriam pace the team and rank among the MAC leaders in scoring. Both players have seven goals on the year, and Bevin has team-high totals of six assists and 20 points. Merriam, who has three assists, has 17 points this fall. Sophomore Brent Arnold and senior Lee Johnston have split time in net for the Mountaineers. Arnold has 20 saves, two shutouts and a 1.49 GAA. Johnston also has two shutouts, and has 23 saves and a GAA of 1.64. Marlon LeBlanc returned 16 letterwinners, including nine starters, from a 2013 team that went 7-7-5 overall and 2-2-2 in the MAC.

THE SERIES
BGSU leads Ohio State, 24-14-3, in the all-time series between the teams. Last year, despite holding advantages of 35-12 in total shot attempts and 9-2 in shots on goal, the Falcons settled for a scoreless draw vs. the Buckeyes at Cochrane Field (Sept. 13, 2013). Prior to that meeting, OSU had won five consecutive matches, including a 2-0 decision in the Falcons' last trip to Columbus (Oct. 10, 2012). BG's last win over OSU was a 3-2 overtime triumph in 2005, and the Falcons' last road victory over the Buckeyes came in 1995. BG is 14-4-1 in home games, 9-10-2 in road contests and 1-0-0 in neutral-site meetings with Ohio State through the years.

BGSU leads West Virginia, 3-1-2, in that series, but the teams have met only twice since 1995. Last year, the Falcons and Mountaineers played to a 3-3 draw in Morgantown (Nov, 8, 2013), with the result giving WVU the fourth and final spot in the MAC Tournament the following weekend. Two years ago, the Mountaineers got a late goal off a corner kick for a 1-0 win at Cochrane Field (Nov. 3, 2012). One of BG's series victories actually was a 4-2 WVU win, in 1983, but the Mountaineers later forfeited the match to the Falcons. The teams have gone to overtime in four of the first six meetings, including a 6-2 Falcon win in the 1995 season (before sudden-death overtime was implemented). BGSU is 1-1-0 at home, 0-0-1 on the road and 2-0-1 at neutral sites vs. West Virginia.

A list of the Falcons' match-by-match results against BG's upcoming opponents can always be found in the PDF version of these notes.

UP NEXT FOR THE FALCONS
Following the WVU contest, the Falcons will close the month of October with a trip to Detroit on Wednesday, Oct. 29. Then, BGSU will begin 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.