Early Deficit Too Much for Falcons to Overcome at OSU

Wednesday, October 22

Columbus, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

9-4-1

Ohio State

6-5-3

Bowling Green

Ohio State

October 22, 2014 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Two first-half PK-related goals lift Buckeyes to 3-0 win

By: COLUMBUS, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Host Ohio State University scored a pair of penalty kick-related goals in the opening half, and the Buckeyes went on to a 3-0 win over the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team Wednesday night (Oct. 22). The non-conference match was held at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

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With the win, the Buckeyes improve to 6-5-3 on the season. The Falcons, who played a man down for the final 60 minutes of the match, drop to 9-4-1 on the year.

The loss snapped a four-match road winning streak for the Brown and Orange. BGSU had not lost a match on the road since a double-overtime setback at Duquesne on Sept. 7.

OSU's Liam Doyle scored on a penalty kick less than three minutes into the match. The Buckeyes were awarded another PK in the 31st minute of play, and that kick was saved, but Christian Soldat was first to the rebound and fired the ball into the open net for a two-goal lead. Yianni Sarris capped the game's scoring in the 64th minute.

Wednesday night's match marked the Falcons' first multiple-goal loss of the season. It also was just the second time all season that BGSU had trailed by more than a single goal, and only the second time in 2014 that the Brown and Orange allowed more than two goals in a match.

"Ohio State has played a great schedule, and they have good players, good coaches," said BGSU coach Eric Nichols. "I don't want to take anything away from them. But, this was all BG. We didn't come to play. For whatever reason. we weren't up to the challenge.

If you're going to come here and get a result, you have to be close to great, and we weren't."

Doyle's PK, which opened the scoring, came after a sequence that seemed nothing short of surreal. Off of the first corner kick of the match, the Buckeyes fired no fewer than six shots in the span of roughly 20 seconds, as the ball ping-ponged its way around the penalty area. The first two shots were blocked, while BGSU redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Ryan Heuton parried the third. The rebound went to OSU's Max Moller, who saw his shot ring off the right goalpost. Tyler Kidwell's follow try was blocked, and a Sarris effort hit the hand of a BGSU player in the box, and a PK was awarded. Doyle converted that shot at the 2:53 mark, and OSU had the lead for good.

Just when it seemed that BGSU had maybe, just maybe, weathered the early storm, the Buckeyes doubled the lead with 30:40 gone. An OSU player hit a diagonal ball into the box, where Heuton and a Buckeye striker collided. Heuton was shown a red card as a second PK was awarded to the home team.

Redshirt sophomore Nick Landsberger came off of the bench to see his first match action in nearly a month, and immediately made the save on Kyle Culbertson's PK try. Soldat, however, was the first player to get to the ball, and slotted the rebound into the empty net.

OSU's final goal came on a combination play, as Ryan Ivancic's pass found Sarris in the box, and he converted from approximately 10 yards out.

The Buckeyes held a 20-6 advantage in total shots, and had eight shots on goal to the Falcons' four. Heuton made three saves for the Brown and Orange, while Landsberger, who had not played since the Sept. 24 match vs. Michigan State, had two stops in his relief effort. Alex Ivanov made four saves for the home side.

"We've got to figure out why we were off tonight," said Nichols. "I will say I was pleased with the guts and the effort in the second half, and even with some of the soccer. But, with the opponents we are playing at this point in the season, you can't wait a half. You can't even wait 10 minutes, so we've got to figure out how to get that from the opening whistle."

The only other time BGSU trailed by more than one goal in 2014 was in the Duquesne match on Sept. 7. That was also the only other match in which the Falcons allowed more than one goal this fall.

The Falcons continue a three-game road swing this weekend, heading to Morgantown for a Saturday (Oct. 25) matchup vs. West Virginia University. The Mid-American Conference contest is slated to begin at 1:00 p.m.