Falcons’ 2014 Season Comes to an End at Home on Thursday

Thursday, October 30

Bowling Green, OH

3:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

4-13-1, 3-7-1MAC

Eastern Michigan

11-6-1, 7-4-0MAC

Team	1	2	Final F
Eastern Michigan	2	1	3
Bowling Green	0	0	0

Photo by: Larry Clapper

October 30, 2014 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: by Kevin Davis, Assistant Director for Athletic Communications

Box Score (PDF) | Box Score (HTML)
Video: Postgame Interview with Coach Basalyga
Audio: Postgame Interview with Coach Basalyga
Photo Gallery (courtesy of Larry Clapper)
2014 BGSU Women's Soccer Final Season Statistics

Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team had its 2014 season come to an end on Thursday afternoon, as the Falcons suffered a 3-0 loss at home to the Eagles of Eastern Michigan at Cochrane Stadium.

The Falcons finished the season with an overall record of 4-13-1 and a record of 3-7-1 in MAC play. With the win, Eastern Michigan finished the regular season at 11-6-1 overall and 7-4-0 in league action.

"I think we came out flat in the first half and made some defensive errors that typically we don't make. I think that comes from being on our heels a little bit and then obviously we are going into halftime trying to find a way to dig us out of a 2-0 hole," commented head coach Lindsay Basalyga. "Overall I think the second half we definitely forced the issue a little bit more on the attack and battled through the last whistle. I think we were just a little flat for a final game of the year."

With a West Divisional Title on the line, the Eagles came out with a sense of urgency off the first touch, putting the BGSU defense on its heels early with two quick shots from Bianca Rossi in the first 10 minutes of the match.

In the 11th minute, EMU got on the scoreboard first, as Chelsie Oddan received a pass in the middle of the box and was able to get a shot off in a crowd that rolled just out of reach of the outstretched arms of the Falcons' keeper to put the visitors in green in front 1-0 early.

Following three straight shots from EMU, in which the latter two were stopped in goal by redshirt-sophomore Lauren Cadel, BGSU's Sarah Quimby registered the first shot for the home standing Falcons in the 24th minute that flew high of the goal.

The Falcons appeared to have tied the match up in the 26th minute when a cross into the box from Haley Parkinson from the right sideline found the head of an open Skylar Fleak whose header went untouched into the right side of the net. However, Fleak was flagged for offsides on the play, thus erasing the goal and putting the Eagles back in front at 1-0.

The next 10 minutes saw both teams nearly score, as the Eagles' Oddan placed a shot on goal from 28 yards out that bounced into the waiting arms of Cadel in the 33rd minute, while just three minutes later the Falcons' Elisa Baeron put a header toward the center of the goal off a well-placed corner kick from fellow freshman Rachel Winters that hit both a defender and a fellow BGSU player and was cleared out.

On the ensuing counter attack, the Eagles' Ellie Tillar took the cleared ball and played a long pass into the box where Angela Vultaggio blasted a shot from along the right side of the box that went across the goal and rolled into the left side of the net in the 37th minute to put the visitors in front 2-0.

Both Jessica Creech in the 38th minute and Madison Schupbach in the 42nd minute put long shots on frame in the closing minutes of the first half, only to have EMU goalkeeper Megan McCabe stop both in goal to send the game to the halftime intermission at 2-0 in favor of the Eagles.

After an early shot from Creech that rolled wide of the post in the 47th minute, the Falcons surrendered five straight shots to the Eagles with the fifth one finding the back of the net in the 58th minute from Megan Trapp to extend EMU's lead to 3-0.

Bowling Green refused to quit on both ends of the field, as Cadel made a stop in the 67th minute, which was followed by five quick shots from the BGSU offense.

Freshman Mikaela Couch had a shot blocked in the 70th minute, while Fleak missed high in the 70th minute and had back-to-back shots blocked by Eastern Michigan defenders in both the 71st and 72nd minutes. BGSU's Schupbach also had a shot blocked in the 72nd minute, as the Falcons' offensive surge was unable to produce a goal.

Minutes later, in the 74th minute, freshman Leah Runkle received a pass from Fleak along the right side of the box and put a shot towards the goal that was halted by a diving McCabe in goal, while Fleak missed wide from the top of the box in the 77th minute and then had another header captured just inside the front right post by a diving McCabe in the 78th minute off a cross into the right side of the box.

Despite four shots over the final 10 minutes of play, two from each team, neither team would add a goal late to end the contest at 3-0 in favor of Eastern Michigan.

With her seven saves for the game, BGSU's Cadel finished the year with 146 saves overall.

Offensively for the Falcons, Fleak, who had a team-high six shots, Schupbach, Runkle, Creech and Baeron all registered a shot on goal for the game.

Eastern Michigan outshot the Falcons 19-15 for the match; however, BGSU totaled 11 shots compared to just nine shots from the Eagles over the final 45 minutes of play.

BGSU held a 4-1 advantage in corner kicks and edged the Eagles 7-6 in fouls.

"We are competing and we're playing a good brand of soccer. I think we are defending really well and Lauren (Cadel) was huge for us this year in the back of the net and I think kept a lot of games tighter then they may have been," continued Basalyga. "But for a young team, we are playing six, seven freshmen at a time; I think our defensive discipline was really good and the ideas that we are seeing translate from training in to the games I think is at a better place now then it was at the beginning of the year as well."

BGSU finished the season going 2-2-1 over their last five games.

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