Falcons Win at NIU, 2-1, & Qualify for MAC Tourney

Saturday, November 8

DeKalb, Ill.

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

13-5-1, 2-2-1MAC

Northern Illinois

3-9-5, 0-4-1MAC

Bowling Green

Northern Illinois

Joe Sullivan v WMU - Nov 1 2014 - Bianca Garza photo

Naperville, Ill., native Joe Sullivan scored the opening goal as the Falcons downed NIU

Photo by: Bianca Garza, BGSU Marketing and Communications

November 08, 2014 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

First-half goals by Naperville, Ill., natives Sullivan & Auden propel the Brown and Orange

By: DeKALB, Ill. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Illinois natives Joe Sullivan and Max Auden scored first-half goals, lifting the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team to a 2-1 win over Northern Illinois University on Saturday night (Nov. 8). The Mid-American Conference match was held at the Huskie Soccer Complex in DeKalb., Ill.

LINKS
FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
2014 MAC TOURNAMENT: Bracket
BGSU Statistics | BGSU Men's Soccer Story Archives
2014 Media Guide | Career Stats of Current Falcons

M A C S T A N D I N G S (through end of regular season)
Team (Overall)	MAC	Pts.
Akron (11-6-1)	4-1-0	12
West Virginia (11-6-1)	3-1-1	10
Bowling Green (13-5-1)	2-2-1	7
Western Michigan (8-6-4)	2-2-1	7
Buffalo (5-10-2)	1-2-2	5
Northern Illinois (3-9-5)	0-4-1	1

With the win, the Falcons improve to 13-5-1 overall, and BGSU finishes the regular season with a MAC record of 2-2-1. The Falcons' win over NIU clinches a league tournament berth for the Brown and Orange. NIU sees the season come to an end with records of 3-9-5 and 0-4-1, respectively.

BGSU will be the third seed for the four-team conference tournament, and will face second-seeded West Virginia University next Friday (Nov. 14) in the semifinal round at a time to be determined. The University of Akron won the regular-season crown and will host the tourney. The Zips will face fourth-seeded Western Michigan University in Friday's other semifinal.

The Falcons will enter the MAC Tournament riding a season-long four-game win streak. BGSU has had three three-game win streaks prior to the current run.

"NIU is a good team, much better than their record might indicate," said BGSU head coach Eric Nichols. "They have quality players, and it was their Senior Night. We had the better of the first half, but they gave us everything we could handle in the second half.

"It is always tough to get three points on the road in this league, and I'm very pleased with the effort we gave on both sides of the ball to get the result tonight. We got a couple quick goals and then withstood their pressure. It was a top-notch performance under pressure by our guys."

Sullivan got the Falcons on the board at the 32:10 mark, receiving a forward ball from junior Ryan James on the right side of the penalty area. The sophomore, a native of Naperville, Ill., took several touches, then chipped the ball over NIU goalkeeper Andrew Glaeser. The ball nestled nicely into the far upper corner of the net, and BG had the lead for good.

Just over five minutes later, the Brown and Orange doubled that lead. A nifty combination play on the left side of the pitch resulted in James putting Auden through. Auden -- like Sullivan a native of Naperville -- one-timed the ball into the far corner of the net, and BG had a 2-0 lead with 37:32 gone. James drew an assist on Auden's goal.

With an hour gone, however, the Huskies cut that BG lead in half. After a Falcon foul on the right side of the field, Richard Hall played the ensuing free kick into the box for the home team. NIU's Dusty Page settled the ball and hit a shot that found the right side of the net and made it a 2-1 game. But, Northern would draw no closer.

Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Nick Landsberger -- another Illinois native -- and the BG defense stood tall over the final 29-plus minutes, and the Falcons picked up win number 13 on the year.

Landsberger was credited with just one save, but broke up numerous NIU crosses and scoring chances to earn his ninth victory of the season, the highest win total by a BG 'keeper since 2000.

Neither team had a shot attempt for the first 10 minutes of the match, until NIU's Len Heinson's quick turnaround effort off of a deflection went wide left. Then, it was 17 more minutes until the next shot was credited, as the hosts' Andrew Palumbo had two shots three minutes apart.

Palumbo's first effort went wide left after he cut back toward the middle of the field, and his second attempt, in the 31st minute, was stopped by Landsberger with a diving effort. The BG 'keeper went to his right to knock the low shot out of play for a corner kick.

While BGSU did not have any shot attempts in the first 32 minutes, the Falcons had several promising chances. In the sixth minute, Auden's forward ball nearly found sophomore Pat Flynn in stride, but a Huskie defender was able to shield Flynn away from the ball until Glaeser could get to it. Two minutes later, a teammate's diagonal ball nearly found Flynn in the penalty box.

In the 14th minute, Auden made a nifty run into the box, but the ball was knocked off of his feet before he could get a shot off. Then, Sullivan sent Flynn into the box, but Glaeser was able to get to the ball a split-second before Flynn, and deflect it to an NIU defender to clear it out of danger.

Sullivan, of course, scored in the 33rd minute, with Auden scoring in the 38th. Auden's goal was the last shot attempt for either team in the opening half.

The second half saw NIU's Page get his head on a cross in the 52nd minute, but the ball popped up into the air and landed on top of the goal. Ten minutes later, Landsberger broke up a Huskie attack by punching away a long pass into the box. The home team regained possession soon after, but saw a shot blocked by the BG defense.

Freshman Brad Macomber fired what turned out to be BG's only shot attempt of the half in the 59th minute, but his effort went wide right. Then, 50 seconds later, the Huskies got on the scoreboard on the Page goal.

BG had a chance soon after, when James won possession of the ball deep in the NIU end. In traffic, he was able to maintain possession and chip a cross as he moved along the end line, but the ball went over several players stationed in the penalty area.

NIU's best chance of the final half hour of play came in the 77th minute, when Giovanni Garcia picked up a loose ball off of a carom in the penalty area. Garcia, on the left side of the box, one-timed a volley, but the ball sailed wide of the target. That would prove to be Northern's last shot attempt of the night.

The teams were credited with a total of just 12 shot attempts in the match, as NIU had a 9-3 edge. The teams each had two shots on goal, with both of BG's finding the back of the net.

BGSU, as mentioned, will be the third seed for the MAC Tournament, and the Falcons will face second-seeded West Virginia on Friday (Nov. 14). That game is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. at Akron's First Energy Stadium - Cub Cadet Field. The host and top-seeded Zips will meet No. 4 Western Michigan at 7:00 p.m.

Friday's two survivors will meet on Sunday, Nov. 16, in the championship match. That contest will begin at 1:00 p.m.

"Qualifying for the MAC Tournament has been our goal from day one," said Nichols. "That has never changed. Our goal got a little harder, and we made it tougher (with an 0-2-1 start in MAC play), but our guys stepped up and met the challenge.

"This is a tough conference, and the MAC Tournament is serious business. There are some very good teams that are not in the tourney. Our goal is always to get into the tournament. If you get into the MAC Tournament, obviously, you give yourself a chance to win the MAC Tournament, and winning the MAC Tournament gets you into the NCAA Tournament. So, we are very pleased with where we are, and we look forward to our next challenge."

FALCON NOTES
* BGSU returns to the MAC Tournament after a one-year absence. The Falcons' last trip was in 2012, when BG lost to top-seeded Akron, 2-0, in the semifinal round on the Zips' home field.

* BG's MAC Tourney seed is the Falcons' best since 2010. That year, BGSU was also seeded third, losing to second-seeded Western Michigan by a 1-0 score in the semifinals at Akron.

* The Falcons have won a season-high four-straight games heading into the MAC Tournament. BGSU's four-game winning streak is the program's longest since 1997, when the Falcons won 11 consecutive matches from mid-October to late November. That '97 team's run came to an end in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

* All four of the wins in BGSU's current streak have come by a single goal, with the latter three contests ending in 2-1 scores. Saturday's win over NIU was the Falcons' first victory in regulation during the current run, which included a 1-0, double-overtime win at Detroit, and 2-1 home wins in a single OT over both Western Michigan and Wright State.

* The Falcons have won three matches in the month of November for the first time since that 1997 club won six November games.

* BGSU has more than doubled last season's win total. The 2013 Falcons went 6-7-6 overall.

* The Falcons' total of 13 wins is the program's highest in 17 years. No BGSU team has won as many as 13 matches since the 1997 Falcons went 18-6-0 en route to a third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

* This year's edition of the Falcons has posted six home wins as well as six wins on the road. Last year, the Brown and Orange went 3-2-3 at Cochrane Field, 3-4-3 at hostile venues and 0-1-0 in neutral-site games. This fall, the Falcons went 6-2-1 at home, and BG is 6-3-0 on the road and 1-0-0 at neutral sites.

* Northern Illinois leads the Falcons, 16-9-1, in the all-time series, but BGSU is now unbeaten in the last three meetings with the Huskies. Last year, the Brown and Orange captured a 1-0 win in double overtime at Cochrane Field. Two years ago, the teams played to a scoreless draw in double-OT in DeKalb.

* Saturday's game marked BGSU's first road win over NIU since 2002.

* BGSU has scored 34 goals this season, the program's highest total since the 1999 team scored 35 times.

* With the goals by Sullivan and Auden on Saturday night, BGSU scored two goals in a half for the first time since the win over Eastern Illinois on Sept. 19. The Falcons scored two goals in the first half of a match for the first time since the victory against Niagara back on Sept. 5.

* BG's top-four scorers are sophomores, and three of the four hail from Naperville, Ill. Pat Flynn leads the Falcons with 29 points, including 13 goals, while Joe Sullivan has 15 points on five goals and five assists. Jacob Roth, a Cleveland native, has 14 points on the year, and redshirt soph Max Auden has 13 points including five goals this fall.

* Auden led the Falcons with three goals and six points in MAC matches. He scored the game-winning goal in each of BGSU's two conference victories, against Western Michigan and NIU.

* Saturday's starting lineup at NIU included five Illinois natives. That quintet included Auden, Flynn, Sullivan and redshirt sophomores Nick Landsberger and Danny Shea.

* Landsberger picked up the win in goal, his ninth of the season. That total is the highest by a Falcon goalkeeper since Dave DeGraff went 9-8-0 in 2000. No BG 'keeper has posted a double-figure win total since Hall-of-Famer Scott Vallow was 10-8-1 in 1998. Vallow won at least 10 games in each of his four seasons (1995-98) as a Falcon.

* Junior Jake Martin made his first appearance since suffering an injury in the Falcons' match vs. Michigan State on Sept. 24. Martin, who started each of the season's first nine games prior to the injury, came off the bench to play 40 minutes vs. the Huskies.

* BGSU is now 8-1-0 this season, and 29-4-4 in the Eric Nichols Era, when scoring two or more goals in a game.