Bowling Green State University Athletics
Nichols, Falcons Announce 2014 Schedule
May 29, 2014 | Men's Soccer
BGSU's fall slate includes nine matches at Cochrane Field
BGSU Men's Soccer 2014 Schedule
The 2014 schedule includes three matches against Big Ten Conference foes, and two games at Cochrane vs. teams that advanced to at least the second round of the NCAA Championships in 2013.
"We continue to schedule aggressively, as our players want to play against the best," said Nichols, who enters his sixth season at the BGSU helm. "It will be a very challenging lineup of opponents that we will face this fall, but our guys thrive in these situations."
Visits from Michigan State and Akron highlight the home schedule. The Spartans, who make the trip to BG on Sept. 24, advanced all the way to the NCAA's round of eight last fall. The Zips won 17 matches, including an NCAA first-round contest, in 2013. UA plays at BG on Saturday, Oct. 11, in the Falcons' Mid-American Conference opener.
The season starts with a pair of home games. After tuning up with two scrimmages, the Falcons open the regular season on Friday, Aug. 29, vs. IUPUI, before hosting Findlay four days later (Sept. 2). A trip to Pittsburgh follows, as the Brown and Orange will play host Duquesne (Sept. 5) as well as Niagara (Sept. 7).
BG's next two matches come against opponents who battled the Falcons to double-overtime draws in 2013. The Falcons host Northern Kentucky on Friday, Sept. 12. The Norse are coached by John Basalyga, the father of Falcon women's soccer head coach Lindsay Basalyga.
Then, on Sept. 16, BGSU will make the short trip to Ann Arbor to meet Michigan. The Falcons have played U-M in each of Nichols' first five years with the program, and BG is undefeated in the last three meetings, with a pair of 2-0 victories over the Wolverines and a 1-1 draw last fall.
Following the U-M match, the Falcons face Eastern Illinois (Sept. 19) and MSU at Cochrane Field, and the month of September ends with a trip to St. Bonaventure (Sept. 28). The Bonnies are coached by former Falcon head man Mel Mahler.
That trip to Western New York is the start of a three-match road swing for Nichols and his youthful squad, as the Falcons begin October with matches at IPFW (Oct. 1) and Cleveland State (Oct. 7). BG returns home to open MAC play, hosting UA and Buffalo (Oct. 18) on back-to-back Saturdays, before closing October with three more road games.
That stretch includes trips to Ohio State (Oct. 22) and West Virginia (Oct. 25), two more teams that took the Falcons to double-OT a year ago. Before a crowd of over 3,000 fans at Cochrane Field, BGSU outshot the Buckeyes by a lopsided 35-12 count in a scoreless draw last September. The Falcons and WVU battled to a 3-3 tie on the final night of the 2013 regular season, with the teams ending in a tie for fourth place in the MAC standings, but the Mountaineers advancing to the league tournament via the conference's tiebreaker procedure.
Nichols and his staff -- assistants Eric Reed, Greg Hennelly and Travis Wall -- end October with a day trip to the Motor City to face Detroit (Oct. 29). The road team has won each of the last five series meetings, with BG posting a 4-1 victory in the team's last match at Titan Field three years ago.
November begins with a pair of home contests, including a 'Senior Day' matchup with Western Michigan on Saturday, Nov. 1. Wright State comes to town to close the Falcons' home slate, in the latest renewal of the teams' battle for the I-75 Cup (Nov. 4).
The regular-season schedule concludes with a trip to the MAC's "West Coast" for a Nov. 8 matchup with Northern Illinois. Then, the top-four teams in the MAC's final regular-season standings will converge on the site of the regular-season champion for the conference tournament. The MAC Tournament's semifinal round will take place on Friday, Nov. 14, with the championship match set for Sunday, Nov. 16.
Nichols and Company will play a pair of scrimmages, hosting Dixie, a Canadian club team, on Aug. 17 and heading to Marshall three days later (Aug. 20) prior to opening regular-season action with the IUPUI match
The complete 2014 schedule follows. For the latest updates throughout the season, click here or click the 'schedule' link on the men's soccer page at BGSUFalcons.com.
2014 BGSU MEN'S SOCCER SCHEDULE
August
Sun., 17 – DIXIE SOCCER CLUB (scrimmage)
Wed., 20 – at Marshall (scrimmage)
Fri., 29 – IUPUI
September
Tue., 2 – FINDLAY
Fri., 5 – at Duquesne
Sun., 7 – vs. Niagara (at Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Fri., 12 – NORTHERN KENTUCKY
Tue., 16 – at Michigan
Fri., 19 – EASTERN ILLINOIS
Wed., 24 – MICHIGAN STATE
Sun., 28 – at St. Bonaventure
October
Wed., 1 – at IPFW
Tue., 7 – at Cleveland State
Sat., 11 – AKRON *
Sat., 18 – BUFFALO *
Wed., 22 – at Ohio State
Sat., 25 – at West Virginia *
Wed., 29 – at Detroit
November
Sat., 1 – WESTERN MICHIGAN *
Tue., 4 – WRIGHT STATE
Sat., 8 – at Northern Illinois *
Fri., 14 – MAC Tournament semifinals (site of regular-season champion)
Sun., 16 – MAC Tournament championship (semifinal site)
HOME matches played at Cochrane Field
* - Mid-American Conference match
Schedule subject to change
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