Broncos Get Past Falcons, 2-1, in Kalamazoo

Saturday, October 17

Kalamazoo, Mich.

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Western Michigan

Jacob Roth - Aug 30 v WIU - Dallas Black photo

Jacob Roth scored the Falcons' goal at WMU Saturday

Photo by: Dallas Black

October 17, 2015 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Roth's second-half goal not quite enough as BG falls to Broncos

By: KALAMAZOO, Mich. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Carlos Suarez scored a pair of goals, leading host Western Michigan University to a 2-1 win over the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team Saturday afternoon (Oct. 17). The Mid-American Conference match was held at the WMU Soccer Complex.

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Junior Jacob Roth scored the Falcons' goal, on a penalty kick in the 60th minute, but BGSU could not find the equalizer as the Brown and Orange dropped to 6-7-1 overall and 0-2-0 in MAC play. Western improved to 7-3-2 and 1-1-0, respectively.

The Falcons outshot the Broncos by an 11-8 count, with Western putting five shots on frame to the Falcons' four.

BGSU had more possession time and scoring chances than the Broncos in the opening half, but the home team got on the board with just under six minutes left in the period. WMU's Nick Wysong stole the ball in BG's third of the field and slid a pass to Brandon Bye, who was heading into the penalty box on the right side. Bye fired a shot as junior goalkeeper Ryan Heuton came charging off of his line, and Heuton made a diving save.

On that Heuton stop, the ball caromed into the air, and found Suarez on the six-yard line. Suarez met the ball with a header, which was deflected by a BG defender but still found its way into the far upper corner of the net.

Junior Joe Sullivan had very nearly given the Falcons the lead midway through the opening half. First, he got behind the defense as Roth played a ball ahead, and Sullivan poked the pass past WMU 'keeper Chase Rau, but the Falcons were whistled for offside.

Then, just a minute later, Sullivan got behind the defense again. This time, the flag stayed down, but as Sullivan crossed the 18-yard line and fired a shot, Rau dove to his left and made the save to keep the match scoreless to that point. Only two minutes later, with nearly 25 minutes elapsed, senior Ryan James fired a shot after a Falcon foray into WMU's end of the field, but that shot was deflected by a teammate and went wide for a Bronco goal kick.

Another Falcon flurry in the 28th minute saw a Sullivan shot blocked, and a follow-up shot/cross knocked away by a Bronco defender.

Heuton made a nifty save on Sean Conerty in the 37th minute of play, as the Bronco forward came in alone on a breakaway. Heuton had four stops on the day.

Two minutes later, an effort by junior Pat Flynn was blocked in the box, and the Suarez goal came a minute after that.

With three minutes left in the period, a cross by redshirt freshman Bismark Agyeman sailed into the box, but Rau got to it just a split-second ahead of Flynn. BG won the ball back, and a diagonal ball was headed by Flynn toward Ryan Ross, but the freshman's shot sailed over the crossbar.

Suarez and the Broncos doubled the lead in the 52nd minute. Conerty played a ball to Suarez in the center of the box, approximately 12 yards away from goal. Suarex, just to the right of the penalty spot, trapped the ball, turned and fired a shot into the right side of the net for a two-goal Western advantage.

BG looked to battle back, and the Falcons' hard work paid off as James was taken down on the right side of the penalty area. Roth stepped up and buried the penalty kick past a helpless Rau.

For Roth, the goal was his third of the season, and he is 2-for-2 on PKs this fall.

Heuton made a nifty save on Western's Hunter Vandenboom in the 62nd minute, but Rau stopped a Flynn shot on goal in the 65th. With under 19 minutes to go, a foul on the Falcons resulted in a free kick for the Broncos inside the penalty area. But, off of that free kick, a shot by Greg Timmer was blocked by a BG defender, and the Falcons cleared the ball out of danger.

As the minutes ticked away, the Falcons put numbers forward in an effort to find the tying goal, but to no avail. Rau stopped a header by junior Max Auden with under 15 minutes remaining, a Sullivan effort sailed high in the 79th minute, and another Auden shot went over the far in the final minute of play. The latter shot came after the Falcons saw several shot/cross attempts blocked out of the box by the Bronco defense, and the home team held on to earn the win.

"The MAC is always a quality soccer conference & this year with the depth in the conference, it's probably more difficult than ever to get a win," said BGSU head coach Eric Nichols. "We continue to do some good things, but in big games there are a handful of plays that will determine the outcome. Although we're making a lot of plays, we're not making those plays.

"There's still a lot of soccer left this season, and this team has something special in it, but we've got to sort some things out as we get ready for next weekend's match."

The Falcons return home for one final time in the 2015 regular season. BGSU will host West Virginia University on Saturday, Oct. 24, with first touch set for 1:00 p.m. The WVU match will be 'Senior Day' for the Falcons, with seniors James, Jake Genrich and Jake Martin recognized in ceremonies prior to the game.