BGSU Men's Soccer Update: Falcons Head to UC Saturday

Saturday, August 22

Cincinnati, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Cincinnati (scrimmage)

Pat Flynn (left), Danny Shea & Noah Kummer celebrate after Flynn's shot earned his team the win in a drill during Friday morning's practice. The Falcons will hit the road for a Saturday scrimmage against Cincinnati.

Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications

August 21, 2015 | Men's Soccer

BG faces the Bearcats in the lone scrimmage of the 2015 preseason

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team continues preparations for the 2015 season. The Falcons of head coach Eric Nichols will head to the Queen City on Saturday (Aug. 22) to face the University of Cincinnati in BGSU's lone scrimmage of the preseason. The match is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. at UC's Gettler Stadium, and admission is free.

There will not be any live stats or live video of Saturday's scrimmage, but Twitter updates will be available.

LINKS
VIDEO: Nichols Interview | Landsberger Interview | Roth Interview
FOLLOW THE FALCONS: BGSU Men's Soccer on Twitter
2015 BGSU Men's Soccer Schedule
2015 BGSU Men's Soccer Prospectus/Quick Facts
2015 BGSU Men's Soccer Roster
Flynn Named to Hermann Trophy Watch List
Auden, Genrich & James Named Tri-Captains for 2015
Nichols Signs Contract Extension
Join the Falcon Club Today!

Nichols and his staff -- assistant coaches Eric Reed, Zach Lemke and Danny Baraldi -- return 15 letterwinners, including eight starters, from a year ago. The Falcons, after losing 10 seniors off of the 2013 team, were picked to finish fifth in the six-team Mid-American Conference standings in the 2014 campaign. But, last year's team put together one of the program's most successful seasons in the last few decades.

The Falcons went 14-6-1 overall a year ago, finishing with a winning record for the first time in 14 years. The win total was BG's highest in 17 seasons, and the Falcons more than doubled the previous year's win total. BGSU advanced all the way to the championship match of the MAC Tournament for the first time since 2003.

In the final 2014 NCAA statistics, the Falcons were ranked 30th or better in the country in eight of the 11 team categories. The BG offense finished ranked in the top 20 in total goals (14th), total points (15th) and total assists (17), and most importantly, the Falcons were in the top 20 in winning percentage.

In the classroom, the Falcons received the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Team Academic Award for the fifth consecutive season. The award is given to programs that have achieved a minimum team GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

BGSU's top-four scorers from a year ago return, and that group is headed by junior Pat Flynn. Flynn, who recently was named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List for 2015, had 14 goals and 32 points last year, the highest totals by a Falcon since 1996. He was directly involved in the scoring of nine of BGSU's 14 game-winning goals a year ago.

Juniors Jacob Roth and Joe Sullivan scored 18 and 16 points a season ago. Roth led the Falcons with eight assists last fall, and both Roth and Sullivan scored five goals, including two game-winning goals apiece. Redshirt junior Max Auden had 15 points, including six goals, on the season, and Auden scored the winner in all three of the Falcons' victories against MAC opposition last season.

Auden and a pair of fourth-year seniors, Jake Genrich and Ryan James, have been named the team's tri-captains for the 2015 season. James had six assists a year ago and enters the year with 20 career points as a Falcon. Genrich, like James a starter in each of the last three years, has solidified the Falcons' back line from a central defender position. Both Genrich and James have played in all 60 of BGSU's matches during their first three seasons, with Genrich making 59 starts and James 50.

In goal, redshirt juniors Nick Landsberger and Ryan Heuton split time last season. Landsberger made 13 starts, including in each of the Falcons' two MAC Tournament matches. His total of 10 wins last year was highest by a BGSU 'keeper since the 1998 season, and he was third in the MAC with a goals-against average of 1.18. Landsberger also finished third among conference goalies in saves (48) and saves percentage (.750).

Heuton played in nine matches a year ago, making eight starts. He had a 4-2-1 record and led the entire MAC in GAA (0.48) and saves pct. (.905). Heuton also led the league in saves per game and shutouts per game. He played over 437 minutes, the equivalent of nearly five complete matches, before allowing his first goal from the run of play. He saved a penalty kick in overtime of the Western Michigan match, when a Bronco goal would have eliminated BGSU from the MAC Tournament race, and was injured in the scramble for the rebound after that PK save.

Other returning letterwinners include senior Jake Martin, redshirt junior Danny Shea and sophomores Chase Betenson, Ian Haskin, Prayag Jina, Brad Macomber and Keaton Reynolds. Martin made 11 starts last fall before missing most of the second half of the season due to injury. Betenson, Macomber and Shea each started five matches, with Shea starting the last four contests of the season including both MAC Tournament matches. Three of Macomber's starts came in MAC regular-season play, and Betenson started five-straight matches in late October-early November.

Redshirt freshmen Bismark Agyeman and Billy Larsen also return from the 2014 team, and are joined by 11 newcomers. That group includes sophomore Alexis Souahy, who played at Notre Dame College a year ago, and freshman Peter Pugliese, who graduated high school early and enrolled at BGSU in time for the Spring 2015 semester. Pugliese competed with the men's soccer Falcons during the spring season.

In addition to Pugliese, the list of true freshmen includes Vincent Giannini, Dominic Grida, Noah Kummer, Moe Mustafa, Tate Robertson, Ryan Ross and Omar Salem.

Cincinnati returns 17 letterwinners, including seven starters, from a 2014 club that finished with a 5-10-3 mark. Head coach Hylton Dayes, like Nichols a veteran of the National Professional Soccer League, begins his 15th season at the helm of the Bearcats. His list of returnees includes senior John Manga, who led the 'Cats with 10 goals and 22 points last fall, along with redshirt junior Alex Gill, who made 17 starts in 2014.

Following Friday morning's practice, BGSUFalcons.com talked with Coach Nichols, along with junior Jacob Roth and redshirt junior Nick Landsberger. Those interviews are available right here on this very page.