No. 24 Falcons Stay Unbeaten With 3-1 Win Over UE

Friday, September 11

Huntington, W.Va.

5:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

5-0-0

Evansville

1-3-0

Bowling Green

Evansville

The Falcons celebrate Pat Flynn's (11) second goal of the match

September 11, 2015 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Flynn has second consecutive five-point outing

By: HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The last time the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team was nationally ranked, Pat Flynn had just turned five years old.

On Friday night (Sept. 11), Flynn scored two goals and set up a third as the Falcons opened up a three-goal lead en route to a 3-1 win over the University of Evansville. The match, part of the Veterans Memorial Cup, was held at Marshall University's Hoops Family Field at the Veterans Memorial Soccer Complex.

LINKS
FINAL STATS: HTML | PDF
PHOTO GALLERY: Photos courtesy BGSU Athletic Communications

In addition to Flynn's five-point night, the Falcons -- ranked 24th in the nation in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll, got a goal and a pair of assists from senior tri-captain Ryan James.

BGSU is now 5-0-0 for the first time since 1993. This week's NSCAA national ranking was the Falcons' first since Sept. 6, 1999.

"We did a good job of staying focused on what we do, which is defend well and attack quickly," said Falcon head coach Eric Nichols. "I don't think we played the perfect game, by any means, but I did like our mentality. We got the three goals, and we could have had even more. We could've finished some of the chances we had, especially early in the game, but otherwise, it was a pretty good 90 minutes."

Flynn fired nine shots on Friday night, tying his career high. Six of those shots were on goal, and two found the back of the net, marking his third multiple-goal game of the season and the sixth of his collegiate career

Flynn fed James for the first goal of the night in the 31st minute, then made no mistake when James put him past the Evansville defense just over eight minutes later.

Flynn scored again early in the second period, heading home another ball from James and giving the Falcons a three-goal lead. The Aces pulled one back in the 83rd minute, but would draw no closer.

Redshirt junior Ryan Heuton made four saves in goal on the night to earn his fifth victory of the young season.

BGSU fired a total of 20 shots on the evening, and the Falcons were buzzing in the first few minutes of the match. But, BG's first goal did not come until more than 30 minutes into the match. A Flynn pass found James on the right side of the box, and the senior fired a shot toward the far post. UE goalkeeper Matthew Keller was able to get a hand on the hard shot, but could not keep the ball from getting past him and rolling into the left corner of the net.

Just over eight minutes later, James and Flynn switched roles, with James finding Flynn for a goal. After taking a pass from fellow senior Jake Martin, James played a ball past the UE back line to a wide-open Flynn. Flynn, heading in all alone, was able to pick his corner, and as a helpless Keller came off his line in an attempt to contest the shot, the BG striker neatly slotted the ball just inside the right post. With under six minutes left in the first half, the Falcons had a two-goal lead.

That lead became three goals early in the second period. Junior Jacob Roth played a diagonal ball toward James on the left side of the 18-yard box, but the ball was headed over the end line by a UE defender.

Roth took the ensuing corner kick, and his ball found the head of a leaping James near the far post. James, stationed on the six-yard line, headed the ball back across the goalmouth, and Flynn outleaped a defender at the left post to head the ball home for a 3-0 lead. James and Roth drew assists on the goal, which came in the 52nd minute.

The Aces pulled one back when Vince DiPrimio played a long free kick toward the left side of the penalty box, and Ian McGrath was there to head home the diagonal ball. Evansville was within two goals with under eight minutes left, but Heuton and the BG defense would let the Aces draw no closer.

BGSU started quickly, firing three shots in the first three-plus minutes. WIth just over a minute gone, James took a shot from the top of the box that sailed just left of the target. Less than a minute later, redshirt freshman Bismark Agyeman's well-struck volley dipped toward the crossbar, but sailed just over that bar.

With three-and-a-half minutes gone, Flynn received a pass in the box, but his shot went just left of the frame as he was dumped by the UE 'keeper.

In the seventh minute, freshman Tate Robertson put Sullivan in on the right side, but Keller saved his shot and the Aces cleared the rebound.

Just over 10 minutes into the match, UE looked to score on a counterattack, but Heuton made the save on a bouncing shot by Desmond Dolphy.

Less than a minute later, James found Flynn at the other end of the pitch, and Flynn's hard shot was deflected over the bar by Keller. After the ensuing corner, an entry ball found the head of Flynn, who in turn nodded it toward Sullivan, but Sullivan's shot landed on top of the net.

Heuton's first true test came with just under 20 minutes gone, and he passed with flying colors, making a nifty leaping save on a header try by Mark Gonzalez.

With 16 minutes left in the half, James and Sullivan teamed up to get the ball to Flynn in the 18-yard box. Flynn cut left to open up some space between him and a defender, but his cross went just behind Sullivan in the center of the box. Just over a minute later, though, a Flynn pass found James for the opening goal of the match. For James, that goal was his second of the season and the seventh of his Falcon career.

Over the next few minutes, the Falcons had several more chances. First, a Flynn shot sailed just high. Then, Sullivan and Flynn looked to work some of their Naperville magic in the box, but Flynn's backheel pass toward Sullivan was knocked away by a UE defender at the last second. But, with 5:44 left before the intermission, Flynn tucked a shot past Keller for a two-nil lead.

Less than three minutes into the second period, Martin's pass found sophomore Brad Macomber on the left side of the pitch. Macomber cut toward the center of the park and fired a shot from distance, forcing Keller to make a save on the short hop.

Six minutes into the half, Roth's diagonal ball led to a corner kick, and that corner led to Flynn's second goal of the night and eighth of the season.

The Aces looked to get on the scoreboard approximately three minutes later, but a bicycle kick by Dolphy went over the crossbar. Flynn had several chances as the match passed the hour mark, but a hard shot toward the far post was tipped aside by Keller, and the UE netminder corralled another shot after Flynn received a long clearance by Roth.

Midway through the period, Nate Opperman fired back-to-back shots, but Roth and junior Max Auden blocked those efforts, and the Falcons cleared the ball out of danger.

The Aces did spoil BG's shutout bid in the 83rd minute, but the Brown and Orange did not let the lead slip below two goals.

Keller played 68 minutes for UE, making six saves. Greg Niven played the 22 minutes of the contest in net for the Aces and did not face a shot on goal.

For the Falcons, freshmen Peter Pugliese and Vincent Giannini made their respective collegiate debuts in the match, while classmates Dominic Grida and Ryan Ross also saw time off the bench in Friday's win.

"Some of those guys really stepped up for us," said Nichols. "We had some younger guys get their first minutes, or some of their most extended minutes so far. They made some mistakes, but they did some good things as well for us tonight."

The Falcons remain in Huntington for a Sunday (Sept. 13) match vs. Robert Morris. That contest will begin at 12:00 p.m.

FALCON NOTES
* Junior Pat Flynn, in just his second season with the Falcons, continued his prolific scoring pace on Friday night. Flynn now has eight goals and 19 points this season to date. And, he has totals of 22 goals and 51 points in only 26 games with a Falcon. Flynn is just two goals and eight points from moving into the top 10 on each of those BGSU career lists.

* Flynn has had five points in back-to-back games. He also had two goals and an assist in BG's 3-0 win over Cleveland State on Sunday night (Sept. 6). Flynn has been involved in the scoring of 11 of the Falcons' 14 goals this season to date.

* Senior Ryan James had a four-point night, tying his career best. James now has career totals of 28 points on seven goals and 14 assists as a Falcon. After scoring six points last year, he has eight points this season to date.

* Redshirt junior Ryan Heuton has five wins this fall, with a perfect 5-0-0 record after going 4-2-1 last fall. Heuton, in nearly 1205 career minutes at BG, has allowed only seven goals, for a goals-against average of 0.52.

* Evansville's goal on Friday night marked the first goal Heuton has allowed from the run of play in a game away from home as a Falcon. In over 508 minutes in road and/or neutral-site matches as a Falcon, Heuton has surrendered just two goals, and the first -- against Ohio State last Oct. 23 -- came on a penalty kick.

* BGSU is now 34-4-4 when scoring at least two goals in a game in the Eric Nichols Era.