Never-Say-Die Falcons Vanquish 'Dons, 3-2

Friday, September 18

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

6-1-0

IPFW

3-4-0

IPFW

Bowling Green

The Falcons celebrate a second-half goal by Pat Flynn (11) during Friday's win (Larry Clapper photo)

Photo by: Larry Clapper

September 18, 2015 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Flynn, Sullivan score late as BGSU rallies for another home win

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team rallied from a pair of second-half deficits en route to a 3-2 win over IPFW Friday night (Sept. 18) in non-conference action at Cochrane Stadium.

The Falcons trailed, 2-1, with under 13 minutes to go, before juniors Pat Flynn and Joe Sullivan scored goals just over three minutes apart to give BGSU (6-1-0) the lead for good. IPFW drops to 3-4-0 on the season.

Sullivan's goal was his second of the night for the Falcons, who improve to a perfect 5-0-0 at home this season to date.

LINKS
FINAL STATS: HTML | PDF
VIDEO: Sullivan | Flynn | Nichols
PHOTO GALLERY: Ruben Kappler, BGSU Marketing & Communications
PHOTO GALLERY: Photos courtesy Larry Clapper

After a scoreless first half at Cochrane, the 'Dons took the lead on a Spencer Brown goal in the 52nd minute. BGSU equalized just over five minutes later, but back came the visitors, as Jose Rodriguez scored on an odd-man rush in the 64th minute of the match. The Falcons trailed until Flynn took a pass from fellow junior and fellow Naperville, Ill., native Max Auden and scored with 12:25 on the clock. Then, just over three minutes after the Flynn goal, another junior from Naperville found the back of the net, as Sullivan blasted home what proved to be the winning goal.

On a humid night at Cochrane, a light rain began to fall as the teams headed to their benches after a scoreless first half. The rain subsided briefly after the teams returned to the pitch for the second half, but early in the period, the skies opened up, and the visitors almost immediately broke on top.

Just over six minutes into the period, a shot by IPFW's Britt Watts was blocked out of play by a BG defender. As IPFW's Thilo Korperich trotted toward the southeast corner of the Cochrane Stadium pitch to take the ensuing corner kick, a hard rain began to fall.

Korperich curved his corner kick toward goal, and BG junior goalkeeper Ryan Heuton was able to get to the ball in traffic and punch it away. The ball went directly to Brown, however, and he knocked it into the back of the net from close range. For the second time all season, but the second time in as many games, the Falcons trailed.

Moments after the goal, Falcon freshman Tate Robertson -- who had hit the post with a first-half shot -- curved a shot just wide of the far post. Then, the Falcosn won back-to-back corner kicks, and both resulted in shots on frame. First, Souahy got his head on a Jacob Roth corner, but IPFW goalkeeper Raphael Kotzock deflected it out of play for another corner.

Roth's second corner in a 20-second span found the head of Auden. Auden, like Souahy, put his shot toward the upper-left-hand corner of the goal, but Kotzock again blocked the ball away. Kotzock made seven saves on the night. But, just under 90 seconds after Auden's effort was saved, the Falcons put a ball into the back of the net.

The play began when senior Jake Martin won a ball in the midfield. Martin slid a pass to redshirt freshman Bismark Agyeman, who in turn found Sullivan on the left side of the field. Sullivan played a diagonal ball toward the left corner of the goal, where sophomore Alexis Souahy and Flynn both raced to meet it. Souahy very nearly got a boot on the ball, but Kotzock was first to touch it. The 'keeper made a diving effort to either grab or deflect the ball, but was unsuccessful as Sullivan's effort caromed into that lower-left-hand corner of the net. With just over 33 minutes to go, the match was tied.

The rain subsided, but the field was quite slippery, as players on both sides had trouble finding their footing over the next few minutes of the match. With just under 27 minutes left in the half, the 'Dons retook the lead on a counterattack. Korperich began the play, winning the ball near midfield, His pass found Zach Tom, who quickly sent the ball to Oscar Uyamadu as the visitors had a chance for a three-on-two break.

Uyamadu slid a pass to his left, where Rodriguez ran on to it. Rodriguez made no mistake, slotting a shot past Heuton and into the far corner of the net. The Mastodons had a 2-1 lead.

BGSU looked to answer several minutes later, as senior Ryan James stole the ball in the IPFW end of the field. James played a ball to his right for Sullivan, but Sullivan poked his shot just wide of the goal. But, several minutes later, the Falcons tied the match once again.

Sophomore Brad Macomber won the ball in his own end of the pitch, in front of the visiting bench, and beat several IPFW players as he headed toward midfield on the right side. Macomber then put a long ball forward, where Auden and a defender were racing side by side. Auden won battle for the bouncing ball, and put a pass to his left, where Flynn was being shadowed by another IPFW back.

Flynn poked the ball to his left, creating some space as he headed into the penalty area, and the Falcon striker uncorked a shot that eluded Kotzock and tied the match with 12-and-a-half minutes to go.

Three minutes later, the Brown and Orange struck again. Roth put a long ball forward, as Sullivan and Flynn headed toward the IPFW 18. Sullivan tapped the ball to Flynn, who returned it to Sullivan with a nifty backheel pass. Sullivan blasted a low shot, and Kotzock had no chance as the ball whizzed into the right side of the net. The goal proved to be Sullivan's third game-winning goal of the young season, but the Falcons were not out of the woods just yet.

IPFW had several corner kicks with under seven minutes to go, and after the second corner, a header seemed ticketed toward the left side of the net. But, Sullivan, positioned on the goal line for the corner, blocked the shot before it could cross the line, and the Falcons stayed in front by a goal.

BGSU nearly doubled that lead in the late stages of the match. Heuton took a goal kick with exactly three minutes to go, and the long kick found the head of a leaping Sullivan on the far side of the midfield line. Sullivan's header sailed over the IPFW back line, and Flynn ran onto the ball. But, with a defender just a step behind him, Flynn put a shot just over the crossbar with 2:50 to go.

IPFW had one final shot attempt in those remaining 170 seconds, but a Rodriguez effort was headed high over the goal from the instant it left his boot, and the Falcons took one final goal kick before the clock ran out.

BGSU had advantages of 24-12 in total shot attempts and 10-5 in shots on goal. BGSU had a 12-3 edge in total shots in the scoreless first period. That first half saw the hosts fire four shots in a span of just over two minutes as the match neared the 15-minute mark. After an Auden steal, the junior slid the ball to Flynn, but his shot from just outside the box was saved by Kotzock.

The IPFW 'keeper saved a James effort after Robertson's left-side cross. Then, after a cross from the other side of the field found Flynn, the junior -- with his back to goal and a defender behind him -- slid a pass to his right, and Robertson's one-time effort beat Kotzock, but rang off the left goalpost. After the 'Dons had taken two of the first four shots of the night, BGSU then fired the next seven shots, including four on goal and one aforementioned shot that struck the post.

As the match neared the half-hour mark, the Falcons looked to counter after an IPFW trip into BG's end of the field. James passed the ball to Sullivan, who flicked it onto the boot of Flynn. Flynn cut back to his left and hit a shot from the top of the box, but it was blocked by a lunging defender just as it left his foot.

With 14 minutes left in the period, Agyeman played a low diagonal ball meant for James, but Kotzock came charging off of his line and grabbed the ball with a diving effort just before James could arrive.

Arguably IPFW's best chance of the first half came after a throw-in. A combination play wound up with Brown heading into the box from the right side. Virtually unmarked, he hit a low shot that rolled wide of the far post.

The teams went to the half locked in a scoreless tie, before Brown's 52nd-minute marker began the second-half scoring frenzy.

Heuton made two saves on the night, and BG had a 'team save' on the Sullivan block. The Falcons had seven corners to the 'Dons' five.

BGSU now prepares for a trip down I-75 next Wednesday (Sept. 23), when BG will battle the University of Dayton. The Falcons' next home action will be the following Tuesday, Sept. 29, when nationally-ranked Michigan State University comes to Cochrane.