Agyeman's Goal Lifts Falcons to Victory at NIU

Saturday, October 22

DeKalb, IL

7:00 PM CT

Bowling Green State University

9-4-2 (2-0-1MAC)

Northern Illinois

1-9-4 (0-2-1MAC)

Bowling Green

Northern Illinois

Bismark Agyeman v IUPUI - Aug 26 2016 - Christine Nelson photo

Bismark Agyeman's first collegiate goal gave BG a 1-0 win at NIU (Christine Nelson photo)

Photo by: Christine Nelson, BGSU Marketing & Communications

October 22, 2016 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

With Saturday's win, BGSU moves into first place in the MAC

By: DeKALB, Ill. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Redshirt sophomore Bismark Agyeman scored early in the second half, lifting the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team to a 1-0 win over Northern Illinois University Saturday night (Oct. 22). The Mid-American Conference match was held at the NIU Soccer Complex.

With the win the Falcons improve to 9-4-2 overall, and BGSU is now 2-0-1 in MAC play. Bowling Green moves into first place in the conference standings. The Falcons were picked to finish fifth in the six-team league, according to the preseason coaches' poll.

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BG has doubled last season's MAC win total. The Falcons are unbeaten through three conference contest for the first time in two decades, since the 1996 team went a perfect 5-0-0 in league play.

Agyeman's goal was the first of his collegiate career, and -- obviously -- his first game-winning goal as a Falcon. He becomes the 11th different Falcon to score a goal this season.

**M A C S T A N D I N G S**
Team (Overall)	MAC	Pts.
BGSU (9-4-2)	2-0-1	7
Akron (7-5-2)	2-1-0	6
Buffalo (9-3-2)	1-1-1	4
Western Mich. (8-4-4)	0-0-3	3
West Virginia (7-5-1)	1-2-0	3
Northern Ill. (1-9-4)	0-2-1	1

The Falcons have won nine matches this season, tying the total for all of last year. And, nine different BGSU players have scored one game-winning goal this year, matching the school record. The 1997 team also saw nine Falcons score a GWG.

Senior Max Auden, a native of nearby Naperville, drew the assist on Agyeman's goal. Auden played a deep cross from the right side, finding Agyeman at the far post. Agyeman, near the six-yard line, tucked the ball past NIU goalkeeper Drew Donnally for what would prove to be the winning goal.

Agyeman now has four points this season and nine in his BGSU career. The assist was Auden's first of the fall and the ninth of his career.

"It was a different type of game tonight," said BGSU head coach Eric Nichols. "We definitely saw some different types of challenges tonight, and we kind of had to change our style a little bit.

"We showed a lot of resilience to come here to NIU and get a win. Conference games are so difficult, so challenging. The fact that we were able to get points, particularly on the road, is huge. It puts us in a good spot heading into our last two MAC games."

NIU had a 13-11 advantage in total shot attempts on Saturday, but the Falcons had six shots on goal to the Huskies' two. Freshman goalkeeper Anthony Mwembia made two saves in goal as he and the Falcons kept the seventh clean sheet of the season. At the other end of the pitch, Donnally made five stops for the hosts.

The Huskies, now 1-9-4 on the season, had several solid chances on Saturday night. Christian Molina and Jerome Roche each hit the crossbar with a shot. Molina's effort came after a BG giveaway in the Falcons' defensive end. In the 22nd minute, he quickly collected the ball and lofted a shot from distance. But, the ball bounced off the bar, and a BG defender cleared it out of play.

In the 76th minute of play, with the Huskies trailing by a goal, an NIU player brought the ball along the end line and found Roche on the right side of the penalty area. Roche took several touches to his left, then hit a curving shot that struck the bar near the far post and caromed away.

The Falcons were not without their chances as well. Senior Joe Sullivan saw his shot saved in the 16th minute, after a long run and pass by Agyeman. In the 29th minute of play, Pat Flynn -- like Auden and Sullivan a senior from Naperville -- fired a hard shot from the top of the box after a free kick by senior Jacob Roth. It was all Donnally could do to get his hands up to block the ball out of play for a corner kick.

With under five minutes left in the half, a quick counterattack by the Falcons resulted in a shot by freshman Chris Brennan. A serve was blocked by a Huskie defender, but Brennan tracked it down and fired a hard shot from just outside the box. The shot whizzed just wide of the post.

Then, just over a minute later, Brennan nearly struck again. Agyeman began the play by making a left-to-right run and finding sophomore Tate Robertson on the right side of the field. Robertson lofted a perfectly-placed ball toward the far post, and Brennan ran on to the serve and volleyed it out of the air. But, somehow, Donnally was able to make the point-blank save.

In the final minute of the half, a shot by Northern's Nicholas Haas was blocked out for a corner, but Mwembia went high in the air to grab that corner kick and end that NIU scoring chance.

Sullivan and the Falcons won three corners in under a minute's time early in the second half. The first came after a ball by Roth was knocked out of play. The Huskies dealt with that corner somewhat successfully, but Sullivan's second kick very nearly went into the top half of the net. Donnally, facing his own goal, was forced to dunk it over the crossbar at the last second, leading to another corner. That third kick bounced around in the box and was deflected to Auden, just outside the 18-yard area. Auden fired a hard shot, but it sailed just wide of the left post.

Max Voss shot just wide for the Huskies from approximately 10 yards out, after a run along the end line by Kevin Rodriguez. That play came in the 54th minute, and less than two minutes later, Agyeman gave the Falcons the lead at the other end.

Three minutes after the goal, Mwembia made a save on a tricky shot by Nixon Urrutia, going to his knees to make the stop. In the 63rd minute, Luke Read hit a shot from the top of the box, in traffic. Mwembia was forced to make a diving save, knocking the ball out for a corner, but the BG defense cleared that kick out of danger.

Sophomore Moe Mustafa shot just high after a long throw-in in the 70th minute, and approximately four minutes later, Sullivan nearly stole the ball from an NIU defender in the Huskies' end of the field, as he and Flynn applied some front-line pressure.

With under nine minutes to go, Roth fired a free kick on frame from 35 yards out, but Donnally made the grab. Then, two minutes later, a Robertson run led to a chance for BG, but a shot by sophomore Peter Pugliese was blocked on the right side of the penalty area.

With just over five minutes on the clock, a Northern throw-in deep in the BG end resulted in a long spell of possession for the hosts. But, the BG defense cleared one serve out of the box, then another, and the Falcons finally came up with a steal to alleviate the pressure for the time being. The home team would not have a shot attempt over the final 10 minutes of the match, and the Brown and Orange had the road win.

The shutout was Mwembia's seventh of the season. The freshman from France lowered his goals-against average to 0.54 and raised his saves percentage to 862.

BGSU now steps outside of MAC play for one final time in 2016, returning to the road for a Tuesday (Oct. 25) contest vs. Fort Wayne. Then, the Brown and Orange will face the other two teams currently in the top three in the MAC standings. BG will host Akron on Saturday night (Oct. 29), with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium. The Falcons then close the regular season with a home match against Buffalo on Saturday, Nov. 5.

BGSU MEN'S SOCCER - REMAINING REGULAR-SEASON MATCHES
Tue., Oct. 25 – at Fort Wayne, 7:00
Sat., Oct. 29 – AKRON, 7:00 *
Sat., Nov. 5 – BUFFALO, 7:00 *
* MAC match