Souahy's Brace Lifts Falcons to Come-From-Behind Win at NKU

Tuesday, October 4

Highland Heights, KY

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

7-3-1

Northern Kentucky

0-10-2

Bowling Green

Northern Kentucky

Alexis Souahy v Oakland Aug 13 2016 - Amanda Cutcher photo

October 04, 2016 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Junior scores two second-half goals for 2-1 road win

By: HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Junior Alexis Souahy scored a pair of second-half goals, lifting the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team to a 2-1, come-from-behind win over Northern Kentucky University. The non-conference match was held at the NKU Soccer Stadium.

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With the win, the Falcons improve to 7-3-1 on the year. The goals were Souahy's first and second, respectively, of the season. Redshirt freshman Noah Kummer, making his collegiate debut in goal, made three saves to pick up the win.

Souahy becomes the 10th different Falcon to score a goal this season, and the seventh to score a game-winning goal in 2016.

The Norse outshot the Falcons, 9-2, in the first half, and NKU took a 1-0 lead into the intermission. But, Souahy tied the match with just under an hour gone, then headed home the winner with just 3:07 left in the second half.

In the final 45 minutes, the Falcons had 12 shots and five corner kicks, to just two shots and one corner for the Norse.

"Full credit to Northern Kentucky," said BGSU head coach Eric Nichols. "They haven't won a game yet, but they're going to, no doubt about it. They've got some good talent, and obviously they're not catching any breaks at the moment, but they're a good team and they're going to win. We are not good enough to beat anyone if we are not playing an A-level game, and that showed in the first half tonight. We got throttled, and we were lucky to go to the locker room only one goal down.

"I'm very impressed and proud of the way the boys responded, because they certainly came out of the locker room a different team in the second half. I really think we deserved the result we got, with the way we played after halftime."

The home team controlled the play in the opening period, and Campbell Morris gave the Norse the lead with just under 25 minutes gone. Off of a right-side cross from Kobie Qualah, Morris hit a hard, curving shot off of the short-hop, and the ball glanced off of the right post and into the net.

NKU took that lead into the second half, and the hosts had the only shot during the first 13 minutes after the intermission. But, the Falcons, after taking just two total shots in the first 58-plus minutes of the match, fired 12 shots in the last 31-plus minutes of the contest.

A shot by senior Jacob Roth was blocked out of play for a corner kick. That corner, taken by senior Joe Sullivan, saw the ball go through the box and get knocked toward the opposite corner,

Sophomore Tate Robertson tracked the ball down, just inside the corner flag, and played a cross toward the six-yard box. Senior Pat Flynn, facing Robertson, flicked the ball behind him, and it went to Souahy on the left side of the box. The junior volleyed the ball past NKU goalkeeper Owen Betz, tying the match with 59:30 gone.

Once the Falcons tied the match, the BG offense was buzzing. Redshirt sophomore Bismark Agyeman stole the ball deep in the NKU end and found Sullivan, but his effort when just wide left. An Agyeman shot from distance was hit with a great deal of force, but was hit directly at Betz.

Junior Keaton Reynolds was fouled as he looked to shoot from approximately 25 yards out, and the ensuing free kick by Roth rang off of the crossbar where it meets the right goalpost.

Agyeman's pass found freshman Robert Miller III, who settled the ball, turned and fired from the top of the box, but his shot was blocked out for a corner kick. Just over a minute later, Sullivan slid a ball to Miller on the left side of the box, but Miller's low, hard cross was grabbed by the 'keeper.

Agyeman's cross in the 76th minute found Reynolds in the box, but his shot was just wide of the near post. Moments later, Souahy took a pass from Sullivan and hit a hard shot that went directly to Betz.

With 10 minutes to go, sophomore Moe Mustafa got his head on Sullivan's corner kick, but the shot went over the bar. Sullivan promptly stole the ensuing goal kick, and played the ball into space for the onrushing Chris Brennan. The freshman poked the ball past the charging Betz, but after Brennan tracked the ball down, his crossing ball was blocked by a lunging defender.

In the 83rd minute, Agyeman sent Robertson down the left side of the field, but Robertson's cross was knocked away. The Falcons were controlling the play, and two minutes later, Flynn was taken down just outside the 18-yard box after receiving a long ball ahead from Souahy. A yellow card was given to an NKU defender on the play, but Robertson's shot on the ensuing free kick went just over the frame.

In the 87th minute, after NKU looked to make a rare second-half foray into the BG end, the Falcons won the ball back. It was played toward the sideline near midfield, where Flynn saved it from going out of bounds and played it to Brennan. Brennan brought the ball from right to left along the 18-yard line and slid a pass to Sullivan. Sullivan flicked the ball toward the goalmouth, and Betz blocked it over the goal line near the near post.

The ensuing corner kick saw Sullivan slide the ball to Roth on the right side. Roth played a diagonal ball into the box, and Souahy rose above the crowd to head it past Betz and into the left side of the net with just 3:07 remaining. The shot, taken from approximately eight yards out, would prove to be the winner.

The Norse pressed forward in an attempt to find the equalizer, and won a throw-in in the BG end of the pitch in the final minute. But, a frantic shot attempt by an NKU player was well off the mark as the final seconds ticked away, and the Falcons had the road win.

The two-goal match was the first of Souahy's collegiate career.

"Alexis is dangerous on set pieces," said Nichols. "He's able to get on all of them. Even when he's not scoring, he's creating something. We don't like to have to rely on one of our center-backs to score two goals in a game, but we know Alexis, Moe (Mustafa) and (Jacob) Roth all have the ability to do that. We've got a lot of different positions, and a lot of different people, that the goals can come from, and tonight they came from Alexis."

For the match, the Falcons had a 14-11 advantage in total shot attempts and a 6-4 edge in shots on goal. Kummer, as mentioned, made three saves to earn the victory, while Betz had four stops for the home side.

BGSU is now 2-3-0 in true road matches this season, and the Falcons are 6-0-1 in night games in 2016.

The Falcons now prepare for Friday's (Oct. 7) Mid-American Conference opener. BGSU will conclude a three-match road swing by taking on West Virginia University in Morgantown. The Mountaineers are listed at #17 in the country in the latest NCAA RPI and are ranked in the top 25 in all four major national polls.