Falcons Open MAC Play at WVU Friday Night

FALCONS at #22/24 WEST VIRGINIA
Friday, October 7 – 7:00 p.m.
Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium | Morgantown, W.Va.
Live Stats: WVUsports.com | Twitter: @BGSUmenssoccer

FOLLOW THE FALCONS...
Links to any live audio/video/stats will be available on the men's soccer schedule page at BGSUFalcons.com on match day

BGSU MEN'S SOCCER LINKS
This Week's Notes - PDF *
2016 Season Releases/Notes
NKU Recap: Souahy's Brace Leads Falcons to Come-From-Behind Win
2016 BGSU Men's Soccer Media Guide | Schedule | Roster
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* Notes are from Monday (prior to the NKU match)

UP NEXT IN FALCON SOCCER
The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team concludes a three-match road swing with a weekend match against a nationally-ranked opponent. Head coach Eric Nichols and the Falcons head to Morgantown, W.Va., for a Friday evening (Oct. 7) matchup against West Virginia University. The Mid-American Conference opener is set for a 7:00 p.m. start at WVU's Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium. BGSU is in the midst of a stretch which sees the Falcons play on the road six times in seven games.

FREE ADMISSION / FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Again this season, admission to all Falcon men's and women's soccer home regular-season matches is free. For those who can't make it to Cochrane Stadium, live stats will be available for each home contest via BGSUFalcons.com. Twitter updates for all men's soccer action in 2016, both home and away, will be available via @BGSUmenssoccer. And, plans are in the works to broadcast several home matches on ESPN3.com. All of the pertinent information can be found on the web at BGSUFalcons.com on the day of the match.

• In addition to live stats, the WVU match is scheduled to have a live stream via WVUsports.com.

TOUGH CROWD
• BGSU has seven regular-season matches remaining. The Falcons' seven remaining opponents have a combined record of 42-21-9, good for a winning percentage of .646.

• The Falcons' next three opponents – WVU, Western Michigan and Kentucky – have a combined record of 21-7-4 (.719).

• Three of BG's remaining opponents are ranked in at least one national top-25 poll. That trio includes WVU, UK and Akron. A fourth Falcon foe, Buffalo, is receiving votes in one poll.

A FEW THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons have a 7-3-1 record this season to date. BG opened the year with three multiple-goal wins at Cochrane Stadium, downing IUPUI, Appalachian State and Marshall. The Falcons scored 10 goals and conceded just one in those three matches.

• BG went on the road for the first time and picked up a win, as freshman Chris Brennan's goal with just four seconds left in the second overtime gave the Falcons a thrilling 1-0 victory at Cleveland State. But, three days later (Sept. 10), BG lost for the first time in 2016, falling at Western Illinois by a 2-1 result.

• The Brown and Orange bounced back with a 2-0 win over Wright State in this year's battle for the I-75 Cup. Seniors Jacob Roth and Pat Flynn scored BG's goals in that win. BG fell at Cincinnati, 1-0, then battled Dayton to a 1-1, double-OT draw.

• BG downed Ohio State by a 2-0 result before a crowd of over 2,500 fans at Cochrane. In last week's lone match, the Falcons returned to the road and dropped a narrow 1-0 decision against #25 Michigan State.

• On Tuesday (Oct. 4), the Brown and Orange rallied from a halftime deficit for a 2-1 win at Northern Kentucky. Junior Alexis Souahy scored a pair of second-half goals, for the first multiple-goal match of his collegiate career. His second goal of the night came with just 3:07 to go.

• BGSU is 5-0-1 at home and 2-3-0 on the road this season. The Falcons have outscored the opponents, 15-2, in the six home matches, but BG foes have outscored the Brown and Orange by a 5-4 count in the five road contests.

• The Falcons are 6-0-0 when scoring two or more goals this season. BGSU is 14-0-1 in such matches since the start of the 2015 season, and the Falcons are 44-4-5 when scoring at least two goals in the Eric Nichols Era.

• BGSU was ranked 10th in the Great Lakes Region in the latest NSCAA ratings (as of Tuesday). It marked the sixth-straight week that the Falcons were listed in the regional rankings..

• Souahy's two goals at NKU were his first and second goals of the season. He became the 10th different player to have scored at least one goal for the Falcons this season to date, and the seventh different player to score a match-winning goal.

• Brennan has a team-leading four goals, while Flynn and fellow senior Joe Sullivan have scored three goals apiece.

• Flynn has a team-best 10 points, while Sullivan has nine and Brennan and fellow freshman Robert Miller III eight apiece. Roth leads the team with five assists, while Flynn and Miller have four each.

• Freshman goalkeeper Anthony Mwembia played every minute of the Falcons' first 10 matches this season. He has 37 saves, five shutouts and a goals-against average of just 0.57. Redshirt freshman Noah Kummer made his collegiate debut at NKU and played all 90 minutes, making three saves.

• A total of 21 players have seen action for the Falcons this fall to date, with 16 players making at least one start. Seven players – Flynn, Roth, Souahy, Sullivan, junior Brad Macomber, redshirt sophomore Bismark Agyeman and true soph Tate Robertson – each have started all 11 matches.

• The Falcons have a record of 30-18-3 (.618) since the beginning of the 2014 season. The '14 team went 14-6-1, posting the program's most wins in nearly two decades (since 1997), and advanced to the MAC Tournament's championship match for the first time since 2003. Last year's team finished 9-9-1, marking only the second time since 2000 that BGSU had won as many as nine games in a season.

SENIORS ARE LEAVING THEIR MARK
• All four of the Falcons' seniors have made their mark on the program. BGSU has a record of 36-25-9 since Max Auden, Jacob Roth and Joe Sullivan made their respective playing debuts in 2013, and the Falcons are 30-18-3 since Pat Flynn joined that group prior to the 2014 campaign.

• That quartet is beginning to etch their names in the BGSU record book as well. Flynn has career totals of 26 goals and 64 points. He is tied with Chris Dore (1996-99) for eighth place on the BGSU career goals list, and is just one goal behind seventh-place Dave Kindl (1993-96). Flynn is only four goals shy of fifth place on that list.

• With 64 points, Flynn is 10th on that BGSU career chart. He is two points behind Kindl and four points in back of eighth-place Dennis Wesley (1983-84).

• Sullivan enters the WVU match with a career total of 48 points, on 16 goals and 16 assists. Roth has 39 points on 11 goals and 17 assists. Roth, the Falcons' active career leader in assists, is just five shy of 10th place on that BG career list.

• Flynn and Sullivan each have eight career game-winning goals, good for a tie for fourth place on that BGSU list (NOTE: GWG information since 1987).

• Auden, who missed the first seven matches of the year due to an injury suffered in the spring, has played in the last four matches, starting against Ohio State, Michigan State and Northern Kentucky. He scored the winner vs. OSU, and now has 24 career points on eight goals and eight assists. Auden has four career game-winning goals, with the first three coming against MAC teams (two in overtime) in 2014.

NAPERVILLE ––> BGSU
• Three of the Falcons' four seniors – Max Auden, Pat Flynn and Joe Sullivan – are natives of Naperville, Ill. Auden and Sullivan played high-school soccer together at Naperville North H.S., while Flynn attended Naperville Central H.S.

• But, all three played club ball for Galaxy Soccer Club under the direction of Brett Strang, a BG men's soccer alumnus. Naperville North is coached by another Falcon men's soccer alum, Jim Konrad.

• Auden, Flynn and Sullivan are the latest in a long line of Naperville products who have played for the Falcons during the Eric Nichols Era. Naperville natives Byard Ebling, Tanner Fink, Danny Shea and Michael Wiest all played at least two seasons at BGSU under Nichols.

SCOUTING WVU
West Virginia is 6-2-1 on the season, heading into Friday night's MAC opener vs. the Falcons. The Mountaineers saw a seven-match unbeaten streak, and a school-record shutout streak of over 750 minutes, come to an end in Saturday's 2-1 overtime loss to visiting Saint Mary's (Calif.). WVU is 4-1-1 at home, 1-0 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site matches this year to date. The Mountaineers are ranked 17th in the nation in the latest RPI rankings, and WVU is 22nd in both the College Soccer News and Top Drawer Soccer polls, 24th in the NSCAA rankings and 25th by Soccer America. Three players – Jad Arslan, Felix Angerer and Joey Piatczyc – are tied for the team lead with five points. Arslan, Angerer and Tucker Stephenson have two goals apiece, while Piatczyc has a team-high three assists. In goal, Jose Santos has played every second of every match, and has 23 saves, seven shutouts and a GAA of just 0.43. A year ago, head coach Marlon LeBlanc's team went 7-12-0 overall and 2-3 in MAC play. LeBlanc welcomed back 13 letterwinners, including five starters, from that club.

THE SERIES
The Falcons lead West Virginia, 5-2-2, in the all-time series between the programs. Last year, the Falcons got a pair of second-half goals for a 2-0 win at Cochrane (Oct. 24, 2015). In 2014, the teams split a pair of one-goal outcomes, as WVU scored a late goal for a 2-1 regular-season victory in Morgantown, before Max Auden scored in the first minute of overtime to give BG a 3-2 win in the MAC Tournament semifinals. The Falcons are 2-1-0 at home, 0-1-1 on the road and 3-0-1 at neutral sites vs. WVU through the years.

UP NEXT FOR THE FALCONS
Following the WVU match, the Falcons will return home to face Western Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 15. Then, BGSU will return to the road for the next three matches, taking on Kentucky, Northern Illinois and Fort Wayne.

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Bismark Agyeman

Max Auden

Chris Brennan

Pat Flynn

Noah Kummer

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Anthony Mwembia

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Jacob Roth

Danny Shea

Alexis Souahy

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