Falcons Fly Past IUPUI, 4-0, in Season Opener

Friday, August 26

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

1-0-0

IUPUI

0-1-0

IUPUI

Bowling Green

Vincent Giannini (20) opened the scoring in Friday night's win

Photo by: Christine Nelson, BGSU Marketing & Communications

August 26, 2016 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Four different players score; Mwembia & Company earn a clean sheet

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team got the 2016 season off to a successful start, scoring three first-half goals en route to a 4-0 win over IUPUI Friday night (Aug. 26). The non-conference matchup was held at Cochrane Stadium.

Four different players scored for the Falcons, with three of those four registering the first goal of their respective BGSU careers.

LINKS
FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
VIDEO: Giannini | Roth | Coach Nichols | Highlights
PHOTO GALLERY: Christine Nelson, BGSU Marketing & Communications

Sophomore Vincent Giannini started the scoring barrage in the 13th minute, and senior Joe Sullivan and freshman Chris Brennan also notched first-half goals. Sophomore Moe Mustafa's header completed the scoring midway through the second half.

At the other end of the pitch, freshman Anthony Mwembia and the BGSU defense earned a shutout. Mwembia made four saves in earning the first clean sheet of his collegiate career.

Three different Falcons had two assists apiece in Friday's win. That trio included seniors Pat Flynn and Jacob Roth and freshman Robert Miller III.

Two of BGSU's goals came after nifty combination plays in tight quarters inside or near the penalty area. The other two goals were headed past IUPUI goalkeeper Josh Gray after long serves into the box by Roth.

The Falcons dominated possession during the opening minutes of play, but could not get any shots on goal in the first 10 minutes. The game's first shot on target came when the visitors' Ben Thornton got his head on a long throw-in, but Thornton's effort was nodded directly at Mwembia, who easily made the save.

BG's first shot on goal -- and actually, the Falcons first THREE shots on goal -- got past Gray and into the net. With 12:30 elapsed, Giannini got his first collegiate goal, which also proved to be his first game-winning goal as a Falcon.

The Falcons' first goal came after junior Brad Macomber won the ball from IUPUI in the Falcons' offensive end of the pitch. Macomber played a pass back to Roth, who hit a diagonal ball into the penalty area. From approximately 10 yards out, Giannini ran onto the serve and headed the ball downward. It bounced near the six-yard box, caroming past Gray and into the left side of the net. Roth and Macomber drew assists on the goal.

Flynn, the Falcons' leading scorer in each of the last two seasons, got on the end of a long Mwembia clearance in the 17th minute and made a run into the box. Flynn, working against a pair of defenders, kept possession of the ball for a lengthy amount of time, but an IUPUI backliner finally was able to poke the ball away as Flynn headed into the penalty area.

Moments later, however, the Falcons doubled the lead. Sullivan settled a throw-in from sophomore Peter Pugliese on the left side of the field and headed toward the box. Working in close quarters with several defenders in the area, Sullivan and Flynn worked a nifty combination play. Sullivan slid a pass to Flynn, continued his run from left to right and received a quick return pass from his fellow senior. Sullivan quickly slotted the ball toward the far post, and Gray could only watch as it settled into the right-side netting. With 20:15 elapsed, the Brown and Orange had a two-goal lead.

Redshirt sophomore Bismark Agyeman stole an IUPUI pass and played the ball ahead to Miller as the game reached the half-hour mark. Gray came a long way out of the goalmouth to break up the play with a sliding effort. But, moments later, Miller would begin the Falcons' third scoring play of the night.

With approximately 10 minutes left in the half, the freshman slid a pass ahead to classmate Chris Brennan. Brennan worked a give-and-go with Flynn, receiving Flynn's return pass on the right side of the box and hitting a low shot into the far left corner. Flynn and Miller each drew assists on the play, and with just over 35 minutes gone, it was a three-goal game.

Junior Keaton Reynolds nearly made it a four-goal contest with just over five minutes left in the half. He took a pass from Brennan and hit a gorgeous shot with the outside of his foot. The ball spun over Gray, but struck the left post. Reynolds was first to the rebound, but his shot sailed high.

IUPUI's best chance of the half came in the final seconds. A long, hard shot by Cristian Soto nearly found the top of the goal, but Mwembia made a leaping effort to tip the ball off of the crossbar, and the horn sounded to end the period.

The BGSU offense was buzzing in the second half, and the Falcons finally broke through. Roth took a pass from Miller and played a diagonal ball into the box from the right side. Mustafa timed his run perfectly, racing into the box and heading the ball back toward the right post. Gray had no chance to make a save as Mustafa's shot found the upper right corner of the goal.

Less than two minutes later, Roth stole the ball and found Sullivan with a quick pass. Sullivan uncorked a shot from distance, and it was all Gray could do to get his fingertips on the ball and nudge it over the bar.

On the night, the Falcons outshot the Jaguars by a 20-12 count, and BG had nine shots on goal to the visitors' four. Mwembia, as mentioned, made four saves in the win, while Gray made five stops for the Jags.

The Falcons will return to Cochrane Stadium on Sunday afternoon (Aug. 28), taking on Appalachian State University in a 12:00 p.m. match. That contest is the first half of a doubleheader which will see the BGSU women's soccer team face Oakland University at approximately 2:30 p.m.

FALCON NOTES
* The Falcons are now 7-1-0 in home openers in the Eric Nichols Era. BGSU has outscored the opposition by a 21-3 count in those eight matches.

* The Falcons are 7-0-1 in overall season openers since Nichols assumed the helm, and BG has outscored the foes, 21-1, in season-opening matches.

* Four players made the first appearances of their respective BGSU careers in Friday night's win. That group included Anthony Mwembia, Chris Brennan, Charlie Maciejewski and Robert Miller III.

* BGSU scored four goals in a match for the first time in nearly a year, since a 4-1 win over Western Illinois on Aug. 30, 2015, at Cochrane. The Falcons have not scored more than four times in a match since an 8-0 victory over Findlay two years ago (Sept. 2, 2014).

* Friday night marked the first time four different Falcons scored in a match since that Findlay contest.

* Three Falcons -- sophomores Vincent Giannini and Moe Mustafa and freshman Chris Brennan -- scored the first goal of their respective collegiate careers.

* Senior Joe Sullivan also scored on Friday night, and the goal was the 14th of his career. Sullivan now has 41 career points at BG.

* No fewer than five Falcons scored the first points of their BG careers. In addition to Giannini, Mustafa and Brennan, sophomore Peter Pugliese and freshman Robert Miller III found the scoresheet. Pugliese had an assist on Sullivan's first-half goal, while Miller assisted on each of the Falcons' last two scores..

* Senior Pat Flynn was one of three Falcons to have two assists on Friday night. He now has 10 career assists at BG. With 56 career points, Flynn is now just three points shy of 10th place on that BGSU list.

* Senior Jacob Roth had two assists vs. IUPUI, the fifth multiple-assist match of his career. Roth now has 34 career points at BG, and he leads all active Falcons with 14 career assists.

* BGSU now leads IUPUI, 3-1-2, in the all-time series, and BGSU has a five-match series unbeaten streak.