Falcons Blank WSU, 2-0, to Keep I-75 Cup in Bowling Green

Tuesday, September 13

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

5-1-0

Wright State

3-3-0

Wright State

Bowling Green

September 13, 2016 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Goals by Roth, Flynn help BGSU improve to 5-1-0

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team kept possession of the I-75 Cup, downing Wright State University by a 2-0 final at Cochrane Stadium on Tuesday night (Sept. 13). Senior Jacob Roth scored in the first half and classmate Pat Flynn in the second, as the Falcons improved to 5-1-0 on the year.

LINKS
FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
POST-MATCH VIDEO: Macomber | Coach Nichols
PHOTO GALLERY: Larry Clapper, BGSU Athletics
PHOTO GALLERY II: Amanda Cutcher, BGSU Athletic Communications

The Falcons defeated the Raiders for the fifth consecutive year, and BGSU is now 6-1-0 vs. WSU since Falcon coach Eric Nichols and Wright State coach Bryan Davis came up with the idea for the cup, a traveling trophy which goes to the winner of each year's match, prior to the 2010 season. Each of BGSU's previous four wins during the current streak were by one goal.

The Raiders drop to 3-3-0 on the season. Wright State had a 17-14 advantage in total shot attempts, and the visitors had eight corner kicks to the Falcons' two. But, WSU could put just three of their 17 shots on target, as four of those shots were blocked and 10 sailed wide or high. BGSU had a 7-3 edge in shots on goal.

Freshman Anthony Mwembia made three saves to earn his fourth shutout in six matches this season to date. At the other end of the field, WSU's Joel Sundell made five stops.

The Falcons had several chances in the early going, but could not muster a shot over the first 14 minutes. Just under five minutes in, sophomore Peter Pugliese took a pass from classmate Tate Robertson on the left side of the pitch and hit a cross into the penalty area. But, no teammate could get on the other end of it, and the ball sailed all the way through the box. Soph Bismark Agyeman stole a WSU pass and headed toward the box in the seventh minute, but the Raiders were able to recover.

WSU had four consecutive corner kicks in a span of just over a minute, with two coming from the northeast corner of the field and two from the northwest. The first three were knocked out of play by the BG defense, and the fourth was cleared out of the box.

With roughly 14 minutes gone, Robertson took a pass from soph Vincent Giannini and played a ball ahead to Flynn. As the senior headed into the box, he was taken down by a Wright State defender, and a penalty kick was awarded. Roth buried that PK into the back of the net at the 14:03 mark, and the Falcons had what would prove to be the winning goal.

But, the match was far from over. WSU would continue to pressure the Falcons all night, but Mwembia and the BG defense thwarted every attack. Four minutes after Roth's goal, Mwembia was forced to make a point-blank save on the Raiders' Eric Lynch near the right post.

With just under 20 minutes left in the half, the visitors had a 2-on-1 break on a counterattack. Jackson Dietrich took a pass on the left side, but he fired a low shot that went wide of the far post. Less than two minutes later, Mwembia took the ball off of Lynch's boot in the box. Then, the Falcon freshman punched a dangerous cross out of the box.

In the 40th minute, junior Keaton Reynolds and freshman Chris Brennan each entered the match for the first time. Less than a minute later, Reynolds played a through ball to Brennan approximately 30 yards away from goal. As he went around his defender, though, Brennan was tripped up. A free kick was awarded but the shot sailed high.

In the final minute of the half, the Raiders won a corner kick, their sixth of the night. The ball was deflected to AJ Paterson in the box, but he skied his shot over the bar, and the Falcons took a 1-0 lead into the intermission.

The visitors were credited with the first four shots of the second half, but none of them were on target. In the 60th minute, Robertson had BG's first shot of the half, as his curving ball was saved near the upper-right-hand corner of the frame by Sundell. Then, two minutes later, Robertson's pass found Flynn in the box, and the senior striker hit a hard turnaround shot. But, that ball was stopped by Sundell as well.

Reynolds and freshman Robert Miller III worked a nifty combination play in tight quarters in the 72nd minute, and Reynolds was able to put a shot on frame, but the WSU 'keeper was able to make the stop. Less than a minute later, however the Falcons had the ball back. Pugliese found Reynolds, who played a ball to Miller on the right side of the box. But, the freshman's effort went wide.

The Raiders were whistled for a foul and a yellow card with just over 14 minutes to go. Roth took the ensuing free kick, and blasted a shot that very nearly found the upper half of the goal. It was all Sundell could do to get a fingertip on the ball and nudge it over the crossbar.

With under eight minutes to play, junior Brad Macomber and sophomores Dominic Grida and Agyeman combined to work the ball forward. A pass toward the box was nearly stolen, but Agyeman kept possession for the Falcons and played a pass to Flynn. The senior, from about 12 yards out, hit a turnaround shot that found the lower right corner of the net, and the home team had a two-goal margin.

The Raiders had a pair of shots in the final three-plus minutes, but Luke Treadway's shot went high and a Paterson effort was wide.

The Falcons return to the road this weekend, taking on Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 17). That match is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. Then, BGSU will return home to face Dayton (Sept. 20) and Ohio State (Sept. 24) next week.

A FEW FALCON NOTES
* BGSU is now 4-0-0 at home this season, and the Falcons have scored at least two goals in each of those four matches. BG has scored 12 goals at Cochrane Stadium, to the opponents' one.

* Senior Jacob Roth became the eighth different player to score a goal for the Falcons this season. Three Falcons have three goals apiece, while five others have one goal each.

* Senior Pat Flynn is one of those three players with three goals. He leads the team with nine points on the year.

* Sophomore Bismark Agyeman picked up his first assist of the season on Tuesday night. Agyeman tied for the team lead with five assists a year ago.

* Sophomore Dominic Grida picked up an assist against the Raiders on Tuesday, for the first point of his collegiate career.

* Freshman Tom Wrobel -- who did not play in any of the Falcons' first five matches of the year -- made his first career start and played all 90 minutes of the win over WSU.

* Freshman Anthony Mwembia had his fourth shutout of the season. Mwembia has a goals-against average of just 0.48 and a saves percentage of .893 this year to date.