BG Battles the Big Ten as September Winds Down

FALCONS vs. OHIO STATE
Saturday, September 24 – 7:06 p.m.
Cochrane Stadium | Bowling Green, Ohio | ESPN3.com
Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com | Twitter: @BGSUmenssoccer

FALCONS at MICHIGAN STATE
Wednesday, September 28 – 4:00 p.m.
DeMartin Soccer Complex | East Lansing, Mich.
Live Stats: MSUSpartans.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

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UP NEXT IN FALCON SOCCER
The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team, still undefeated at home this season, faces another tough test at Cochrane Stadium this weekend. Head coach Eric Nichols and the Falcons begin a two-game stretch against Big Ten Conference opponents by hosting the Ohio State University on Saturday evening (Sept. 24), with kickoff set for 7:06 p.m. at Cochrane.

Then, BGSU will end the month of September with a trip to East Lansing to face Michigan State University on Wednesday (Sept. 28). The Falcons and Spartans will meet in a 4:00 p.m. matchup at MSU's DeMartin Soccer Complex.

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 are scheduled to 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, including Saturday's Ohio State match. 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 for each of the next two games, the OSU match, as mentioned, will be broadcast on ESPN3.com. The MSU match is scheduled to be shown via BTN Plus (fee required), a service of the Big Ten Network.

LOOKING TO MAINTAIN THAT HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE
• The Falcons are 4-0-1 at home this season after battling Dayton to a 1-1 draw on Tuesday night (Sept. 20). BGSU has outscored the opponents, 13-2, in those five matches at Cochrane Stadium.

• Since the start of the 2014 season, BGSU has a record of 16-4-2 at Cochrane. The Falcons went 6-2-0 last year and 6-2-1 in 2014. All four home losses in that time have come by identical 1-0 scores. The two '14 setbacks both came against nationally-ranked opponents. Last year's home losses came on a goal in overtime and a goal with under two minutes left in regulation.

• The Falcons have outscored the opponents, 57-15, at Cochrane Stadium, dating to the final home game of the 2013 season. BG has scored at least two goals in 16 of the 23 matches in that time, with three or more goals in 10 of those games.

• Falcon senior Pat Flynn has singlehandedly outscored the opponents at Cochrane Stadium in his Falcon career. Flynn has scored 19 goals in home games since transferring to BGSU prior to the 2014 season, while Falcon foes, as mentioned, have 15 goals during that time.

A FEW THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons have a 5-2-1 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 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.

• Last week, the Brown and Orange bounced back with a 2-0 win over Wright State at Cochrane, 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 last weekend, 1-0, before battling Dayton to a 1-1, double-overtime draw at Cochrane on Tuesday.

• BGSU is 4-0-1 at home and 1-2-0 on the road this season. The Falcons have outscored the opponents, 13-2, in the five home matches, but BG foes have outscored the Brown and Orange by a 3-2 count in the three road contests.

• The Falcons are 4-0-0 when scoring two or more goals this season. BGSU is 12-0-1 in such matches since the start of the 2015 season, and the Falcons are 42-4-5 when scoring at least two goals in the Eric Nichols Era.

• BGSU is ranked ninth in the Great Lakes Region in the latest NSCAA ratings. The Falcons are ninth in the region for the second-straight week, after being ranked sixth in each of the two weeks prior to that.

• Eight different players have scored at least one goal for the Falcons this season to date. Brennan has a team-leading four goals, while Flynn and fellow senior Joe Sullivan have scored three goals apiece.

• Flynn has a team-best nine points, while Brennan has eight and Sullivan seven, Roth and freshman Robert Miller III each have six points, and those two players share the team assists lead, with four apiece.

• Freshman Anthony Mwembia has played all 759-plus minutes in goal this season to date. He has 28 saves, four shutouts and a goals-against average of just 0.59.

• The Falcons have a record of 28-17-3 (.615) since the start of 2014. 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 34-24-9 since Max Auden, Jacob Roth and Joe Sullivan made their respective playing debuts in 2013, and the Falcons are 28-17-3 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, after his goal against Wright State, now has career totals of 26 goals and 63 points. He is now 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 63 points, Flynn is 10th on that BGSU career chart. He is three points behind Kindl and five points in back of eighth-place Dennis Wesley (1983-84).

• Sullivan enters the Ohio State match with a career total of 46 points, on 16 goals and 14 assists. Roth has 38 points on 11 goals and 16 assists. Roth, the Falcons' active career leader in assists, is just six 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, was cleared to play and made his 2016 debut on Tuesday against Dayton. He has 22 career points on seven goals and eight assists. All three of Auden's career game-winning goals have come against MAC teams, with two in overtime.

• The complete career lists for goals, assists, points and GWG are on page 7.

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.

FALCONS AMONG THE LEADERS
• The Falcons are well represented in the latest NCAA statistics. As a team, BGSU is first in the entire nation in total assists, and the Falcons are second in the country in assists per game.

• BGSU is fifth nationally in total points, and the Falcons are 14th in shots per game. BG is ranked among the nation's top-25 teams in 10 different statistical categories.

• Individually, freshman Anthony Mwembia is seventh in the nation in minutes played by a goalkeeper, and he is 20th in both goals-against average and saves percentage. Senior Jacob Roth and freshman Robert Miller III are tied for 19th in the country in total assists.

FLYNN AMONG THE ACTIVE CAREER LEADERS
Senior Pat Flynn is ranked among the NCAA's active career leaders in a pair of categories. Flynn is fourth among active players in points per game, with 1.43, and he is seventh in goals per game, with 0.59.

SCOUTING OHIO STATE
Ohio State has an overall record of 3-5-0 on the season, but the Buckeyes have won two-straight matches, scoring seven goals in those two wins. OSU is 2-1-0 in Big Ten Conference play. The Buckeyes began the year with four losses, with three coming in overtime, but OSU has wins over Northwestern, Rutgers and Valparaiso over the last four contests. The Buckeyes topped Rutgers, 3-1, then downed Valpo by a 4-1 count behind a Danny Jensen hat trick. OSU is 3-2 at home and 0-3 on the road this season to date. Jensen leads the team with three assists and nine points, and he is tied with Nate Kohl for the team goals lead, with three. In goal, Parker Siegfried has played all eight matches, and has 24 saves and a goals-against average of 1.44. Last season, coach John Bluem's team went 13-7-3 overall and 5-2-1 in Big Ten play, winning the conference regular-season title and advancing to the third round of the NCAA Championships. Bluem welcomed back 13 letterwinners, including seven starters, from that club.

A LOOK AT MICHIGAN STATE
Michigan State is 5-1-0, and the Spartans are 2-0-0 in Big Ten play heading into Friday's match at Maryland. MSU downed Michigan, 1-0, before a school-record crowd of 3,175 on Sunday, and MSU has also defeated SMU, Columbia, Rutgers and Oakland. MSU's lone loss came to Oral Roberts. State is 3-0 at home, 2-0 on the road and 0-1 at neutral sites. Ryan Sierakowski and Ken Krolicki each have two goals and five points to share the team lead in those categories, while Andrew Herr has a team-high four assists. Jimmy Hague has 17 saves in goal, along with two complete-match shutouts and a GAA of just 0.67. Last year, Damon Rensing's club went 8-9-2 overall and 2-4-2 in the Big Ten.

THE SERIES
BGSU leads Ohio State, 24-16-3, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Buckeyes picked up a 2-1 win over the Falcons last year, on a goal with just three seconds left in the second overtime. Two seasons ago, OSU got a pair of penalty kick-related goals in the first half en route to a 3-0 victory in Columbus – BG's only multiple-goal loss during all of the 2014 season. Three seasons ago, in the Buckeyes' last trip to Cochrane Stadium, the Falcons held advantages of 35-12 in total shot attempts and 9-2 in shots on goal, but settled for a scoreless draw vs. OSU. BGSU's last win over OSU was a 3-2 overtime triumph in 2005. The Falcons are 14-4-1 in home games, 9-12-2 in road contests and 1-0-0 in neutral-site meetings with Ohio State through the years.

The Falcons trail Michigan State, 21-16-6, in that series. Like OSU, MSU used a late goal to down BG last year, scoring with under two minutes remaining in the second half for a 1-0 win at Cochrane. MSU also picked up a 1-0 win in BG in 2014, and the Spartans downed the Falcons by that identical score in BGSU's last trip to East Lansing, in 2013. In fact, the first seven BGSU-MSU matches in the Eric Nichols Era have seen MSU win by a single goal on six occasions, while the teams battled to a scoreless draw in 2011. BGSU's last win over State was a 3-1 victory on the road on Sept. 17, 2001.

A MATCH VS. THE ALMA MATER
Two of BGSU's three coaches earned degrees from Ohio State. Head coach Eric Nichols is a 2000 graduate of OSU. He played soccer for the Buckeyes under coach Gary Avedikian, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science.

Assistant coach Zach Mason is in his first year with the Falcons after a stellar four-year playing career at OSU. He started all 82 of the Buckeyes' matches during his career, and was the winner of the 2015 Senior CLASS Award.

AUDEN, ROTH AND SULLIVAN NAMED TEAM CAPTAINS
Seniors Max Auden, Jacob Roth and Joe Sullivan are the tri-captains for the 2016 Falcons. Auden, a fifth-year senior, is serving as a team captain for the second consecutive season.

UP NEXT FOR THE FALCONS
Following the MSU match, the Falcons will open the month of October with a trip to Northern Kentucky (Oct. 4). BG then begins Mid-American Conference play with a match at West Virginia (Oct. 7) before returning home to face Western Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 15.

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Max Auden

Chris Brennan

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