BG Blanks Buckeyes Before Capacity Crowd at Cochrane

Saturday, September 24

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

6-2-1

Ohio State

3-6-0

Ohio State

Bowling Green

Max Auden scored the winning goal in his first start of the year (Ruben Kappler)

Photo by: Ruben Kappler, BGSU Marketing & Communications

September 24, 2016 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Auden, Miller score as Falcons remain undefeated at home

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Senior Max Auden's goal gave the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team an early lead, and the Falcons went on to record a 2-0 victory over the Ohio State University before a large and raucous crowd at Cochrane Stadium Saturday night (Sept. 24). Over 2,500 fans saw the Brown and Orange remain unbeaten at home this season.

Freshman Robert Miller III scored to double the Falcons' lead midway through the second half, while classmate Anthony Mwembia made five saves to earn the shutout in goal.

LINKS
FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
VIDEO: Auden | Coach Nichols | BGSU-OSU Highlights
PHOTO GALLERY: Ruben Kappler, BGSU Marketing & Comm.

With the victory, the Falcons improve to 6-2-1 on the year, and BGSU is now 5-0-1 at home.

BGSU's win was the Falcons' first over the Buckeyes since 2005. OSU saw an eight-match series unbeaten streak snapped on Saturday.

Auden's goal was his first of the season, and came in his first start of the year. Auden missed the first seven matches of 2016 due to an injury suffered in the spring, and came off the bench to make his season debut on Tuesday night (Sept. 20) vs. Dayton.

Miller's goal was his second of the year, doubling the home team's lead in the 67th minute.

Auden became the ninth different Falcon to score a goal this season. He also became the sixth different BGSU player to score the winning goal in the team's six wins this season to date.

BGSU is now 5-0-0 when scoring two or more goals this season, and the Falcons are 43-4-5 in such games in the Eric Nichols Era.

Both of BGSU's goals were the result of pressure applied by the Falcons on the OSU defense. Auden's goal came after senior Joe Sullivan harassed a Buckeye backliner near the end line, to the right of the goal. Sullivan and the defender battled for the ball, which was played toward the near post. Auden and several other OSU defenders were stationed there, and the ball caromed off of several body parts (of several bodies, including Auden's) and into the net. With 7:12 gone, the Falcons had the lead.

Miller's goal came off of a Buckeye back-line breakdown. With BGSU again applying pressure, an OSU player's pass toward his own goal was sent into no-man's land. Miller was first to the ball, and OSU goalkeeper Parker Siegfried was helpless to stop Miller's shot. The Falcon freshman, from near the top of the 18-yard box, hit a one-timer, and Siegfried had no chance to stop it. Miller's goal completed the scoring at the 66:19 mark.

Auden's goal came on the first shot attempt of the match for either team. OSU's first shot attempt came less than a minute after the goal, and the Buckeyes' first shot on goal came with 19 minutes gone. Danny Jensen, who had a hat trick in OSU's midweek win over Valparaiso, received a pass on the left side of the box and fired a low shot, but Mwembia was able to get down and make the save.

With approximately 13 minutes left in the half, sophomore Peter Pugliese and the Falcons worked the ball toward the OSU end of the field. Freshman Chris Brennan, sophomore Tate Robertson and junior Alexis Souahy also were involved in the attack, but after Pugliese took a Robertson pass and played a ball into the box, the Buckeyes were finally able to regain possession.

With eight and a half minutes to go before halftime, a quick restart after a BG foul saw a Buckeye player slide a pass to teammate Marcus McCrary. McCrary quickly fired a shot, but the ball went wide of the far post. Two minutes later, Leo Kossaka stole and ball and played a cross into the box, where it found the head of Nate Kohl. But, Kohl's shot was hit directly at Mwembia, who made the easy save.

Just over five minutes remained in the half when the Falcons displayed some of the best sustained offense of the night. BG was able to string together 10 passes, with seven different players touching the ball. Pugliese and senior Pat FLynn worked a nifty give-and-go play as part of that sequence, and Pugliese then found redshirt sophomore Bismark Agyeman. Agyeman laid the ball back to Brennan, who blasted a shot that went over the crossbar.

Early in the second half, Auden stole an OSU pass and quickly chipped a ball over the Buckeye defense toward the onrushing Brennan. The ball was just out of Brennan's reach, however, as Siegfried beat the Falcon freshman to it by a split second.

The Buckeyes pressured, and OSU got a pair of shots in a two-minute span. But, Niall Logue's shot sailed high, while Austin Bergstrom's effort was saved by Mwembia after it caromed off of a BG defender.

WIth just under an hour gone, Robertson stole the ball and fired a quick shot, but the ball went wide of the far post. Two minutes later, Auden and Flynn worked a combination play, but as Flynn found Auden with a return pass, the assistant referee raised his flag, indicating an offside call against the Falcons.

Midway through the half, however, an errant OSU pass resulted in Miller's unassisted goal and a two-goal BGSU lead. Miller's goal came less than two minutes -- 1:46, to be exact -- after he had entered the match for the first time.

Nearly four minutes after the goal, the visitors had one of their better scoring chances of the match, as a quick one-touch pass found McCrary in the box. His shot, however, was smothered by the charging Mwembia, keeping the Buckeyes scoreless.

OSU had one more solid scoring chance before time expired, but a shot by Abdi Mohamed hit the outside of the right post, where the post meets the crossbar. The ball caromed toward the corner flag, and the visitors were not able to get another shot off before time expired. The BG defense regained control of the ball, and a Falcon centerback played a long ball over the midfield line as the final seconds ticked away.

Auden scored a goal against OSU for the second consecutive season. He had BG's lone goal in a 2-1, double-overtime loss in Columbus last season.

The Falcons now prepare for a second-straight Big Ten Conference opponent, as BG heads to East Lansing to take on Michigan State University on Wednesday (Sept. 28). That match will begin at 4:00 p.m. at MSU's DeMartin Soccer Complex.