First-Half Scoring Explosion Propels Falcons to 3-1 Win

Saturday, October 28

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM ET

Bowling Green State University

7-8-1, 1-2-1MAC

Northern Illinois

3-10-1, 0-3-1MAC

Northern Illinois

Bowling Green

Alexis Souahy celebrates after scoring v NIU - Oct 28 2017

Senior Alexis Souahy reacts after scoring what proved to be the winning goal (photo by Isaiah Vazquez)

October 28, 2017 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

BGSU downs NIU on Senior Night to move into fourth place in the MAC

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team exploded for three goals in a span of just over 17 minutes, rallying from an early deficit for a 3-1 win over Northern Illinois University Saturday night (Oct. 28). The Mid-American Conference match was held at Cochrane Stadium.

On Senior Night, senior Alexis Souahy scored what proved to be the winning goal, while junior Tate Robertson and sophomore Chris Brennan also found the back of the net.

The Huskies took the lead on a Christian Molina goal in the 14th minute of the match, and NIU goalkeeper Konrad Dziedzic saved a penalty kick just over eight minutes later to keep his team in the lead. But, Robertson – who was stopped on that PK try – scored the tying goal in the 27th minute, and Souahy gave the Falcons the lead for good just under four minutes later.

Brennan scored his team-leading fifth goal of the season with just 52 seconds left in the half.

Sophomore Anthony Mwembia made five saves in the victory.

With the win, the Falcons move into fourth place in the MAC standings with one game to go.

BGSU MEN'S SOCCER LINKS
FINAL STATISTICS: PDF
PHOTO GALLERY: Isaiah Vazquez, BGSU Mkt. & Comm.
VIDEO: In the Nest: Mwembia
This Week's BGSU Notes as a PDF
2017 BGSU Men's Soccer Weekly Releases/Notes
BGSU Photo Galleries *
BGSU Men's Soccer Videos
MAC Office Announces Preseason Poll
2017 BGSU Men's Soccer: Schedule | Roster | Record Book
Join the Falcon Club Today!
* all sports - choose "men's soccer" in the drop-down link at the top right of the page

NOTE OF THE NIGHT

The win kept the Falcons' MAC Tournament hopes alive. As mentioned above, BGSU has moved into fourth place in the league standings. The top-four teams make the conference tourney. BGSU is now two points ahead of fifth-place West Virginia. A win at Western Michigan next Saturday would clinch a league tourney berth, but the Falcons could also qualify for the MAC Tournament with a tie or a loss, depending on the result of WVU's match at SIUE.

MAC STANDINGS
School (Overall) MAC   Pts.
1. Western Mich. (14-2-1) 4-0-0 12
2. Akron (12-3-1) 3-1-0 9
3. SIUE (7-8-1) 2-2-0    6
4. Bowling Green (7-8-1) 1-2-1 4
5. West Virginia (8-5-4) 0-2-2 2
6. Northern Ill. (3-10-1)   0-3-1    1

MAC WEEKEND RESULTS
Fri., Oct. 27 – Akron 4, at West Virginia 0
Sat., Oct. 28 – at Bowling Green 3, Northern Illinois 1
Sat., Oct. 28 – at Western Michigan 1, SIUE 0 *

REMAINING MAC SCHEDULE
Sat., Nov. 4 – Bowling Green at Western Michigan, 1:00 p.m. ET
Sat., Nov. 4 – Northern Illinois at Akron, 7:00 p.m. ET
Sat., Nov. 4 – West Virginia at SIUE, 8:00 p.m. ET

FIRST-HALF HIGHLIGHTS

2' – On a cold but dry night at Cochrane Stadium, the Falcons applied the lion's share of the pressure in the early going. Freshman Zach Buescher fired the first shot of the night with 89 seconds gone, but his one-timer was deflected by a Huskie defender and grabbed by a diving Konrad Dziedzic near the lower left corner of the goal.
9' – Junior Tate Robertson took a pass from sophomore Charlie Maciejewski on the left side of the field, and Robertson fired a cross into the box. Dziedzic got his hand on the ball, and an NIU defender was able to clear it just before junior Ebenezer Ackon arrived.
12' – Giovanni Pacheco took the ball down the right side of the field for the Huskies, but his dangerous-looking cross rolled through the box without being touched.
14' – The Huskies got on the scoreboard first. On a counterattack, Jan Maertins, NIU's top scorer, made a long run downfield and fired a shot that was saved by Falcon sophomore Anthony Mwembia. But, Christian Molina got to the rebound first and fired it home. A BG defender nearly blocked the ball, but could not keep it from crossing the goal line.
22' – Freshman Chris Sullivan took a pass from sophomore Chris Brennan, and Sullivan was pulled down from behind in the box. A yellow card was assessed to NIU's Edmond Montano, and a penalty kick was awarded to the Falcons. But, Dziedzic made a diving stop of Robertson's PK to keep his team in the lead.
26' – Brennan made a long run down the left side, and hit a hard cross/shot, but it was grabbed by Dziedzic.
27' – Robertson and the Falcons got on the scoreboard, tying the contest. Junior Peter Pugliese's right-side cross was deflected by a leaping Dziedzic, but the ball went directly to Robertson. The junior settled it, then fired a hard, low shot that went past several NIU defenders as well as Dziedzic, finding the far-side netting. Pugliese and Buescher drew assists on the goal.
31' – The Falcons took the lead on senior Alexis Souahy's goal. The ball was played into the box, and Pugliese blooped it over the head of an NIU defender to Ackon. Ackon slid a pass toward the goalmouth that Dziedzic got a piece of, but could not stop. The ball rolled to a wide-open Souahy, who deposited it into the vacated net from close range.
39' – Souahy's bid for a brace in his final home match was thwarted by a Huskie defender, who blocked his shot off the goal line after a Robertson corner.
42' – Montano was whistled for a hard foul, and – already having been given a yellow card – was shown a red card. The Huskies would be shorthanded for the final 48:35 of the contest.
45' – Brennan gave the home side a two-goal lead with just 52 seconds left in the half. Robertson stole an errant NIU pass in the middle third of the pitch, just over midfield, and quickly fired a ball ahead to Brennan. The sophomore striker, in alone on Dziedzic, poked the ball past the Huskie goalkeeper and rolled it into the open net.

SECOND-HALF HIGHLIGHTS

52' – The Falcons put six or seven passes together, working the ball into the NIU end of the field. Ackon, Maciejewski and sophomore Tom Wrobel all helped to get the Brown and Orange across midfield, and Pugliese and Sullivan then successfully worked a combination play. Pugliese slid a pass to Maciejewski, but the sophomore fired high from the top of the box.
55' – Molina crossed the ball into the box from the right side, and Maertins hit a nifty side-volley from approximately 12 yards out, but his shot went just wide.
59' – Senior Brad Macomber's through-ball put Pugliese in on the right side of the box, and the junior fired a blast that thwacked off of the near post. A BG teammate got his foot on the ball, but it was deflected out of play for a corner kick. Off of that Robertson corner, Ackon rifled a shot from the center of the box, but it was hit directly at a grateful Dziedzic.
61' – Maertins had his first of two solid scoring chances on a two-minute span, but his first effort was blocked off of the line by a Falcon defender, and a header was denied by Mwembia.
75' – Pugliese played a ball behind the NIU defense and into the box, and Sullivan beat Dziedzic to the ball by a fraction of a second. The Falcon freshman hit a shot that was deflected by the NIU 'keeper and bounced away.
78' – Mwembia made back-to-back saves, diving to stop a Luke Read effort, then somehow denying Maertins on the rebound. The spectacular effort kept the home team ahead by two goals.
84' – NIU's Noel Lopez was shown a red card for a hard tackle from behind, and the Huskies were down to nine men.
90' – With just 22 seconds to go, Read found himself open in the box, but fired his shot over the goal.

ALEXIS SOUAHY POST-MATCH INTERVIEW

ERIC NICHOLS POST-MATCH INTERVIEW

STATISTICS

The Falcons recorded season-high totals in total shots (22), shots on goal (12) and corner kicks (10), and BG tied a season best with three goals scored.
NIU had totals of 14 shot attempts, seven shots on goal and three corners.
Anthony Mwembia had five saves for the Falcons, while Konrad Dziedzic made eight stops for the visitors. Each team was credited with one 'team save' as a defender blocked a shot off of the goal line.
Chris Brennan had six total shots and five shots on goal, setting BGSU season bests in both categories. Tate Robertson and Alexis Souahy had four and three total shots, respectively.
For NIU, Jan Maertins (six) and Luke Read (four) combined for 10 of the team's 14 shots. Maertins had four shots on goal to pace the Huskies in that department.
BG was whistled for 10 fouls to NIU's nine, but the Huskies had four total cards, including two red cards. The Falcons had a pair of yellow cards in the match.

FALCON TEAM NOTES

Saturday night was Senior Night for the men's soccer program, with BGSU's seven seniors recognized in ceremonies prior to the match. That group included Aaron Davis, Theo Jamilloux, Prayag Jina, Billy Larsen, Brad Macomber, Keaton Reynolds and Alexis Souahy.
Both Jamilloux and Souahy are natives of France, and after the starting lineups were introduced, the national anthem of that country was played prior to the Star-Spangled Banner.
Saturday night marked the first time in 2017 that the Falcons got a result when allowing a goal. Prior to the NIU match, BGSU had been 6-0-1 when shutting out the opponent, but 0-8-0 when allowing one or more goals.
It marked the first time BG had allowed a goal and won in over a year, since a 2-1 win at Northern Kentucky on Oct. 4, 2016. Alexis Souahy scored the winning goal in that match as well.
At the other end of the pitch, BGSU scored three goals for just the second time this season.
The Falcons scored three goals in a half for the first time since last season's opener. On Aug. 26, 2016, the Brown and Orange scored three first-half goals en route to a 4-0 win over IUPUI at Cochrane Stadium.
BGSU is now 6-0-0 this season when scoring two or more goals. The Falcons are 20-0-2 in such matches since the start of the 2015 season and 50-4-6 in the Eric Nichols Era.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES AND NUMBERS

Sophomore Amandy Ayima made the first start of his BGSU career.
Sophomore Chris Brennan's goal vs. NIU was his team-leading fifth of the season. He also paces the Falcons with 14 points.
In his career, Brennan now has 26 points in 34 matches.
Junior Tate Robertson had three points on the night, tying his career best. He also had a goal and an assist vs. Akron almost exactly a year ago (Oct. 29, 2016) and vs. Western Illinois earlier this fall (Sept. 9, 2017).
Robertson is now second on the Falcons in scoring with 11 points this year. He has two goals and a team-leading seven assists.
Robertson has 19 career points on four goals and 11 assists.
Senior Alexis Souahy's goal on Saturday night was his third of the season and the sixth of his BGSU career. He now has eight points this year and 17 in his three seasons at BG.
Souahy had his first game-winning goal of the season and the second of his BG tenure. He scored both goals in a 2-1 win at Northern Kentucky last fall (Oct. 4, 2016).
Souahy has played in all 54 of BGSU's matches since joining the program. During that time, he has been on the bench for a total of 29 seconds.
Junior Peter Pugliese had the first multiple-assist match of his BGSU career. Pugliese now has three assists this season and six in his Falcon career.
Junior Ebenezer Ackon, playing in just his fourth match as a Falcon, picked up his second assist.
Freshman Zach Buescher recorded his third assist of the season. The Falcons are 3-0-0 when Buescher scores a point.
Seven Falcons played all 90 minutes of Saturday night's match. That group included Ackon, Robertson, Souahy, senior Brad Macomber, sophomores Anthony Mwembia and Tom Wrobel and freshman Chris Sullivan. Brennan was on the field for 87 minutes, while sophomore Charlie Maciejewski played 80 minutes, Buescher 78 and Pugliese 70.

UP NEXT

The Falcons close the regular-season schedule next Saturday (Nov. 4), heading to Kalamazoo to face Western Michigan University in a 1:00 p.m. start. The Broncos were ranked No. 6 in the nation in this week's United Soccer Coaches poll.
Following next Saturday's matches around the conference, the top-four teams in the final regular-season standings will advance to the MAC Tournament, which begins on Friday, Nov. 10.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS

For more information on the men's soccer program, follow the Falcons on Facebook (BGSU Men's Soccer), Twitter (@BGAthletics and @BGSUmenssoccer), Instagram (bgsumenssoccer) and Snapchat (BGSU Men's Soccer) as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.