Second-Half Surge Sends Falcons Past CSU, 2-0

Tuesday, August 29

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM ET

Bowling Green State University

2-0-0

Cleveland State

1-1-0

Cleveland State

Bowling Green

Robert Miller III scores during the second half of Tuesday's match (Larry Clapper photo)

Photo by: Larry Clapper

August 29, 2017 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Miller, Sullivan strike to give BGSU a second-straight win

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University men's soccer offense, held somewhat in check in the opening half, came alive in the second half as the Falcons went on to a 2-0 win over Cleveland State University Tuesday night (Aug. 29). The non-conference matchup was held at Cochrane Stadium.

Sophomore Robert Miller III scored what proved to be the winning goal in the 64th minute to break a scoreless deadlock. Freshman Chris Sullivan, who assisted on the Miller goal, scored his first collegiate goal with under four minutes remaining to seal the deal.

At the other end of the pitch, sophomore Anthony Mwembia made six saves to earn his second shutout in as many matches.

BGSU MEN'S SOCCER LINKS
FINAL STATS: PDF
PHOTO GALLERY - Larry Clapper
Brennan Named to TDS Team of the Week
Brennan, Mustafa Lead BG to 2-0 Win over IUPUI
BGSU Men's Soccer Release/Notes - PDF
2017 BGSU Men's Soccer Weekly Releases/Notes
MAC Office Announces Preseason Poll
2017 BGSU Men's Soccer Schedule
2017 BGSU Men's Soccer Roster
2017 BGSU Men's Soccer Record Book
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NOTE OF THE NIGHT

BGSU is now unbeaten in the last 12 home matches. The Falcons are 8-0-4 since a 1-0 overtime loss to Northern Illinois on Oct. 3, 2015. The win over Cleveland State was BG's eighth shutout in that 12-match span.

FIRST-HALF HIGHLIGHTS

15' – The teams combined for eight first-half shots, but just one shot on goal. The game's first shot came when the ball fell to the feet of CSU's Tommy Bielanski, who fired a hard shot from distance. The shot went wide right, thwacking off the advertising boards at the north end of the field.
21' – CSU's Noah Pio cut the ball back and hit a shot from distance, but Mwembia grabbed the ball on one hop.
23' – After senior Brad Macomber was fouled deep in the CSU end of the field on the right side, a free kick by junior Tate Robertson found the head of classmate Moe Mustafa at the far post. Mustafa headed the ball back toward the center of the field, but CSU goalkeeper Sebastian Kalk was able to punch the ball away before it reached senior Alexis Souahy. The ensuing throw-in was cleared to Macomber, but Kalk grabbed Macomber's serve at the top of the 18-yard box.
27' – BGSU's first shot of the game came when junior Dominic Grida's effort from distance was blocked out of bounds for a corner kick.
44' – Freshman Marshall Mast's left-side cross found the head of senior Keaton Reynolds, but the shot went wide of the right goalpost.

SECOND-HALF HIGHLIGHTS

50' – Robertson and fellow junior Peter Pugliese nearly combined on a give-and-go play deep in the CSU end. But, a return pass by Pugliese was just out of the reach of Robertson in the box.
55' – Robertson and Pugliese again were involved in the buildup as BG headed toward the Vikings' goal. A crossing ball fell at the feet of Chris Brennan, and the sophomore uncorked a hard volley, but it was grabbed by Kalk.
60' – Robertson's cross was just out of reach of two players, Miller and Sullivan, and went out of bounds for a goal kick. BG got the ball right back, though, and Miller took a pass from Zach Buescher in the box and hit a low shot that forced Kalk into a kick save.
62' – Pugliese made a long run, cut to his right and fired a shot from the top of the 18-yard box that went inches over the crossbar.
64' – The Falcons got on the board when Sullivan did some nifty work to keep possession of the ball on the right side of the field, then slid a pass to Miller in the box. Miller settled the ball and fired a low shot that found the right side of the net. Sullivan drew the lone assist on the play.
80' – Reynolds made several nifty moves near midfield to get away from a pair of CSU defenders, and found himself alone with the ball. The senior headed downfield, and as Kalk came off of his line, Reynolds hit a low shot that rolled just wide of the left post.
82' – Gianluca DiFranco's free kick was blocked by the BG wall, but the ball went to a Viking player who served a cross into the box. The ball found Lawrence Karpeh, who was behind the Falcon defense, but his header was saved by Mwembia.
87' – Robertson's shot from the right side of the six-yard box was parried by Kalk, but the rebound went to Sullivan in the center of the penalty area. The freshman made no mistake, firing the ball into the vacated net to double the BG lead.
88' – CSU had a corner kick and two more shots over the final three minutes, but a Gabe Pewu effort was saved by Mwembia, and a header by Pewu went wide with under a minute to go.

STATS

The Falcons had just two first-half shots (none on goal), but fired eight second-half shots, putting five on frame. CSU outshot BGSU, 15-10, on the night, and the Vikings had a narrow 6-5 advantage in SOG.
Kalk made three saves on the night.
Five of Mwembia's six stops came in the second half.
Pio and Pewu each had four shot attempts to tie for game honors. Pewu put three of his four shots on goal, while Pio had two shots on frame.
Miller led the Falcons with three total shots, including two on goal.

FALCON NOTES

The Falcons are off to a 2-0 start for the fourth-straight season.
BGSU, as mentioned, is now unbeaten in the last 12 home matches. The Falcons have outscored the opponents, 24-5, during that streak.
BGSU is 16-0-2 when scoring two goals in a match since the start of the 2015 season, and the Falcons are now 46-4-6 in such matches in the Eric Nichols Era.
BG now leads the series with Cleveland State, 17-15-1, and the Falcons have won four-straight meetings, all by shutout.
BGSU has posted back-to-back shutouts for the first time in nearly a year (since wins over Marshall and CSU on Sept. 2-7, 2016). The Falcons have not recorded three-straight shutouts since the 2014 season.
The Falcons finished the month of August with a 2-0-0 record. BGSU has won eight consecutive August matches. The Falcons have not suffered an August loss since a 2-1 setback to Michigan State in the second match of the 2012 season.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES AND NUMBERS

Freshman Marshall Mast made his collegiate debut, checking into the match with 5:47 left in the first half. Mast played 17 minutes on the night.
Sophomore Robert Miller III scored the third goal of his career. It was his first game-winning goal as a Falcon.
Chris Sullivan had his first career point with an assist on the Miller goal. Just over 23 minutes later, he scored his first collegiate goal.
The three-point match, obviously, was the first of Sullivan's career.
Through just two games, three different Falcons have scored three points in a game. Junior Moe Mustafa and sophomore Chris Brennan each had a goal and an assist in Saturday's 2-0 win over IUPUI, before Sullivan figured in the scoring of both goals vs. CSU.
Junior Tate Robertson had his second assist in as many matches. Robertson now has six career assists to lead all current Falcons in that category.
Mwembia's shutout was the 10th of his 20-match BGSU career. His career goals-against average dropped to 0.66.

POST-MATCH INTERVIEWS
Robert Miller III

Chris Sullivan

Eric Nichols

TWEETS

When @BGSUmenssoccer Legend Coach Mick & @cityofbg Mayor Dick Edwards get together at a ?? game at #BGSU, you know it's a great day! #AyZig pic.twitter.com/Wsuo4jyrKU
— BGSU Falcon Club (@Bgsufalconclub) August 29, 2017

#BGSU standout Chris Brennan's in the running for @HEROSportsSOC HERO of the Week - vote for him here! https://t.co/wx8iZKAncR
— BGSU Men's Soccer (@BGSUmenssoccer) August 29, 2017

Coaches attempted penalty kicks at Halftime for MSO tonight. Coach Young missed wide left but had the best fan base! #18sports1team #ayziggy pic.twitter.com/zHXsxiuecD
— BGSU Women's Golf (@BGWomensGolf) August 30, 2017

GOALLLLLL!!!!!!!! Robert Miller blasts one home off of Chris Sullivan's cross! 26:54 left in the 2nd half. pic.twitter.com/p7e6tHd8d6
— BGSU Men's Soccer (@BGSUmenssoccer) August 30, 2017

A second goal for @BGSUmenssoccer leads to a celebration with @FalconFanatics1 and @CochraneCrazies pic.twitter.com/w2ONC1Ico9
— BGSU Screech Team (@BGScreechTeam) August 30, 2017

UP NEXT

The Falcons now prepare for a trip to Philadelphia, Pa., over the Labor Day holiday weekend. BGSU will face Drexel on Friday (Sept. 1) and Penn on Sunday (Sept. 3), with both matches beginning at 7:00 p.m.

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.