Miller's Double-OT Strike Lifts BGSU to Sudden Victory

Wednesday, September 27

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM ET

Bowling Green State University

6-4-0

Duquesne

2-6-1

OT 3

OT 4

Duquesne

Bowling Green

Robert Miller's 'Golden Goal' Downed Duquesne Wednesday night (photo by Isaiah Vazquez)

September 27, 2017 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Falcons down Duquesne, 1-0, at Cochrane

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Sophomore Robert Miller III scored in the 102nd minute to lift the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Duquesne University Wednesday night (Sept. 27). The double-overtime non-conference contest was held at Cochrane Stadium.

Miller's goal, his third of the season, came off of a cross by fellow sophomore Charlie Maciejewski. After junior Dominic Grida played a ball forward, Maciejewski and freshman Zach Buescher successfully worked a combination play in the north end of Cochrane Stadium, in the corner near the scoreboard. Maciejewski took Buescher's return pass and hit a cross that found the head of Miller, who was in the middle of a crowded 18-yard box. DU goalkeeper Robbie McKelvey had no chance to stop Miller's shot, as the sophomore's hard-hit header found the right side of the net.

Sophomore Anthony Mwembia made five saves as the Falcons kept a clean sheet for the sixth time this season.

LINKS
FINAL STATISTICS: PDF
BGSU-DU PHOTO GALLERY - Isaiah Vazquez, BGSU Mkt. & Comm.
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
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* all sports - choose "men's soccer" in the drop-down link at the top right of the page

NOTE OF THE NIGHT

Sophomore Robert Miller III scored his third goal of the 2017 season on Wednesday night. It was also his third game-winning goal of the year, as he netted the winner against both Cleveland State and Penn earlier in September. Wednesday's goal was the first 'Golden Goal' of Miller's collegiate career.

FIRST-HALF HIGHLIGHTS

6' – The Falcons were able to maintain possession for a lengthy spell, stringing together roughly 15 passes. Seven different BGSU players touched the ball during that time, and senior Brad Macomber's diagonal ball led to a Falcon corner kick.
11' – A cross by the Dukes from the left side headed toward the far post, where DU's Zach Hall was lurking. The ball got through to him, but he put his shot wide of the target.
15' – Robert Miller III made a long run with the ball, heading into the box on the right side. Just before reaching the end line, he pulled the ball back to elude a defender. But, Miller had to wait for a teammate or two to get into the penalty area, and his low cross was cleared
18' – Off of a right-side cross, the Dukes' Austin Stout put a header on target, but the shot was hit directly at BG goalkeeper Anthony Mwembia, who made the save.
30' – Less than 15 seconds after a Macomber header was saved, the Dukes had a shot at the other end of the field. A quick counterattack saw Jason Twum hit a shot that forced Mwembia into a diving stop. That Twum effort was the final shot of the half for either team.

SECOND-HALF HIGHLIGHTS

47' – Duquesne had three corner kicks in the first 2:37 of the second half, but the only shot came after the second of the three, when Stout's header was blocked in the box.
52' – Freshman Chris Sullivan lofted a ball into the danger zone from the left side. Sophomore Chris Brennan got his head on it, but the assistant referee's flag was up, indicating an offside call against the home side.
70' – Senior Keaton Reynolds played a ball to freshman Marshall Mast on the left side. Mast launched it into the 18-yard box, but DU 'keeper Robbie McKelvey grabbed it as Reynolds approached.
72' – At the other end, Nigel Siedu hit a shot from distance that seemed harmless until it deflected off of a Falcon defender. Mwembia, leaning to his right, was able to head back in the other direction and come up with the save.
73' – Ian Larson blasted a free kick, but the ball went several feet wide of the right goalpost.
82' – Sophomore Charlie Maciejewski lofted a ball toward Brennan in the box, and the sophomore put it past McKelvey. But, again, offside was called against the Falcons.
83' – With seven minutes to go, Macomber hit a cross from the right side. Maciejewski got a head on it, and the ball went toward Mast on the left side of the box. The freshman hit a hard shot, but it was blocked by a defender.
89' – A left-side cross found Owen Rossi in the box, and the DU striker directed the ball toward goal, but his one-time effort went just wide of the left post.

OVERTIME HIGHLIGHTS

94' – Duquesne had a grade-A scoring chance, but off of a low right-side crossing ball, Stout's one-timer in the box somehow went over the goal.
97' – BGSU had a chance at the other end of the field, as Maciejewski's free kick found the head of junior Moe Mustafa. The ball was deflected back to Mustafa, who hit a volley that was blocked by a defender. Senior Alexis Souahy's nifty backheel try was smothered by McKelvey.
100' – As the final seconds of the first overtime ticked away, Hall hit a hard shot, but the ball was always going wide left.
102' – Just 65 seconds into the second overtime, Miller and the Falcons netted the 'Golden Goal' to capture the victory. Junior Dominic Grida played a ball forward to Maciejewski, and he and freshman Zach Buescher worked a combination play. Once he got the ball back, Maciejewski faked a cross, cut the ball back and this time hit a left-footed cross that found Miller in the box. Miller made no mistake on his header try, knocking the ball past the diving McKelvey and sparking a wild celebration.

STATISTICS

Duquesne outshot BGSU, 16-8, and the Dukes had five shots on goal to the Falcons' three.
Each team had four corner kicks on the night, with three of DU's four coming in a span of just over two minutes early in the second half.
Sophomore Anthony Mwembia made five saves to earn the shutout, with two stops in the first period and three in the second.
Robbie McKelvey made two saves for the visitors, with one stop coming in the first half and the other in the first overtime.
Zach Hall and Austin Stout each had three total shots for the Dukes, while three of their teammates had two apiece. Senior Alexis Souahy was the only Falcon with two shot attempts on the night.
Eight different players had one shot on goal each in the game.

HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE

The Falcons are now 4-1-0 at Cochrane Stadium, with four shutouts in the five home matches this fall to date. BGSU has outscored opponents, 8-3, at Cochrane in the fall of 2017.
BGSU is now 9-1-4 at home since the start of the 2016 season, and the Falcons have outscored the foes, 26-8, in those 14 matches.
Since the start of the 2014 season, BGSU has a record of 21-5-5 at Cochrane. The Falcons went 5-0-4 at home last year, 6-2-0 in 2015 and 6-2-1 in '14. Four of the five home losses in that time have come by identical 1-0 scores.
The Falcons have outscored the opponents, 70-21, at Cochrane, dating to the final home game of the 2013 season. BG has scored at least two goals in 21 of the 32 matches in that time, with three or more goals in 10 of those games.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES AND NUMBERS

Sophomore Robert Miller III, as mentioned, scored his third goal of the season in the win over DU. Miller, the team's lone Pennsylvania native, has scored two of those three goals against teams from his home state. He scored the winner vs. Penn on Sept. 3.
Miller now has five goals and 14 points in his BGSU career. He has six points this season after scoring eight points on a pair of goals and four assists in 2016.
Sophomore Charlie Maciejewski picked up the primary assist on Miller's goal, the first point of his collegiate career. Maciejewski played in just two matches last year and did not see action in BG's first four contests this season. But, the Cincinnati native has now come off the bench to play in five of the Falcons' last six games.
Freshman Zach Buescher also assisted on Miller's goal Wednesday night. For Buescher, the assist was the second of his young career.
Sophomore Anthony Mwembia made five saves vs. the Dukes to earn his sixth shutout of the season.
Mwembia now has a goals-against average of 0.72 and a saves percentage of 85.1% this fall. For his Falcon career, Mwembia's GAA is 0.72 while his saves pct. is 83.8%. The Toulouse, France, native has 14 shutouts in 28 career matches at BG.
Three Falcons have played all 911-plus minutes this season. That trio includes Mwambia and seniors Brad Macomber and Alexis Souahy. Junior Dominic Grida has played 869 minutes, while Buescher and sophomore Tom Wrobel have been on the pitch for 864 and 860 minutes, respectively.
Junior Moe Mustafa has started six matches this season (he missed several games due to injury). In those six matches, the Falcons have allowed just one total goal, and that goal came on a penalty kick. Mustafa has singlehandedly outscored the opponents, 3-1, in games in which he is in the Starting XI in 2017.

EXTRA TIME (MORE BGSU OVERTIME-RELATED NOTES THAT YOU COULD EVER POSSIBLY NEED)

Wednesday night marked the Falcons' first overtime match this season. BGSU played a total of seven OT contests last year, with five in the last seven games of the season.
Four of the five matches in the Duquesne series have required OT. BGSU is 2-1-1 vs. the Dukes in those four games, each of which went to double overtime, and the overall series is now tied, 2-2-1.
The win over Duquesne was the team's first OT victory in over a year, since Sept. 7, 2016, at Cleveland State. In that match, Chris Brennan scored with just four seconds to go in the second overtime.
Miller's goal on Wednesday night was BGSU's first 'Golden Goal' at Cochrane Stadium in close to three years, since Nov. 4, 2014. On that date, Jacob Roth converted a penalty kick in the 100th minute against Wright State for his second goal of the match in a 2-1 win.
That Roth PK marked the second-straight match that BG won in OT at Cochrane. Three days earlier (Nov. 1, 2014), the Brown and Orange posted another 2-1 win when Max Auden's header off of a Roth diagonal ball kept BGSU's MAC Tournament hopes alive. That goal, BGSU's last 'Golden Goal' from the run of play, was Auden's second of the game, and also came in the 100th minute.
Auden scored three game-winning goals in November of 2014, all against MAC opponents. Two of those three goals came in OT, including the winner vs. West Virginia in the MAC Tournament's semifinal round.

UP NEXT

The Falcons are off for over a week, before heading to Edwardsville, Ill., for the Mid-American Conference opener. BGSU will face SIUE, a first-year MAC affiliate member for men's soccer, on Saturday night, Oct. 7.
Then, BG will step outside of conference play for a matchup at Wright State on Tuesday, Oct. 10, in the teams' latest battle for the I-75 Cup.
Starting time for all of the Falcons' October matches is 7:00 p.m. local time.

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.

Another shutout by @BGSUmenssoccer goalie Anthony Mwembia can only be celebrated in a BiG way pic.twitter.com/ic4GTp2FyS
— BGSU Screech Team (@BGScreechTeam) September 28, 2017

For the late-night crowd: Here's a game-winning goal, followed by a round of "Ay Ziggy Zoomba" for your evening entertainment... pic.twitter.com/vGurfBkE77
— BGSU Athletics (@BGathletics) September 28, 2017

Always a good night for @BGathletics when you can leave Cochrane with two W flags flying thanks to @BGSUmenssoccer and @BGSUWSoccer #AyZiggy pic.twitter.com/Eac1ghoRnZ
— BGSU Screech Team (@BGScreechTeam) September 28, 2017