Late Akron Goal Sinks Falcons, 1-0

Thursday, October 18

Akron, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

10-4-2, 8-1-0MAC

Akron

6-9-2, 3-5-1MAC

Bowling Green

Akron

Photo by: Jeff Harwell

October 18, 2018 | Women's Soccer

Box Score Final Statistics (PDF)

BGSU falls for the first time in MAC play

By: AKRON, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Shea O'Brien scored with just 1:41 remaining in the second half, lifting the host University of Akron to a 1-0 win over the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team Thursday night. The Mid-American Conference matchup was held at UA's FirstEnergy Stadium – Cub Cadet Field.

The loss snapped the Falcons' school-record nine-match winning streak, and it also ended BGSU's unbeaten streak at 10 matches. The unbeaten streak was the second longest in program history.

BG outshot the Zips by a 25-7 count, and the Falcons had an 11-4 edge in shots on goal. But, UA goalkeeper Erin McKinney made 10 saves, the Zips had a 'team save' when a defender blocked a shot near the goal line, and two other BG shots hit the crossbar on Thursday night.

BGSU remains atop the MAC standings with a league record of 8-1-0. The Falcons, now 10-4-2 overall, are five points ahead of second-place Ball State and six points clear of third-place Western Michigan in the league standings.

A tie in either of BGSU's last two matches would clinch a tie for the regular-season title, and with one more win, the Falcons can clinch the outright crown.

NOTE OF THE NIGHT
• Thursday night's loss, as mentioned, snapped a pair of lengthy streaks for the Falcons, including a school-record nine-match winning streak and a 10-match unbeaten streak. BGSU's last loss came on Sept. 9 at No. 15 Northwestern.
• In fact, when the Zips scored late in Thursday's match, it marked the first time BGSU had trailed in a match since that Northwestern contest. The Falcons had played a total of 1008:19 – nearly 17 hours of match time – since they last found themselves behind on the scoreboard.

FIRST-HALF HIGHLIGHTS
• 3' | Seniors Erica Hubert and Nikki Cox worked a combination play at the top of the box, and Hubert's ball toward the left post was grabbed by UA goalkeeper Erin McKinney
• 4' | BGSU stole the ball back, and Hubert's hard pass in the direction of junior Kristin Tveit caromed directly back to her. Hubert hit a shot from distance, but it was high.
• 7' | Senior Jennifer Reyes stole an Akron pass approximately 30 yards from goal, took a touch and fired a shot toward the far corner, but the ball sailed wide.
• 12' | Senior Alexis Fricke played a right-side cross into the penalty area. Classmate Laura Bozzelli battled McKinney for the ball, and it was knocked out toward junior Maureen Kennedy. The defender hit a hard shot from outside the box on the left side, but it sailed over the target.
• 13' | Cox puts Bozzelli through the Akron defense, and as McKinney came off of her line, Bozzelli poked the ball past her. But, Bozzelli's shot went just over the crossbar.
• 15' | BG brought the ball into the UA end, with Hubert, Cox, sophomore Nikhita Jacob and Bozzelli all involved in the play. Bozzelli's shot was deflected out of play for a corner kick.
• 15' } Off of that corner, Hubert and Cox worked another combination play, and Hubert slid a pass toward junior Chelsee Washington in the box. Washington hit a hard one-timer, but it was blocked by an Akron defender near the goal line for a team save.
• 18' | The Falcons had fired seven shots before the Zips finally got a chance. A long ball sailed over the BG defense, and UA's Carly Pcholinsky found Shea O'Brien with a cross from the right side. O'Brien hit a hard shot from the top of the box, but the ball sailed high.
• 25' | Hubert received a throw-in from midfield and made a long run, but her shot went wide right.
• 30' | Freshman Sarah Allen won a corner kick after taking a pass from Washington, but the Zips successfully dealt with that corner.
• 33' | Washington played senior Marissa Swindell through, and Swindell's shot from the right side of the six-yard box was blocked at the last second.
• 35' | Sophomore Gabriella Magallanes slid a pass back to classmate Sophia Barnes on the left side. Barnes hit a dangerous diagonal ball into the penalty area, but no teammate was able to get a touch, and McKinney grabbed the ball to end the threat.
• 37' | CROSSBAR | After a foul on the Zips, Kennedy drilled a long free kick that rang directly off the crossbar. The shot was hit so hard that Allen was unable to control the rebound in the six-yard box, as the ball caromed off of the woodwork.
• 45' | Kennedy hit another free kick with force, and the shot was on target, but the UA 'keeper made the save with about 20 seconds left in the half.

SECOND-HALF HIGHLIGHTS
• 48' | The Zips won a corner kick, Akron's first of the match, and Ryley Watt's CK found the head of Ashley Amato. Amato. She headed the ball down, but BGSU junior Kathleen Duwve made a diving stop near the left post.
• 50' | O'Brien hit a shot from distance, but Duwve made a relatively easy save.
• 51' | Quickly, BG went the other way, and Washington put Hubert down the left side, but Hubert's resulting shot in the box was aimed directly at McKinney.
• 53' | On an Akron conter, Amato found Annamarie Alfery, but Alfery's low cross was stolen by senior defender Morgan Abbitt.
• 54' | Hubert took a pass from fellow senior Jennifer Reyes and entered the left side of the 18-yard box. She hit a hard shot that McKinney parried, and the rebound came back toward Hubert. The senior tapped the ball toward Tveit on the right side of the box, but Tveit's follow-up shot was also saved.
• 58' | Fricke hit a diagonal ball from the right side, and Hubert headed it back across the goalmouth toward Swindell. Swindell got her head on the ball near the right post, but the assistant referee's flag was raised, indicating an offside call against the Falcons.
• 60' | Cox pressured a UA defender into a shaky pass back toward McKinney. Then, Cox blocked the 'keeper's clearing attempt in the box. Hubert tracked down the ball and hit a shot, but McKinney was able to recover in time to make the save.
• 61' | Hubert took a pass from senior Elisa Baeron and headed down the left side of the field. She cut the ball back and hit a hard shot, but it sailed past the upper-right-hand corner of the goal.
• 66' | Cox was fouled just outside the box on the left side, but Kennedy's low, hard free kick struck a BG teammate and caromed out of play for a goal lkick.
• 68' | Kennedy made a long run down the center of the field and hit a shot from distance, but it was off line.
• 72' | CROSSBAR | Hubert took the ball to the end line on the left side of the box, sliding a centering ball back across the area. The ball was behind a pair of teammates, but freshman Mackenzie Reuber was the first player to reach it near the 18. Reuber hit a quick shot that was blocked. The rebound came back to Reuber, and the first-year Falcon took a touch, then blasted a shot off of the bar. As the teams continued to battle for the ball, the Falcons were whistled for a foul.
• 77' | The Zips' Sydney Worthy got her head on a right-side cross in a crowded box, but Duwve was able to gather it in.
• 84' | Akron threatened again, as Worthy found Lauren Lambert with a pass. Lambert hit a shot toward the left side of the net, but as Duwve headed in that direction, the ball caromed off of a defender and went just wide of the right post. BGSU easily cleared the ensuing corner kick.
• 89' | GOAL | O'Brien took a pass from Lambert and hit a shot from several yards outside the 18. The ball found the upper right corner of the net, and the Zips had the lead with 1:41 to go.
• 89' | Immediately off of the kickoff, BG took the ball the other way, and Hubert hit a shot on frame. But, the ball was fired directly at McKinney, who made the save.
• 90' | In the final minute of play, the Falcons put a ball into the goalmouth, and a scramble ensued. When the smoke had cleared, the Falcons were whistled for a foul with approximately 25 seconds remaining. The referee signalled for the clock to stop, but it continued to run until six seconds remained. The clock was eventually reset to 00:17, and the Zips took the free kick.
• 90' | BG got the ball back, and in the waning seconds, Allen got a shot off. But, the shot from distance was collected by McKinney as the match came to an end.

STATISTICS
• BGSU had 25 total shots to Akron's seven, and the Falcons had an 11-4 lead in shots on goal.
• BG also had a narrow 3-2 advantage in corner kicks.
• Senior Erica Hubert led all players with nine total shots and five shots on goal. Junior Maureen Kennedy had four shot attempts and classmate Chelsee Washington three for the Falcons.
• Both Kennedy and freshman Mackenzie Reuber saw shots ring off the crossbar in the match.
• Shea O'Brien, who scored the lone goal of the match, led the hosts with three shot attempts, including two on frame.

THE FALCONS AND THE MAC RACE
• BGSU, as mentioned, needs just one result – either a win or a tie – over the last two games to clinch the MAC regular-season title.
• One BG win in the final two matches would clinch the title outright, and a tie would ensure the Falcons of at least a share of the conference crown.
• With a MAC record of 8-1-0 record, the Falcons have 24 points in league play (teams earn three points for a win and one for a tie). BG is five points ahead of second-place Ball State and six points in front of third-place Western Michigan. Both the Cardinals and the Broncos picked up wins on Thursday.
• Only the Cards have a chance to pass the Falcons in the standings, and that would require two BSU wins and two BGSU losses. Similarly, WMU could tie the Falcons at the top with two wins and two BGSU losses.
• The Falcons have defeated both the Cardinals and Broncos in this season's head-to-head meetings.
• The complete MAC standings can be found later in this recap.

FALCON NOTES
• BGSU, as mentioned, is now 8-1-0 in the MAC. Despite Thursday's loss, the eight conference wins is the second-highest total in school history. The 2005 team posted a 9-2-0 league record en route to earning BG's lone MAC regular-season title to date.
• BGSU saw a school-record nine-game winning streak snapped. The Falcons were unbeaten in the last 10 matches (9-0-1) prior to falling to the Zips.
• After scoring the first goal of the match just once in the first five contests of the season, the Falcons scored first in each of the next 10 matches, coinciding with the unbeaten streak.
• On the year, BGSU is 10-0-1 when scoring first, and the Falcons are 0-4-1 when the opponent scores first.
• Junior goalkeeper Kathleen Duwve allowed a goal for just the fourth time in nine MAC matches this season. She has a goals-against average of just 0.64 this season, and a career GAA of 0.96 in over 2700 minutes.
• In MAC play, Duwve's GAA is just 0.47. She has allowed just four goals in 765 MAC minutes, and has a saves percentage of .889 in conference contests this season.

MAC STANDINGS
(through Thursday's matches)
SCHOOL (Overall) MAC   Pts.
1. Bowling Green (10-4-2) 8-1-0   24
2. Ball State (10-3-2) 6-2-1   19
3. Western Mich. (12-5-0) 6-3-0   18
4. Ohio (7-6-3) 5-2-2   17
5. Buffalo (11-5-0) 5-4-0   15
6. Kent State (8-7-2) 4-4-1   13
Toledo (8-7-2) 4-4-1   13
8. Central Mich. (6-11-0) 4-5-0   12
Eastern Mich. (9-9-0) 4-5-0   12
10. Akron (6-9-2) 3-5-1   10
11. Miami (3-12-1) 1-8-0 3
   Northern Ill. (2-15-0) 1-8-0 3

MAC SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Thursday, October 18
at Akron 1, Bowling Green 0
at Eastern Michigan 3, Miami 0
Western Michigan 4, at Kent State 3
Ball State 2, at Central Michigan 1 (OT)
at Ohio 4, Northern Illinois 0
at Buffalo 1, Toledo 0 (2-OT)

Sunday, October 21
Bowling Green at Buffalo
Northern Illinois at Kent State
Toledo at Akron
Ball State at Eastern Michigan
Miami at Central Michigan
Western Michigan at Ohio

WHAT'S NEXT?
• The Falcons wrap up the road portion of the regular-season schedule on Sunday (Oct. 21), taking on Buffalo in a 12:00 p.m. start at UB Stadium.
• Then, the regular season concludes when Toledo comes to town next Thursday (Oct. 25). That match will begin at 3:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium, and admission is free to all BGSU regular-season home soccer action.
• BGSU has clinched a home game in the quarterfinal round of the MAC Tournament. The quarterfinals are set for Sunday, Oct. 28, and the Falcons will host an opponent to be determined at Cochrane.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• For more information on the women's soccer program, follow the Falcons on Twitter (@BGAthletics and @BGSUWSoccer), Instagram (bgsuwsoccer) and Facebook (bgsuwsoccer) as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.