MAC CHAMPS! BGSU Dismantles Buffalo, 5-0, to Capture League Regular-Season Title

Sunday, October 21

Buffalo, NY

12:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

11-4-2, 9-1-0MAC

Buffalo

11-6-0, 5-5-0MAC

Bowling Green

Buffalo

Erica Hubert was involved in the scoring of all five BGSU goals on Sunday afternoon

Photo by: Jeff Harwell

MAC CHAMPS! BGSU Dismantles Buffalo, 5-0, to Capture League Regular-Season Title

October 21, 2018 | Women's Soccer

Box Score Final Statistics (PDF)

Hubert's eight-point explosion leads Falcons to ninth victory in 10 conference matches

By: BUFFALO, N.Y. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team scored early and often, rolling along to a 5-0 win over the University at Buffalo on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 21). The Mid-American Conference matchup was held at UB Stadium.

With the victory, the Falcons (11-4-2 overall) clinched the MAC's regular-season championship. The 2018 title is just the second league regular-season crown in the 22-year history of the BGSU women's soccer program.

Senior Erica Hubert had a monster game, figuring in the scoring of all five BGSU goals. Hubert had the second hat trick of her Falcon career, and had the primary assist on the other two goals.

Senior Laura Bozzelli opened the scoring with her first collegiate goal in the 11th minute, and that would prove to be her first game-winning goal as a Falcon as well. Redshirt sophomore Nikki Cox also found the back of the net, scoring just 83 seconds after Hubert's first goal to give the Falcons a 3-0 halftime lead.

BGSU has clinched the number-one seed for the MAC Tournament, and the Falcons – after hosting Toledo to end the regular season – will host a quarterfinal-round matchup next Sunday afternoon (Oct. 28). If BG wins that quarterfinal contest against an opponent yet to be determined, Cochrane Stadium will be the venue for the league tournament semifinals (Friday, Nov. 2) and championship (Sunday, Nov. 4).

QUOTING COACH FANNON
"Today was a great response. Knowing Thursday's results put huge pressure on our women and they brushed it off like they have all learned to do so well."

NOTE OF THE DAY
• The win enabled the Falcons to clinch the second regular-season championship in the 22-year history of the program. The 2005 team was the only previous BG club to capture a regular-season title.

FIRST-HALF HIGHLIGHTS
• 2' | With 100 seconds gone, senior Nikki Cox hit a cross from the right side, and the ball was played back to senior Erica Hubert. Hubert banged a low shot toward goal, but it was saved by UB goalkeeper Emily Kelly.
• 5' | Junior Chelsee Washington won the ball about 35 yards out, and knocked it forward to senior Laura Bozzelli, but Bozzelli's header was off the mark and was collected by Kelly.
• 8' | Nice hustle by Hubert enabled the speedy senior to save a ball along the left sideline. She took it to the end line and hit a low cross, but the Bulls were able to clear.
• 11' | GOAL | Junior Maureen Kennedy fired a ball down the left side to Hubert, The senior cut it back to her right near the top of the box, and as she poked it past a UB defender, the ball went directly to Bozzelli. Bozzelli settled the ball and quickly fired a shot that beat Kelly to the upper right corner. The goal was the first of Bozzelli's collegiate career.
• 18' | Senior Alexis Fricke hit a ball into the box, and Cox was knocked down as she and a UB defender battled for it. The ball bounced toward Bozzelli, who quickly fired a shot from the 18, but it was blocked.
• 22' | Buffalo's first good scoring chance came when BG was unable to clear the ball out of the defensive third. Marcy Barberic picked it up, took it into the box and uncorked a hard shot, but the effort went wide of the right post.
• 27' | Sophomore Nikhita Jacob slid a pass to Kennedy on her left, and Kennedy fired a diagonal ball into the box, but it was punched away by Kelly.
• 33' | GOAL | Hubert got a touch on a left-side diagonal ball from senior Jennifer Reyes, deftly flicking it over the UB 'keeper.
• 34' | GOAL | Just over a minute later, the Falcons made it a three-goal game. Hubert swooped down the left side of the pitch, taking the ball into the penalty area and sliding a pass to the onrushing Cox. Kelly had no chance as Cox blasted a shot into the right side of the net.
• 38' | The Bulls' Katherine Camper hit a shot from distance that went just over the crossbar. BGSU goalkeeper Kathleen Duwve appeared to have the goal covered, tracking the shot as it sailed past.
• 44' | Freshman Sarah Allen won a corner for the Falcons, and after that corner was knocked out of the area, Kennedy played the ball back into the mixer. Jacob settled it and fired a shot, but it went wide left as the clock ticked under one minute remaining in the period.

SECOND-HALF HIGHLIGHTS
• 46' | Hubert stole the ball in the UB end on the left side, and the senior played it to Reyes, but her left-side cross was gathered in by Kelly.
• 47' | Moments later, BGSU won the ball right back. Bozzelli, with a defender draped all over her, still managed to get a shot off from the left side of the box, but Kelly made the stop.
• 50' | GOAL | Hubert took a pass from Washington as she headed toward the penalty area on the right side. The senior took the ball to the end line, got around a would-be defender, cut it back along the end line on the right side, and beat Kelly with a shot to the far corner.
• 53' | Off of a throw-in, a shot by Reyes forced Kelly into a diving save. Then, off of the ensuing corner, Fricke's diagonal ball sailed just over a host of players near the far post.
• 56' | GOAL | Washington picked up a loose ball on the BG side of midfield and made a long run downfield. She got all the way to the 18 before any UB players converged on her, then slid a pass to Hubert on her right. Hubert settled the ball and had a chance to pick her corner. She chose wisely, tucking the ball inside the right post to complete the hat trick.
• 61' | Cox was fouled exactly 30 yards from goal in the very center of the field, and Washington took the ensuing free kick, but her hard shot was hit directly at Kelly, who parried the shot and then grabbed the ball after one bounce.
• 66' | Bozzelli knocked a ball away from UB goalie Sarah Bykowicz, and sophomore Gabriella Magallanes tapped the ball back to the senior, but Bozzelli's shot was wide of the target.
• 83' | Senior Marissa Swindell slid a diagonal ball toward the far (left) post, where sophomore Sophia Barnes reached it and played it back across to Magallanes. But, the soph's point-blank shot was stopped by Bykowicz.
• 87' | After a UB foul, Kennedy's long free kick sailed into the box, and senior Elisa Baeron got a head on it, but the ball was hit directly at Bykowicz.

STATISTICS
• BGSU outshot Buffalo, 16-10, and the Falcons had a 12-5 lead in shots on goal.
• BG also had a narrow 3-2 advantage in corner kicks.
• Seniors Erica Hubert and Laura Bozzelli each had four shots in the match. Hubert put all four of her shots on goal, and put three of those four shots into the net. Bozzelli had a pair of SOG, scoring her first collegiate goal, which also proved to be her first game-winning goal as a Falcon.
• Hubert figured in the scoring of all five BG goals, with a hat trick and a pair of assists. She amassed eight points in just 49 minutes.
• Junior Kathleen Duwve made four saves in 72-plus minutes, while Victoria Cope had one stop on net for the Brown and Orange.
• Emily Kelly and Sarah Bykowicz combined to make seven saves for the Bulls.

FALCON NOTES
• As mentioned, the Falcons' regular-season title is the second in program history. The 2005 team also won the MAC Tournament title to advance to the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive year.
• BGSU is now 9-1-0 in the MAC. The total of nine conference wins is tied for the highest in school history. The 2005 team posted a 9-2-0 league record after a 1-2-0 start.
• After scoring the first goal of the match just once in the first five contests of the season, the Falcons have scored first in 11 of the last 12 matches.
• On the year, BGSU is now 11-0-1 when scoring first, and the Falcons are 0-4-1 when the opponent scores first.
• BGSU's total of five goals at Buffalo was the team's highest in a MAC game in 16 years, since a 7-0 dismantling of WMU at Cochrane Stadium in October of 2002.
• Sunday's goal total also was the Falcons' highest output in a MAC road game in program history. BG scored four goals on three prior occasions on the road (at Northern Illinois in 2001, Marshall in '03 and Eastern Michigan in 2010).
• BGSU has outscored opponents, 36-10, this season to date, and the Falcons have scored 25 goals and allowed just four in MAC play.
• Junior goalkeeper Kathleen Duwve combined with senior Victoria Cope on a shutout vs. UB. The Falcons now have eight shutouts on the year, with six clean sheets in 10 MAC matches.
• Duwve has a goals-against average of just 0.61 this season, and a career GAA of 0.93 in nearly 2800 minutes.
• In MAC play, Duwve's GAA is just 0.43. She has allowed just four goals in 837-plus minutes, and has a saves percentage of .900 in conference contests this season.
• Cope has played over 101 minutes this season, and has not allowed a goal. In her BG career, she has a GAA of 1.20 in nearly 1900 minutes between the posts.
• Senior Laura Bozzelli scored her first collegiate goal in Sunday's win at UB. Her first collegiate goal also proved to be the game-winning goal in the MAC regular-season championship-clinching match. Bozzelli now has four points this season to rank fifth on the team.
• Senior Erica Hubert recorded her second career hat trick and set a career high with eight points vs. the Bulls. She also had three goals in a home match vs. Western Michigan in 2016.
• Hubert's eight-point total was the highest by a Falcon since ... last year, when Skylar Fleak scored four goals in the season-opening win at Oakland.
• The single-match point total also ties Hubert for second in school history. Kristy Coppes had 12 points on six goals in a 2004 win over Duquesne, while Hubert, Fleak and Samantha Meister (2003) each have had eight points in a match.
• Hubert now has 12 goals this season, tying her career best. She also had 12 goals last fall.
• Hubert's total also tied her for second in school history. Coppes had 18 goals in 2004, while three different players (Coppes twice, Hubert twice and Tracy Gleixner) have scored 12 goals in a season on five different occasions.
• Hubert has 39 career goals, the second-highest total in BG history. She trails only Coppes (52 goals from 2001-04) on that list.
• Hubert's total of 33 points this season ranks her second on that list, behind only Coppes (38 points in 2004).
• Hubert now has a career total of 92 points, again trailing only Coppes on that Falcon chart. Coppes had 111 points during her storied BG career.
• Redshirt sophomore Nikki Cox now has six goals and 14 points this season. She is third on the Falcons in goals and is tied for third on the club in points.
• Junior Maureen Kennedy also has 14 points on the year after recording an assist vs. UB.
• Another junior, Chelsee Washington, had two assists on Sunday. Washington has eight assists, tying her with Kennedy for second on the team behind Hubert's nine. Washington's total of 26 points is good for second on the Falcons.
• Washington now has a career total of 39 points on 13 goals and 13 assists.
• Kennedy now has 38 points, on eight goals and 22 assists. She is fourth in school history on the career assists list, just one behind third place Janice Mentrup (23 from 1997-2000).
• Senior Jennifer Reyes had an assist on Hubert's first goal in Sunday's win. For Reyes, it was her third assist of the season and the sixth of her career.

MAC STANDINGS
(through Sunday's matches)
SCHOOL (Overall)    MAC Pts.
1. Bowling Green (11-4-2) 9-1-0 27
2. Ball State (11-3-2) 7-2-1 22
3. Ohio (8-6-3) 6-2-2 20
4. Western Mich. (12-6-0) 6-4-0 18
5. Kent State (9-7-2) 5-4-1 16
6. Buffalo (11-6-0) 5-5-0 15
Central Mich. (7-11-0) 5-5-0 15
8. Akron (7-9-2) 4-5-1 13
Toledo (8-8-2) 4-5-1 13
10. Eastern Mich. (9-10-0) 4-6-0 12
11. Miami (3-13-1) 1-9-0   3
Northern Ill. (2-16-0) 1-9-0   3

MAC SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Sunday, October 21
Bowling Green 5, at Buffalo 0
at Kent State 6, Northern Illinois 0
at Akron 1, Toledo 0
Ball State 1, at Eastern Michigan 0
at Central Michigan 2, Miami 0
at Ohio 2, Western Michigan 0

Thursday, October 25
Toledo at Bowling Green
Kent State at Ohio
Northern Illinois at Western Michigan
Akron at Buffalo
Central Michigan at Eastern Michigan
Miami at Ball State

WHAT'S NEXT?
• The Falcons return home to close the regular-season schedule, facing Toledo in an old-fashioned day game. 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 play a 1:00 p.m. match against 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.