Falcons Top Toledo, 2-1, to Close Regular-Season Schedule

Thursday, October 25

Bowling Green, OH

3:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

12-4-2, 10-1-0MAC

Toledo

8-9-2, 4-6-1MAC

Toledo

Bowling Green

Sarah Allen scored the Falcons' first goal on Thursday

October 25, 2018 | Women's Soccer

Box Score Final Statistics (PDF)MAC Tournament Bracket BGSU-UT Photo Gallery (Isaiah Vazquez)Rewatch the BGSU-UT Match

MAC Regular-Season Champions will Host EMU in Sunday's Tourney Quarterfinal Round

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Junior Maureen Kennedy scored one goal and set up another as the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team posted a 2-1, come-from-behind victory over the University of Toledo Thursday afternoon (Oct. 25). The Mid-American Conference match was held at Cochrane Stadium.

With the victory, the Falcons (12-4-2 overall) end the regular season with a MAC record of 10-1-0, the best conference mark in program history. BGSU will be the number-one seed for the upcoming MAC Tournament, and will host No. 8 Eastern Michigan on Sunday (Oct. 28) in the league tourney quarterfinal round.

The Rockets (8-9-2, 4-6-1 MAC) took the lead just 7:35 into the match, when Hannah Scafaria got her head on a corner kick and knocked it home. And, UT took that 1-0 advantage into the half.

But, freshman Sarah Allen got the Falcons on the board midway through the second half. Kennedy's diagonal ball from the left side found a host of players near the far corner of the six-yard box. Allen, senior Marissa Swindell and a UT defender all went up for the ball, and Allen got her head on it, nodding it down to her feet and hitting a shot past Rocket goalkeeper Madison Perrin and into the net at the 65:09 mark.

With the clock ticking down toward the eight-minute mark, redshirt sophomore Nikki Cox played a nifty through ball to junior Chelsee Washington, who was heading toward the 18-yard box with a head of steam. Washington stayed on her feet through one UT tackle attempt, but as she attempted to fire a shot from near the six-yard line, a Rocket defender pulled her down and a penalty kick was awarded.

Kennedy stepped up and blasted that kick into the back of the net with 8:58 remaining. The Rockets attempted to apply pressure and find the equalizer, but the Falcons fought off every Toledo foray, and BG kept possession for much of the remaining eight-plus minutes.

NOTE OF THE DAY
• BGSU has won the MAC's regular-season title for just the second time in the 22-year history of the program. The 2005 Falcons also captured a MAC regular-season crown.
• Thursday's win was the Falcons' 10th conference victory this season, setting a new school record. BGSU was 9-2-0 in the MAC during that '05 season.
• The 2018 Falcons' .909 conference winning percentage is tied for the third best in MAC history.

FIRST-HALF HIGHLIGHTS
• 8' | GOAL | The Rockets took the lead with just 7:35 gone. A corner kick by Ashton Cassel was headed home by Hannah Scafaria at the near post.
• 9' | The Falcons looked for a quick answer, as redshirt sophomore Nikki Cox made a run downfield and, headed from right to left across the top of the 18, hit a shot from the right side of the circle. But, that shot went wide of the far post.
• 9' | Seconds later, the Falcons stole the ensuing goal kick, and junior Chelsee Washington played the ball ahead to senior Laura Bozzelli. Bozzelli, at the top of the box, laid the ball off for Cox, who slid a diagonal ball through the penalty area, but the pass was just out of reach of both Bozzelli in the center of the box and freshman Sarah Allen near the far post.
• 26' | The hosts intercepted another goal kick and made a run downfield, with Washington and Cox working a combination play. Washington took the return pass and slid the ball across the top of the 18 toward senior Marissa Swindell. Swindell slipped between a pair of defenders, but a third UT backliner was able to clear the ball off of the six-yard line before Swindell could get a shot off.
• 36' | Junior Maureen Kennedy played a ball ahead to senior Elisa Baeron on the left side, and Baeron hit a cross into the box, but a Rocket defender was able to get her head on the ball and clear it away before Swindell could get there.
• 42' | The home side worked the ball downfield, with Baeron, Kennedy and sophomore Nikhita Jacob all involved in the buildup. Kennedy slid a pass ahead to a cutting Sophia Barnes, and the soph's first touch was a great one, as she split a pair of defenders before firing a shot from the top of the box. But, UT goalkeeper Madison Perrin was able to gather in that shot near the right post.

SECOND-HALF HIGHLIGHTS
• 49' | Senior Alexis Fricke hit a diagonal ball toward the box from the right side, and Cox laid it off into the path of Allen. The freshman took a touch to her left, fought off a defender and hit a shot across her body, but Perrin made the save.
• 59' | A corner kick off the boot of Toledo's Sophia Lewis curved toward the near side of the goal, but BG junior goalkeeper Kathleen Duwve parried the ball, then grabbed it on one bounce.
• 66' | GOAL | BG worked the ball from right to left across the field, as Fricke found Baeron, who in turn played the ball to Kennedy. The junior served a ball into the box, and Allen – among several players on the far side – headed it down, then slipped a shot past Perrin from the right side of the six-yard box.
• 73' | Kennedy sent a corner kick into the box. Baeron got her head on it, directing it toward the far post, and Jacob also got a head on the ball, but Jacob's shot went wide.
• 75' | BG stole a Perrin punt, as Reyes came up with the ball and slid it to Cox on her left. Cox sent a return pass to Reyes, who found Swindell with a through ball. Swindell took a touch to get past a defender, and the senior uncorked a shot from the left side of the box that went just wide.
• 82' | GOAL | From the midfield stripe in front of the bleachers, Fricke sent a low pass to Cox who was cutting from right to left across the field. Cox took two touches to get past several UT players, then sent a nifty through ball to the onrushing Washington. Washington slipped one tackle attempt, staying on her feet as she looked to get past the Rockets' Rachelle Topolewski. As she approached the six-yard line and looked to get a shot away, Washington was pulled down, and a penalty kick was awarded. Kennedy converted that PK to give the Brown and Orange a 2-1 lead.
• 89' | The Rockets looked to respond to the Kennedy goal, but saw a shot sail high and another blocked. With just over a minute left, Cox deflected a UT pass near midfield, and Washington intercepted the pass and was fouled, and Kennedy put the ball into the UT end on the ensuing free kick.
• 90' | As the clock ticked under a minute, Cox stole an errant UT pass near midfield, and sent Allen ahead. Allen worked against a Rocket defender, then knocked the ball to Washington on her right, and Washington won a corner kick.
• 90' | That Kennedy corner found the head of Washington, who put her shot on goal. Perrin made the save, but just over 10 seconds remained, and although the UT 'keeper quickly booted the ball away, the Rockets could not get the ball over midfield before time expired.

STATISTICS
• BGSU outshot Toledo, 13-7, including 8-2 in the second half.
• The Falcons had six shots on goal to UT's one, and each team had three corner kicks.
• A total of seven different players, including four Falcons and three Rockets, had two shots apiece. Falcon freshman Sarah Allen was the only player to have two shots on goal in the match.
• UT goalkeeper Madison Perrin made four saves in defeat. BG junior Kathleen Duwve was not credited with a save.

FALCON NOTES
• BGSU, as mentioned, finished the regular season with the best MAC record in program history. The Falcons' 10-1-0 league mark topped the 9-2-0 conference ledger compiled by the 2005 team. That '05 squad was the only previous BG team to win a MAC regular-season title.
• BG's MAC winning percentage of .909 ties the Falcons for third place in conference history. Only the Miami teams of 2012 (.955, 10-0-1) and 2002 (.917; 11-1-0) have had a better MAC winning percentage.
• The Falcons have tied the school records for most home wins in a season and most consecutive victories.
• BGSU is now 8-1-1 at Cochrane Stadium this fall. The 2008 team also posted eight victories at home (and also went 8-1-1), while three teams – the 2005, '06 and '17 clubs – picked up seven home wins.
• BG has won seven-straight matches at Cochrane, tying the mark set by that 2008 team.
• BGSU has outscored opponents, 38-11, this season to date, and the Falcons scored 27 goals and allowed just five in MAC play.
• The Falcons have outscored opponents by a 24-5 count in home matches, including 14-3 in MAC matches at Cochrane Stadium.
• BG has scored two or more goals in a match on 11 occasions this season, including nine times in 11 MAC contests.
• Since Matt Fannon was named head coach prior to the 2017 season, the Falcons have gone 25-11-3 overall. That mark includes records of 16-5-1 in MAC regular-season matches and 18-6-1 in all games vs. conference foes.
• In the Fannon Era, the Falcons are a perfect 24-0-0 when scoring at least two goals, and BG is 1-11-3 when being held to fewer than two goals.
• Thursday's win marked the Falcons' first come-from-behind win of the season. BGSU has only trailed during regulation in four of this season's 18 matches – the Loyola Marymount (Aug. 17), Northwestern (Sept. 9), Akron (Oct. 18) and UT contests.
• When Toledo scored the opening goal on Thursday, it marked the first time BG had trailed in the first half in a MAC match this season.
• And, prior to that UT goal, the Falcons had trailed for a total of one minute and 41 seconds during the first 10-plus MAC matches.
• This season, BGSU has led for a total of 757:20, and trailed for a total of 185:08.
• In 990 minutes of conference regular-season play this season, BG led for an eye-popping 621:03, and the Falcons were behind for a total of 59:15.
• Freshman Sarah Allen made her first collegiate start on Thursday. And, Allen responded by scoring her second goal as a Falcon. Allen also scored in BG's win over Northern Illinois at Cochrane Stadium on Sept. 28.
• Thursday marked only the second time in the last 13 matches that the opponent scored first. After scoring the first goal of the match just once in the first five contests of the season, the Falcons scored first in 11 of 12 matches prior to conceding the opening goal against the Rockets.
• On the year, BGSU is now 11-0-1 when scoring first, and the Falcons are 1-4-1 when the opponent scores first.
• With a three-point match vs. UT, junior Maureen Kennedy now has 17 points on the year to rank third on the Falcons. She trails only senior Erica Hubert (33 points) and junior Chelsee Washington (26).
• Kennedy finished MAC play with 13 points, also trailing only Hubert (23) and Washington (19). Kennedy's seven assists in conference contests ties her with Hubert for the team lead.
• Overall, Kennedy has nine assists on the year, which ties her with Hubert for the team lead as well. The school record for assists in a season is 10, set by Julie Trundle in 2005 and matched by Kennedy last year.
• Kennedy now has a career total of 41 points, on nine goals and 23 assists. She has moved into a tie for third place on the BGSU career assists list. Kennedy is tied with Janice Mentrup (23 from 1997-2000), and trails second-place Jill Conover (25 from 1999-2002) by just two. Trundle (2002-05) holds the school record with 33 career assists.

MAC STANDINGS
(through Thursday's matches)
SCHOOL (Overall) MAC Pts.
1. Bowling Green (12-4-2) 10-1-0 30
2. Ball State (12-3-2) 8-2-1 25
3. Western Mich. (13-6-0) 7-4-0 21
4. Ohio (8-7-3) 6-3-2 20
5. Kent State (10-7-2) 6-4-1 19
6. Akron (8-9-2) 5-5-1 16
7. Buffalo (11-7-0) 5-6-0 15
Eastern Mich. (10-10-0) 5-6-0 15
Central Mich. (7-12-0) 5-6-0 15
10. Toledo (8-9-2) 4-6-1 13
11. Miami (3-14-1) 1-10-0 3
Northern Ill. (2-17-0) 1-10-0 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
at Bowling Green 2, Toledo 1
Kent State 1, at Ohio 0
at Western Michigan 4, Northern Illinois 0
Akron 3, at Buffalo 2
at Eastern Michigan 3, Central Mich. 2 (OT)
at Ball State 3, Miami 2 (OT)

MAC TOURNAMENT
Sunday, October 28
Quarterfinals – campus sites
(all matches begin at 1:00 p.m.)
No. 8 Eastern Mich. at No. 1 Bowling Green
No. 7 Buffalo at No. 2 Ball State
No. 6 Akron at No. 3 Western Michigan
No. 5 Kent State at No. 4 Ohio

Friday, November 2
Semifinals – at highest-remaining seed
BGSU/EMU winner vs. KSU/Ohio winner
BSU/UB winner vs. WMU/UA winner

Sunday, November 4
Championship – at semifinal site
Semifinal winners

WHAT'S NEXT?
• The Falcons, as mentioned, are the number-one seed for the MAC Tournament, and BG will host eighth-seeded Eastern Michigan on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 28). That match will begin at 1:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium, and admission is free.
• If the Falcons advance past the Eagles, Cochrane Stadium would be the site of the MAC Tournament semifinals and championship. The semifinals will take place on Friday, Nov. 2, at the site of the highest-remaining seed after the quarterfinals have concluded.
• The MAC Tournament's championship match is set for Sunday, Nov. 4, at the semifinal site, with the winner of that game earning the MAC's automatic berth to the NCAA Championships.

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.