EMU Comes to Town Sunday as MAC Tournament Begins

FALCONS vs. EASTERN MICHIGAN – Sunday, Oct. 28 – MAC Tournament QF
• 1:00 p.m. | Cochrane Stadium | Bowling Green, Ohio
• Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com | Twitter: @BGSUWSoccer
• Video: WBGU-TV | Audio: Bowling Green Radio Sports (BGRSO)

MATCH DAY / FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Links to any live audio/video/stats will be available on the women's soccer schedule page right here at BGSUFalcons.com on match day

BGSU WOMEN'S SOCCER LINKS
This Week's BGSU Notes
2018 BGSU Women's Soccer Releases/Notes
2018 MAC Tournament Bracket
The Opponent: EMU
Thursday Recap (Oct. 25): Falcons Top Toledo to Close Regular Season
Sunday Recap (Oct. 21): MAC CHAMPS! Falcons Top Buffalo to Capture Crown
2018 Women's Soccer... Schedule | Roster | Media Guide/Record Book
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UP NEXT IN FALCON SOCCER
• The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, after winning the Mid-American Conference regular-season championship, hosts a conference tournament quarterfinal match this weekend. Head coach Matt Fannon and the Falcons, the number-one seed for the MAC Tournament, will face eighth-seeded Eastern Michigan University on Sunday (Oct. 28) afternoon. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium, and admission is free.

• The BGSU-EMU winner will join the other three quarterfinal-round survivors in the MAC Tournament semifinal round on Friday (Nov. 2). If the Falcons get past EMU, Cochrane Stadium would be the site for the league tourney semifinals as well as the championship match. The final is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 4.

THE FALCONS AND THE MAC TOURNAMENT
• BGSU enters the Eastern Michigan match with an all-time record of 13-7-5 in MAC Tournament matches. The Falcons' .620 winning percentage is the third-highest among all MAC schools.

• The 2018 season marks just the second time the Falcons have been the number-one seed for the MAC Tournament. BGSU has a record of 1-0-2 as the top seed. The 2005 team did not allow a goal from scrimmage en route to the tourney title, but BG battled Toledo (quarterfinals) and Kent State (final) to scoreless draws before advancing via penalty kicks.

• Last season, Matt Fannon – the 2017 MAC Coach of the Year – led the fourth-seeded Falcons to a pair of league tourney wins as BG advanced to the championship match before falling in overtime.

• The trip to the 2017 final marked BGSU's sixth MAC Tournament championship-game appearance in program history. The Falcons are tied for second in the league in that category, as only Miami (seven trips to the final) and Western Michigan (six) have matched or bettered BG's total.

• BGSU qualified for the MAC Tournament just twice during the first five years of the program, before making the tourney in seven-straight seasons from 2002-08. The Falcons advanced to at least the semifinal round in six of those seven years.

• The Falcons have had a knack for pulling off upset victories in the MAC Tournament over the years. BGSU was seeded either seventh or eighth for the league tourney in 2000, 2003 and 2004, but advanced to the MAC Tournament's championship match in all three seasons, winning the title in '04.

• That 2004 MAC Tournament title was the first in program history. Then, in 2005, BGSU captured both the regular-season and tournament crowns, winning the league tourney title at Cochrane Stadium.

• After making the MAC Tournament in seven-straight seasons, BG then went eight years in a row (2009-16) without qualifying. The Falcons, as mentioned earlier, returned to the league tournament last season, downing Buffalo and upsetting top-seeded Kent State to advance to the final.

• BGSU is 5-1-2 at home, 5-3-1 on the road and 3-3-2 in neutral-site matches in the MAC Tournament. The Falcons are 8-1-1 in the quarterfinal round, 4-3-2 in the semifinals and 1-3-2 in championship-match appearances.

• Five of BGSU's MAC Tournament matches required penalty kicks, and the Falcons advanced past the opponent in four of those five matches.

• Much more information on BGSU's MAC Tournament history can be found on page 15 of the PDF version of these notes.

THE FALCONS VS. EMU IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT
• BGSU enters Sunday's match with an all-time record of 4-0-0 vs. Eastern Michigan in the MAC Tournament. Three of BG's four victories have come on the road.

• In 1998, the sixth-seeded Falcons topped host EMU, 1-0, in the quarterfinal round. The teams met in the quarters again in 2000, and the number-seven Falcons posted a 2-1 win over the second-seeded Eagles.

• The 2003 season saw BG seeded eighth, but the Falcons came away with a 2-1 win over top-seeded EMU. The only prior home MAC Tournament meeting came in 2007, when number-four BG picked up a 2-1 win over the fifth-seeded Eagles.

MAC CHAMPS! FALCONS CAPTURE CONFERENCE REGULAR-SEASON CROWN
• With a 5-0 win at Buffalo on Sunday (Oct. 21), the Falcons clinched 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.

• BGSU's 2-1 win over Toledo on Thursday (Oct. 25) was the Falcons' 10th MAC victory this year, a new school record. The '05 club went 9-2-0 in league play. This year's BG team also finished with the highest MAC winning percentage in school history, and the 2018 Falcons tied for the third-best winning pct. in MAC history.

MAC RECORD BOOK – HIGHEST WINNING PERCENTAGE, SEASON
.955 (10-0-1) Miami, 2012
.917 (11-1-0) Miami, 2002
.909 (10-1-0) Ball State, 2015; Toledo, 2010; CMU, 2010; Bowling Green, 2018
.909 (9-0-2)   CMU, 2009; Buffalo, 2014
.900 (9-1-0)   Ohio, 1998; NIU, 1998
.864 (9-1-1) Ball State, 2007; Toledo, 2011; Ball State, 2016
.857 (6-1-0) NIU, 1997
.833 (10-2-0) Ohio, 2001
.818 (9-2-0)   Bowling Green, 2005; CMU, 2012; Kent State, 2017
.818 (8-1-2)   EMU, 1999; CMU, 2011; Kent State, 2016, Ball State, 2017

A FEW THINGS YOU MIGHT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons have an overall record of 12-4-2, and BGSU finished the regular sesaon with a 10-1-0 record in conference play. The Falcons won the 2018 MAC regular-season title, the second league regular-season crown in program history.

• BGSU won nine-straight games before dropping a 1-0 decision at Akron on Oct. 18, but the Falcons bounced back with a 5-0 win at Buffalo on Sunday (Oct. 21), then topped Toledo, 2-1, on Thursday afternoon (Oct. 25) at Cochrane Stadium.

• The Falcons are 8-1-1 at home, 4-3 on the road and 0-0-1 in neutral-site matches this season to date. BGSU has outscored opponents, 38-11, including 27-5 in the 11 conference contests.

• BGSU has scored two or more goals in a match on 11 occasions this season, including nine times in the 11 MAC matches. The Falcons have allowed as many as two goals only once, in a 2-0 loss at then-No. 15 Northwestern.

• Following that Northwestern match on Sept. 9, BGSU never trailed at any point in any game until Akron scored with just 1:41 left in that contest. The Falcons had gone a total of 1008:19 – nearly 17 hours of match time – without finding themselves behind on the scoreboard. BG did trail for over half of the UT match before rallying to win.

• Senior Erica Hubert and junior Chelsee Washington have paced the BG attack. Hubert exploded for an eight-point match at Buffalo, with a hat trick and a pair of assists, and she has BGSU-leading totals of 12 goals, nine assists and 33 points. Washington has nine goals, eight helpers and 26 points, and the junior has scored a team-leading four game-winning goals. She was named the United Soccer Coaches National Player of the Week on Sept. 25.

• Junior Maureen Kennedy and redshirt sophomore Nikki Cox have 17 and 14 points, respectively. Kennedy had a goal and an assist in Thursday's win over the Rockets. She now has nine assists to tie Hubert for the team lead, and also has three GWGs on the year. Additionally, Kennedy is one-third of a veteran back line (along with seniors Morgan Abbitt and Alexis Fricke) that has helped BG to six shutouts in 11 MAC matches.

• Cox is third on the team with six goals, including the GWG in back-to-back wins over Eastern Michigan and Kent State.

• Junior Kathleen Duwve has started all 18 matches in goal this season, and has 66 saves and a goals-against average of just 0.63. She has posted five complete-match shutouts and combined on three other clean sheets.

• In MAC games only, Hubert led the league in goals (8), assists (7) and points (23), while Washington finished second in goals (7) and points (19). Kennedy was second in the entire conference in assists, and also was ranked among the top 10 in points.assists.

• Duwve's GAA in MAC action was just 0.49. She allowed only five goals in 927-plus minutes, and had a saves pct. of .878 in conference clashes this season. She led/leads the MAC in GAA and saves pct., both overall and in league games only.

• Not surprisingly, the Falcons led the entire league in a veritable plethora of categories during conference play, including goals, assists, points, shots, shot percentage, fewest goals allowed, shutouts and GAA.

• Head coach Matt Fannon and his staff – assistant coaches Cian McDonald, Dan Ball and Erin Kielmeyer – welcomed back 18 letterwinners, including seven starters, from last year's team. BGSU finished the 2017 season with an overall record of 13-7-1, and the Falcons placed second in the MAC's East Division.

• The Falcons are 16-5-1 in MAC regular-season matches and 18-6-1 in all games vs. conference foes since Fannon assumed the helm prior to the 2017 season.

A FEW MORE FASCINATING FALCON FUTBOL FACTS
• Thursday's (Oct. 25) win over Toledo was the Falcons' 25th victory since Matt Fannon was named head coach prior to the 2017 season. BGSU has an overall record of 25-11-3 in that time.

• BGSU's total of 25 overall wins since Fannon's arrival includes 16 MAC regular-season victories. During the previous eight seasons (2009-16), BG won a total of 15 MAC regular-season matches. The Falcons were 15-61-12 in MAC play in that eight-year stretch, but BG is 16-5-1 in the league over the last two years.

• In the Fannon Era, BGSU is now a perfect 24-0-0 when scoring at least two goals, and the Falcons are 1-11-3 when being held to fewer than two goals.

• The Falcons have a record of 8-1-1 at home this season, and BGSU is 13-1-1 at Cochrane Stadium in the last 15 matches. In that time, the Falcons have outscored the opponents, 39-10, at Cochrane.

• The Falcons have tied the school records for most home wins in a season and most consecutive home victories. BGSU, as mentioned, is 8-1-1 at Cochrane this fall. The 2008 team also posted eight victories at home (and also went 8-1-1). BG has won seven-straight matches at Cochrane, tying the mark set by that '08 team.

• Thursday's win over Toledo was 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 at any point 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, tying the match midway through the second half.

• 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.

THE OPPONENTS
• Eastern Michigan is 10-10-0 overall, and the Eagles finished MAC play with a 5-6-0 conference record. EMU was part of a three-way tie for seventh place with Buffalo and Central Michigan in the final standings, and earned a league tourney berth with a dramatic 3-2 overtime win over the Chippewas on Thursday. Eastern is 6-4-0 at home and 4-6-0 on the road this season. Sabrina McNeill and Kristin Nason have seven goals apiece this season. McNeill has a team-leading 20 points, while Nason is right behind with 19. In goal, Kaylin Williams has played in 14 matches and has 66 saves and a 1.36 GAA. Mabel Dunn has made nine appearances, including seven MAC matches, and has 38 stops and a 1.73 GAA this fall. Last year, coach Scott Hall's team went 7-12-1 overall and 4-7-0 in the MAC.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons trail Eastern Michigan, 15-10-1, in the all-time series, but BG won this year's regular-season meeting to snap an EMU two-game series win streak. Nikki Cox scored early in the second half to lift the Falcons to a 1-0 win at Cochrane Stadium three weeks ago (Oct. 7). Last year's matchup in Ypsilanti saw the Eagles pick up a 2-1, double-OT victory. In fact, six of the last eight BGSU-EMU meetings have ended with a 2-1 final score. BG is 4-7-0 at home and 6-8-1 on the road vs. Eastern through the years.

DOWN THE ROAD...
• The BGSU-EMU survivor will join the other three quarterfinal-round winners for Friday's (Nov. 2) MAC Tournament semifinal round. As the number-one seed, the Falcons would host the remainder of the tournament should BG get past EMU.

• The MAC Tournament's championship match is set for Sunday, Nov. 4.

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