Falcons, Raiders Battle for I-75 Cup Friday Night

Friday, August 31

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Wright State

Chris Brennan v Northern Kentucky - Aug 25 2018

Photo by: Larry Clapper

August 30, 2018 | Men's Soccer

BGSU meets Western Illinois in Macomb Sunday afternoon

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

FALCONS vs. WRIGHT STATE – Friday, Aug. 31
7:00 p.m. | Cochrane Stadium | Bowling Green, Ohio
Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com | Twitter: @BGSUmenssoccer | Live Video: WBGU-TV | Live Audio: BGRSO

FALCONS at WESTERN ILLINOIS – Sunday, Sept. 2
1:00 p.m. CT (2:00 p.m. ET) | John MacKenzie Alumni Field | Macomb, Ill.
Live Stats: GoLeathernecks.com | Live Audio/Video: TBA

• Links to any live audio/video/stats will be available on the men's soccer schedule page at BGSUFalcons.com on match day

BGSU MEN'S SOCCER LINKS
This Week's BGSU Notes
2018 BGSU Men's Soccer Weekly Releases/Notes
The Opponents: WSU | WIU
2018 Men's Soccer... Schedule | Roster | Media Guide/Record Book
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UP NEXT IN FALCON SOCCER
• The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team continues a busy season-opening stretch with two more matches this weekend. Head coach Eric Nichols and the Falcons are home on Friday evening (Aug. 31), closing the month of August with a 7:00 p.m. match vs. Wright State in the latest battle for the I-75 Cup. Admission is free to all regular-season matches at Cochrane Stadium.

• Then, the Brown and Orange will return to the road for a Sunday (Sept. 2) matchup with Western Illinois University. That match is set to begin at 1:00 p.m. locally (2:00 p.m. ET) at John MacKenzie Alumni Field in Macomb, Ill.

• The WIU match is the only afternoon contest on BGSU's regular-season schedule.

PROMOTIONS
• Friday: Sunglasses at Night -- free pair of sunglasses to first 1,000 fans
• Friday: Halftime -- Coaches PK Challenge

BATTLE FOR THE CUP
• The Falcons and Wright State, as mentioned, will be playing for possession of the I-75 Cup in Friday night's match. The cup, which goes to the winner of the BGSU-WSU game each year, was instituted by Falcon coach Eric Nichols and then-WSU coach Bryan Davis. BGSU is 6-2-0 vs. the Raiders since the two coaches came up with the idea for the cup prior to the 2010 season.

A FEW THINGS YOU MIGHT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE FALCONS
• BGSU enters the Wright State match with a record of 0-2-0 on the young season. The Falcons suffered a pair of one-goal losses to Northern Kentucky (3-2; Aug. 25) and Penn State (1-0; Aug. 28).

• BGSU has outshot the opponent and has taken more corner kicks than the opponent in each of the first two matches of the season.

• The Falcons' loss to NKU marked only the fifth time in the Eric Nichols Era that BGSU has lost when scoring two or more goals in a match. It was BG's first such setback since an overtime loss to Duquesne in 2014, and was the Falcons' first such loss in regulation since the Belmont match of 2011.

• BGSU is now 50-5-6 when scoring two or more goals in a match in the Nichols Era.

• Senior Ebenezer Ackon leads the Falcons in scoring, with two goals and four points. Ackon scored a pair of goals just 75 seconds apart in the NKU match.

• Classmate Tate Robertson has two points on the young season. Robertson had the lone assist on each of Ackon's two goals.

• The two-goal match was the first of Ackon's BGSU career, while the multiple-assist match was Robertson's first as a Falcon.

• Junior Anthony Mwembia has played both matches in goal, and has three total saves and a goals-against average of 2.00.

• Four Falcons – Achille Robin, Jensen Lukacsko, Ike Swiger and Matt Walters – made their respective BGSU debuts in the NKU contest. Robin was in the starting lineup, and has played all 180 minutes to date.

• In addition to Robin, sophomore Vinny Worner made his first-ever start as a Falcon in the NKU match. Lukacsko made his first collegiate start three nights later at Penn State.

• The loss to NKU was BGSU's first season-opening setback in the Nichols Era. BG's last loss in the regular-season opener came in 2008 at South Florida.

• It marked BG's first loss in the home opener since 2010, when the Falcons suffered a 2-0 setback to No. 1 Akron at Cochrane Stadium.

SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE BROWN AND ORANGE FOR YOUR BROADCAST, WEB STREAM, ARTICLE OR MYSPACE PAGE
• The 2018 season marks the 54th year of BGSU men's soccer. Legendary coach Mickey Cochrane initiated varsity programs in both soccer and lacrosse at BG in 1965, after serving as club coach of both sports at the University the previous year. Cochrane can still quite often be found in attendance at the field that bears his name for many BGSU men's and women's soccer matches.

• Eric Nichols, now in his 10th season at BG, is just the fifth coach in the illustrious history of Falcon men's soccer. Cochrane (1965-77), Gary Palmisano (1978-92, 1994), Mel Mahler (1993, 1995-2003) and Fred Thompson (2004-08) are the only other individuals to have coached the BGSU men's soccer program.

• Nichols – the 2016 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year – enters the WSU match with a record of 69-77-25 at BG, The Falcons, after going 3-12-3 in his first year, have a winning record since the start of the 2010 campaign.

• Nichols and his staff – Zach Mason, Sean Teepen and Oliver Harris – welcomed back 13 letterwinners, including eight starters, from last year's team. BG finished the 2017 season with a 7-9-1 overall record and a MAC ledger of 1-3-1. Five of the team's setbacks came by one goal on the road to nationally-ranked opponents.

• The Falcons have a record of 39-32-7 (.545) since the beginning of the 2014 season. The '14 team went 14-6-1, posting the program's most wins in nearly two decades (since 1997), and advanced to the MAC Tournament's championship match for the first time since 2003.

• The 2015 club finished 9-9-1, marking only the second time since 2000 that BGSU had won as many as nine games in a season. The 2016 team matched that nine-win total, going 9-6-4 overall and finishing MAC regular-season play with a 2-0-3 league ledger to place second in the conference.

• Nichols welcomes back a total of four players who started at least 16 of the Falcons' 17 matches last year, including juniors Chris Brennan and Anthony Mwembia. Brennan led a balanced scoring attack with five goals and 14 points a season ago, while Mwembia played every second of every match in goal and had a 1.04 goals-against average, a saves percentage of .780 and seven shutouts.

• Brennan was named to the All-Mid-American Conference Second Team in 2017, while Mwembia earned All-Ohio Team honors.

• Senior Tate Robertson started every match last fall, and finished second on the team in scoring. Robertson's 11 points included a BG-best seven assists in 2017.

• Robertson is joined in the senior class by Ebenezer Ackon, Moe Mustafa and Peter Pugliese. Ackon, a Ghana native, was cleared to play by the NCAA in mid-October of last season, and started each of the Falcons' final five matches on the back line. Mustafa made 11 starts a year ago and had nine points, including four goals. Pugliese started 15 matches in the midfield and had three assists.

• The group of returning juniors, in addition to Brennan and Mwembia, includes Amandy Ayima, Charlie Maciejewski and Tom Wrobel. Wrobel and Maciejewski made a combined 19 starts a year ago.

• Returning starters Zach Buescher and Chris Sullivan headline the sophomore class, which also includes returnees Erik Horvath, Sam Pugliese and Vinny Worner. Buescher was one of three returning Falcons to start every match last fall, while Sullivan played in every match, making 11 starts. Nichols and his staff have added a talented class of newcomers to the 2018 roster as well.

THE OPPONENTS
• Wright State is off to a 2-0-0 start to the season, with 3-2 wins over both UNC Asheville and Purdue Fort Wayne. Alec Philippe and Stefan Rokvic each have two goals on the young season, while Joel Sundell has played all 180 minutes in goal. New head coach Jake Slemker's Raiders were picked to finish third in the Horizon League after going 10-7-1 overall and 6-3-0 in the HL a year ago.

• Western Illinois is 0-1-1 heading into a Friday match vs. Green Bay. The Leathernecks tied Oakland, 1-1, before dropping a 4-0 decision to Milwaukee. Dr. Eric Johnson welcomed back 15 players, including eight starters, from last year's team that went 5-10-1 overall and 3-2-0 in the Summit League.

THE SERIES
• BGSU leads Wright State, 10-7-2, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Raiders captured a 2-0 win in Dayton last season, snapping a five-match BGSU series win streak. BG is 6-2-2 in home matches vs. WSU, including a 2-0 victory in 2016.

• BGSU leads Western Illinois, 4-2-1, in that series, and the Falcons captured a 2-0 victory at Cochrane Stadium last Sept. 9. BG is 0-1-1 in road matches vs. the Leathernecks, however, including a 2-1 loss two years ago.

DOWN THE ROAD...
• Following the Western Illinois match, the Falcons will play back-to-back matches against Big Ten Conference opponents, beginning with a home contest vs. Michigan State on Friday, Sept. 7. That match, which will begin at 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium, is BG's last game at Cochrane until Sept. 29. The Brown and Orange will begin a four-match road swing with a Sept. 11 match at Ohio State.

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