Falcons, Wright State Play to Scoreless Stalemate

Friday, August 31

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

0-2-1

Wright State

2-0-1

OT 3

OT 4

Wright State

Bowling Green

Photo by: Craig Bell, BGSU Marketing and Communications

August 31, 2018 | Men's Soccer

Box Score Final Statistics (PDF)BGSU-WSU Photo Gallery (Craig Bell)Rewatch the BGSU-WSU Match (WBGU-TV)

Mwembia makes two saves en route to clean sheet

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team and Wright State University battled to a scoreless draw on Friday night (Aug. 31). The double-overtime non-conference match was held at Cochrane Stadium.

Junior Anthony Mwembia made two saves as he and the Falcon defense earned the clean sheet.

For the third time in as many matches this season, the Falcons held advantages in shots and corner kicks. BGSU outshot the Raiders, 15-10, and the Brown and Orange put six shots on goal to the visitors' two. BG had a 6-1 lead in corners, but neither team could get a shot past Mwembia or his counterpart, WSU goalkeeper Joel Sundell.

FIRST-HALF HIGHLIGHTS
• 11' | WSU had the first two shot attempts of the night, beginning with a Jackson Dietrich effort. A cross from Deri Corfe was deflected out to Dietrich, who fired a shot from the top of the box, but it went wide.
• 13' | Two minutes later, the Raiders headed down the field, and Corfe slid a pass to his right, where Alec Philippe was on the move, but Philippe's low shot went wide of the far post.
• 22' | The Falcons' first shot attempt of the evening came when senior Tate Robertson hit a rocket that went over the target.
• 28' | Senior Ebenezer Ackon put the ball out wide to Robertson, and Robertson moved from left to right toward the penalty area. He got past several defenders and uncorked a shot, but it continued over the goal.
• 31' | After a foul on Wright State deep in the Raiders' own end, the Falcons unleashed a flurry of shots. Robertson's free kick found the head of senior Moe Mustafa, but that shot was blocked by a defender. Similarly, follow-up efforts by sophomores Chris Sullivan and Vinny Worner also caromed off of WSU players, and the visitors were finally able to clear the ball out of danger.
• 39' | After another WSU foul, junior Charlie Maciejewski sent a long free kick into the box, where Mustafa was there to get a head on it. But, Sundell was able to make the save.
• 41' | Falcon freshman Matt Walters made a long run down the field and into the box. He cut to his left and hit a shot that was deflected by a defender, but continued on toward goal. Sundell, however, was able to make a diving stop at the near post to keep the match scoreless.

SECOND-HALF HIGHLIGHTS
• 58' | Sophomore Zach Buescher played a ball ahead to junior Chris Brennan, who won a corner for the Falcons. That Robertson corner was headed back across the box by Mustafa, and Ackon trapped it down, but his turnaround half-volley was off the mark.
• 60' | As the match neared the hour mark, a WSU pass sent Philippe into the box on a semi-breakaway. But, Mwembia was able to smother Philippe's close-range shot at the near post.
• 69' | Corfe took the ball to the end line for the visitors, but Mwembia was able to snuff out his short crossing attempt in traffic at the right goalpost.
• 76' | Sophomore Chris Sullivan played a through ball that was intended for Brennan, but the pass was just out of the reach of the junior striker, and Sundell was able to get to the ball first.
• 78' | Robertson put a ball out wide for Brennan, who put a cross into the box from the left side. The ball was just a little too high for Sullivan, who got a head on it, but could not direct it toward goal, The ball caromed up in the air and Sundell grabbed it to end the threat.
• 81' | Maciejewski and Brennan teamed up to get the ball to senior Peter Pugliese on the left side, and Pugliese's cross sailed into the box, but was knocked away and deflected off of a BG player to give the Raiders a goal kick.
• 83' | Freshman Jensen Lukacsko, seemingly out of nowhere, lofted a ball toward the far upper corner of the net, forcing Sundell to make an acrobatic play and tip the ball over the crossbar.
• 85' | From the other side of the field, Pugliese put a ball toward the same (upper-left) corner of the goal as Lukacsko had moments earlier. Pugliese's ball momentarily seemed to fool Sundell, but the WSU 'keeper was able to grab the shot before it crossed the plane of the goal.
• 89' | Brennan was fouled just outside the penalty area, in the center of the field. Robertson took the ensuing free kick, bending a low shot around the WSU wall. But, the blast rang off of the post and bounded away.

OVERTIME HIGHLIGHTS
• 95' | Neither team had a shot for the first nine minutes of overtime, but the Raiders had a solid chance midway through the first extra session. A pass put WSU's Linden Eberle through on the left side, but junior defender Tom Wrobel was able to catch Eberle and break up the play without allowing a shot.
• 100' | With just under a minute left in the period, Pugliese split a pair of defenders with a pass to Brennan. The junior entered the penalty area and hit a hard shot, but it was parried by Sundell at the near post. There were a total of three shot attempts in the second OT period, including another shot on frame by Brennan with 1:40 to go, but the match ended in a scoreless draw.

WHAT'S NEXT?
• The Falcons conclude a busy season-opening stretch of four matches in a nine-day span on Sunday (Sept. 2). BGSU returns to the road to take on Western Illinois in a contest scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. locally (2:00 p.m. Eastern).

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