Bowling Green State University Athletics
Tuesday, September 18
Cleveland, OH
7:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
at
Cleveland State
Photo by: BGSU Marketing and Communications
Falcons Head to Cleveland for Tuesday Night Matchup
September 17, 2018 | Men's Soccer
BGSU meets the Vikings, then faces Purdue Fort Wayne Saturday
FALCONS at CLEVELAND STATE – Tuesday, Sept. 18
7:00 p.m. | Krenzler Field | Cleveland, Ohio
• Audio/Video: None | Live Stats: CSUVikings.com | Twitter: @BGSUmenssoccer
FALCONS at PURDUE FORT WAYNE – Saturday, Sept. 22
7:00 p.m. | Hefner Soccer Complex | Fort Wayne, Ind.
• Video: GoMastodons.com (YouTube) | Live Stats: GoMastodons.com
• Twitter: @BGSUmenssoccer
MATCH DAY / FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Links to any live audio/video/stats will be available on the men's soccer schedule page right here at BGSUFalcons.com on match day
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BGSU MEN'S SOCCER LINKS
This Week's BGSUÂ Notes
2018 BGSU Men's Soccer Weekly Releases/Notes
The Opponents: CSU | Purdue Fort Wayne
2018 Men's Soccer... Schedule | Roster | Media Guide/Record Book
Join the Falcon Club Today!
UP NEXT IN FALCON SOCCER
• The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team returns to the road for a pair of matches this week. Head coach Eric Nichols and the Falcons renew an in-state rivalry with a Tuesday (Sept. 18) matchup against Cleveland State University. First touch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Krenzler Field in downtown Cleveland.
• Then, the Orange and Brown will head to Indiana for a Saturday night (Sept. 22) matchup with Purdue Fort Wayne. That match is also set for a 7:00 p.m. start, and will be held at the Hefner Soccer Complex.
• All but one of the Falcons' matches this season, including every remaining contest, is slated to begin at 7:00 p.m. local time.
A FEW THINGS YOU MIGHT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE FALCONS
• BGSU enters the Cleveland State match with a record of 1-3-2 on the season. Most recently, the Falcons battled Ohio State to a 1-1, double-overtime draw in Columbus on Tuesday (Sept. 11). BG outshot the Buckeyes, 16-5, after halftime, and the Falcons tied the match on sophomore Zach Buescher's goal with just nine seconds to go.
• Last Saturday's (Sept. 15) scheduled match at Wofford was cancelled due to Hurricane Florence and the weather forecast in the Carolinas.
• The Falcons have played three Big Ten Conference opponents in the first six matches of the year.
• BG began the season with a pair of one-goal losses to Northern Kentucky (3-2; Aug. 25) and Penn State (1-0; Aug. 28), and BG then battled Wright State to a scoreless draw (Aug. 31) before picking up a 3-2 win at Western Illinois two days later (Sept. 2).
• No. 3 Michigan State broke open a close match with two goals in the last 10 minutes to down the Falcons, 3-0, at Cochrane on Sept. 7. Buescher's blast vs. the Buckeyes gave BG a draw in the team's second-straight match vs. a Big Ten foe.
• Believe it or not, the draw at Ohio State was the Falcons' first road result vs. the Buckeyes in two decades. The Falcons had dropped nine-straight matches in Columbus since a 1-1 draw in 1998. BG is now 9-13-3 all-time on the road against OSU, while the Falcons are 15-4-1 at home against the Bucks.
• BGSU has outshot the opponent and has taken as many or more corner kicks than the opponent in five of the first six matches of the season. BG has had more shots on goal than the foes in four matches, and the Falcons have a 30-24 advantage in that department this year to date.
• Seniors Ebenezer Ackon and Tate Robertson are tied for the Falcons' scoring lead, with four points apiece. Ackon has two goals, which came just 75 seconds apart in the NKU match. Robertson has a BG-best four assists, as he had the primary helper on both Ackon tallies, and added another two-assist game at WIU.
• A trio of sophomores – Buescher,  Chris Sullivan and Vinny Worner – each have three points on the young season, while senior Moe Mustafa has two points.
• Junior Anthony Mwembia has played all six matches in goal, and has 13 total saves, one shutout and a goals-against average of 1.55.
• Seven different Falcons have started all six matches. That list includes Ackon, Buescher, Mwembia, Robertson, Sullivan, Worner and senior Peter Pugliese. A total of 13 different players have started at least three matches to date.
WORKING OVERTIME
• Tuesday night's Ohio State match was BGSU's second contest to go to overtime this season. The Falcons played a total of three OT matches last year, going 1-1-1.
• BGSU is now 13-9-27 in overtime matches in the Eric Nichols Era, including marks of 6-3-14 at home, 5-5-12 on the road and 2-1-1 in neutral-site OT matches.
TWO GOALS (USUALLY) DOES THE TRICK
• The Falcons' season-opening 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 OT loss to Duquesne in 2014, and was the Falcons' first such loss in regulation since the Belmont match of 2011.
• BG found the back of the net three times en route to victory at WIU, and the Falcons are now 51-5-6 when scoring two or more goals in the Nichols Era.
LATE-GAME DRAMA
• Fans attending a BGSU match would be well advised to stay until the very end. A total of 16 goals have been scored in the Falcons' six games this season to date. Thirteen of those 16 goals have come in the second half.
• Of those 13 second-half scores, 10 have come in the final 20 minutes of regulation, with seven coming with under 10 minutes to go.
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.
• 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 CSU match with a record of 70-78-27 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 are 40-33-9 (.543) since the beginning of the 2014 season.
• Nichols welcomed 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.
• In addition to the aforementioned trio, seniors Moe Mustafa and Peter Pugliese, junior Tom Wrobel and sophomores Zach Buescher and Chris Sullivan each made at least 11 starts a year ago.
THE OPPONENTS
• Cleveland State is 0-4-1 on the season, and the Vikings are 0-1-1 in Horizon League play. CSU earned a point on the road Saturday night, with a 1-1 draw at Milwaukee. The Vikes have also faced Cincinnati and Green Bay at home and Northwestern and Loyola (Ill.) on the road this year. Noah Pio and Gabe Pewu have a goal apiece, while Alex Gyerman has started four of the five matches in goal and has 18 saves and a 1.42 goals-against average. Coach Kirk Harwat returned 16 players from last year's team that went 7-10-2 overall, 4-3-2 in Horizon League play and advanced to the semifinals of the HL Tournament.
• Purdue Fort Wayne is 3-3-0, heading into a Monday match vs. Northern Kentucky. The Mastodons defeated UTRGV and Houston Baptist to improve to 3-1, before dropping contests to Northern Illinois and Bradley, with the latter setback coming in overtime on Friday night. Matthew Lieshout has six goals and 13 points to pace the 'Dons, while Blake Cearns has three goals and three of his teammates have two apiece. In goal, Tor Erik Larsen has started every match and has 29 saves and a 2.24 GAA. Coach Mike Harper's club went 5-9-4 overall last season.
THE SERIES
• BGSU leads Cleveland State, 17-15-1, in the all-time series between the teams, and the Falcons have captured the last four meetings. Last season, Chris Sullivan had a goal and an assist in a 2-0 BG victory at Cochrane. Two years ago, in BG's last trip to Cleveland, Chris Brennan scored with just four seconds remaining in the second overtime for a 1-0 Falcon win. BGSU is 10-7-0 at home and 7-8-1 on the road vs. the Vikings through the years.
• BGSU leads Purdue Fort Wayne, 9-6-2, in that series, but the Mastodons have won the last two meetings by identical 2-1 scores, topping BG at Cochrane last season and in Fort Wayne two years ago. The 2016 match snapped a three-game series win streak for BG. The Falcons are 5-3-2 at home and 4-3-0 on the road vs. the 'Dons.
DOWN THE ROAD...
• Following the Purdue Fort Wayne matchup, the Falcons will return home to end the month of September, facing Valparaiso at Cochrane Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 29.
• Then, the Brown and Orange will begin Mid-American Conference play by hosting Akron the following Saturday night (Oct. 6). Admission is free to all BGSU soccer regular-season home matches.
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7:00 p.m. | Krenzler Field | Cleveland, Ohio
• Audio/Video: None | Live Stats: CSUVikings.com | Twitter: @BGSUmenssoccer
FALCONS at PURDUE FORT WAYNE – Saturday, Sept. 22
7:00 p.m. | Hefner Soccer Complex | Fort Wayne, Ind.
• Video: GoMastodons.com (YouTube) | Live Stats: GoMastodons.com
• Twitter: @BGSUmenssoccer
MATCH DAY / FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Links to any live audio/video/stats will be available on the men's soccer schedule page right here at BGSUFalcons.com on match day
Â
BGSU MEN'S SOCCER LINKS
This Week's BGSUÂ Notes
2018 BGSU Men's Soccer Weekly Releases/Notes
The Opponents: CSU | Purdue Fort Wayne
2018 Men's Soccer... Schedule | Roster | Media Guide/Record Book
Join the Falcon Club Today!
UP NEXT IN FALCON SOCCER
• The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team returns to the road for a pair of matches this week. Head coach Eric Nichols and the Falcons renew an in-state rivalry with a Tuesday (Sept. 18) matchup against Cleveland State University. First touch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Krenzler Field in downtown Cleveland.
• Then, the Orange and Brown will head to Indiana for a Saturday night (Sept. 22) matchup with Purdue Fort Wayne. That match is also set for a 7:00 p.m. start, and will be held at the Hefner Soccer Complex.
• All but one of the Falcons' matches this season, including every remaining contest, is slated to begin at 7:00 p.m. local time.
A FEW THINGS YOU MIGHT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE FALCONS
• BGSU enters the Cleveland State match with a record of 1-3-2 on the season. Most recently, the Falcons battled Ohio State to a 1-1, double-overtime draw in Columbus on Tuesday (Sept. 11). BG outshot the Buckeyes, 16-5, after halftime, and the Falcons tied the match on sophomore Zach Buescher's goal with just nine seconds to go.
• Last Saturday's (Sept. 15) scheduled match at Wofford was cancelled due to Hurricane Florence and the weather forecast in the Carolinas.
• The Falcons have played three Big Ten Conference opponents in the first six matches of the year.
• BG began the season with a pair of one-goal losses to Northern Kentucky (3-2; Aug. 25) and Penn State (1-0; Aug. 28), and BG then battled Wright State to a scoreless draw (Aug. 31) before picking up a 3-2 win at Western Illinois two days later (Sept. 2).
• No. 3 Michigan State broke open a close match with two goals in the last 10 minutes to down the Falcons, 3-0, at Cochrane on Sept. 7. Buescher's blast vs. the Buckeyes gave BG a draw in the team's second-straight match vs. a Big Ten foe.
• Believe it or not, the draw at Ohio State was the Falcons' first road result vs. the Buckeyes in two decades. The Falcons had dropped nine-straight matches in Columbus since a 1-1 draw in 1998. BG is now 9-13-3 all-time on the road against OSU, while the Falcons are 15-4-1 at home against the Bucks.
• BGSU has outshot the opponent and has taken as many or more corner kicks than the opponent in five of the first six matches of the season. BG has had more shots on goal than the foes in four matches, and the Falcons have a 30-24 advantage in that department this year to date.
• Seniors Ebenezer Ackon and Tate Robertson are tied for the Falcons' scoring lead, with four points apiece. Ackon has two goals, which came just 75 seconds apart in the NKU match. Robertson has a BG-best four assists, as he had the primary helper on both Ackon tallies, and added another two-assist game at WIU.
• A trio of sophomores – Buescher,  Chris Sullivan and Vinny Worner – each have three points on the young season, while senior Moe Mustafa has two points.
• Junior Anthony Mwembia has played all six matches in goal, and has 13 total saves, one shutout and a goals-against average of 1.55.
• Seven different Falcons have started all six matches. That list includes Ackon, Buescher, Mwembia, Robertson, Sullivan, Worner and senior Peter Pugliese. A total of 13 different players have started at least three matches to date.
WORKING OVERTIME
• Tuesday night's Ohio State match was BGSU's second contest to go to overtime this season. The Falcons played a total of three OT matches last year, going 1-1-1.
• BGSU is now 13-9-27 in overtime matches in the Eric Nichols Era, including marks of 6-3-14 at home, 5-5-12 on the road and 2-1-1 in neutral-site OT matches.
TWO GOALS (USUALLY) DOES THE TRICK
• The Falcons' season-opening 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 OT loss to Duquesne in 2014, and was the Falcons' first such loss in regulation since the Belmont match of 2011.
• BG found the back of the net three times en route to victory at WIU, and the Falcons are now 51-5-6 when scoring two or more goals in the Nichols Era.
LATE-GAME DRAMA
• Fans attending a BGSU match would be well advised to stay until the very end. A total of 16 goals have been scored in the Falcons' six games this season to date. Thirteen of those 16 goals have come in the second half.
• Of those 13 second-half scores, 10 have come in the final 20 minutes of regulation, with seven coming with under 10 minutes to go.
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.
• 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 CSU match with a record of 70-78-27 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 are 40-33-9 (.543) since the beginning of the 2014 season.
• Nichols welcomed 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.
• In addition to the aforementioned trio, seniors Moe Mustafa and Peter Pugliese, junior Tom Wrobel and sophomores Zach Buescher and Chris Sullivan each made at least 11 starts a year ago.
THE OPPONENTS
• Cleveland State is 0-4-1 on the season, and the Vikings are 0-1-1 in Horizon League play. CSU earned a point on the road Saturday night, with a 1-1 draw at Milwaukee. The Vikes have also faced Cincinnati and Green Bay at home and Northwestern and Loyola (Ill.) on the road this year. Noah Pio and Gabe Pewu have a goal apiece, while Alex Gyerman has started four of the five matches in goal and has 18 saves and a 1.42 goals-against average. Coach Kirk Harwat returned 16 players from last year's team that went 7-10-2 overall, 4-3-2 in Horizon League play and advanced to the semifinals of the HL Tournament.
• Purdue Fort Wayne is 3-3-0, heading into a Monday match vs. Northern Kentucky. The Mastodons defeated UTRGV and Houston Baptist to improve to 3-1, before dropping contests to Northern Illinois and Bradley, with the latter setback coming in overtime on Friday night. Matthew Lieshout has six goals and 13 points to pace the 'Dons, while Blake Cearns has three goals and three of his teammates have two apiece. In goal, Tor Erik Larsen has started every match and has 29 saves and a 2.24 GAA. Coach Mike Harper's club went 5-9-4 overall last season.
THE SERIES
• BGSU leads Cleveland State, 17-15-1, in the all-time series between the teams, and the Falcons have captured the last four meetings. Last season, Chris Sullivan had a goal and an assist in a 2-0 BG victory at Cochrane. Two years ago, in BG's last trip to Cleveland, Chris Brennan scored with just four seconds remaining in the second overtime for a 1-0 Falcon win. BGSU is 10-7-0 at home and 7-8-1 on the road vs. the Vikings through the years.
• BGSU leads Purdue Fort Wayne, 9-6-2, in that series, but the Mastodons have won the last two meetings by identical 2-1 scores, topping BG at Cochrane last season and in Fort Wayne two years ago. The 2016 match snapped a three-game series win streak for BG. The Falcons are 5-3-2 at home and 4-3-0 on the road vs. the 'Dons.
DOWN THE ROAD...
• Following the Purdue Fort Wayne matchup, the Falcons will return home to end the month of September, facing Valparaiso at Cochrane Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 29.
• Then, the Brown and Orange will begin Mid-American Conference play by hosting Akron the following Saturday night (Oct. 6). Admission is free to all BGSU soccer regular-season home matches.
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