Falcons Drench Mountaineers, 3-0

Saturday, October 26

Bowling Green, OH

5:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

9-5-1, 1-2-0

West Virginia

6-7-1, 0-3-0

West Virginia

Bowling Green

BGSU seniors and families - Mwembia Maciejewski Brennan Ayima Wrobel

Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications

October 26, 2019 | Men's Soccer

Box Score Final Stats Eric Nichols Interview Achille Robin Interview

BGSU picks up a MAC win on Senior Night

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team broke into the win column in Mid-American Conference play Saturday night (Oct. 26), posting a 3-0 victory over West Virginia University at a rainy Cochrane Stadium.

With the win on Senior Night, the Falcons are now 9-5-1 overall and 1-2-0 in MAC play.

Freshman Spencer Straka, playing in his second collegiate match, scored a goal for the second-straight match. Straka's goal on Saturday was the first game-winning goal of his young career.

Senior Charlie Maciejewski had the primary assist on the GWG for the second consecutive contest. Saturday's winning goal came when freshman Nathan Masters blocked an attempted clearance by the Mountaineers (6-7-1, 0-3-0 MAC). Maciejewski picked up the ball, headed into the penalty area on the right side and played a pass across the box to Straka for a one-time finish.

Straka's winner came in the 36th minute of the contest.

BG put the match away with a pair of second-half goals. With just under an hour gone, the Falcons won a corner kick. Junior Chris Sullivan took a return pass after the short corner, whirled around his defender and hit a cross into the center of the box. Senior Tom Wrobel was marked by a WVU back, and the ball deflected off of one or both of them and into the net, giving the hosts a two-goal lead.

In the 74th minute, another Sullivan right-side cross led to a goal. This time, sophomore Ike Swiger was on the end of a low cross, and Swiger laid the ball into the path of junior Vinny Worner. From the top of the box, Worner made no mistake, burying his shot to put the Falcons up by three.

Senior goalkeeper Anthony Mwembia made three saves on the rainy and windy night, as he and the Falcons kept a clean sheet for the second consecutive match and the eighth time this season. At the other end of the field, WVU 'keeper Steven Tekesky made four stops.

NOTE OF THE NIGHT
• The Falcons are now 6-3-2 in Senior Day/Night matches since Eric Nichols became head coach, and BGSU is unbeaten in the last seven such matches.
• In that seven-match span, the Falcons are 5-0-2 and have outscored the opponents by a 13-3 count.

FINAL STATISTICS
• The Falcons had a 13-8 advantage in total shots and a 7-3 lead in shots on goal. As mentioned, senior Anthony Mwembia made three saves en route to the shutout.
• WVU's Steven Tekesky had four saves on the night.
• Junior Chris Sullivan and freshman Spencer Straka tied for game honors with three shot attempts, and Straka led all players with two shots on goal. For the Mountaineers, Andres Muriel Albino had a team-leading two shot attempts.
• BG had a 7-4 advantage in corner kicks, including a 5-1 lead in the second half.
• Mwembia, Sullivan, senior Tom Wrobel, junior Achille Robin and freshman Michael Montemurri each played all 90 minutes. Robin is the lone Falcon who has played every second of every match this fall.

‼️GOAL📸‼️ Spencer Straka puts the Falcons in the lead with his second goal of the season #AyZiggy pic.twitter.com/9BOiNdII9P
— BGSU Men's Soccer (@BGSUmenssoccer) October 26, 2019

‼️GOAL📸‼️ TOM WROBEL DOUBLES THE LEAD😱 #MACtion #AyZiggy pic.twitter.com/HnuAGMKqTs
— BGSU Men's Soccer (@BGSUmenssoccer) October 26, 2019

FALCON NOTES
• The Falcons are now 9-5-1 on the season, with at least four matches remaining. BG won a total of six matches last year.
• BGSU has scored at least three goals in each of the last four home matches, with a total of 14 goals in that span.
• BGSU scored three goals in a conference match for the first time in just under two years, since a 3-1 victory over Northern Illinois at Cochrane Stadium on Oct. 28, 2017. That win over NIU, just like Saturday's victory, came on Senior Night.
• The win marked BGSU's first three-goal margin over a MAC foe in over seven years, since a 3-0 victory vs. Buffalo on Oct. 13, 2012.
• Freshman Spencer Straka, as mentioned, has scored a goal in each of his first two collegiate matches. Straka capped the scoring in his BGSU debut, Tuesday's 4-0 win over Purdue Fort Wayne, and he opened the scoring on Saturday night.
• Straka has played a total of 75 minutes in two career matches, and has eight shot attempts in that time.
• Senior Tom Wrobel and junior Vinny Worner each recorded their first goals of the season. For Wrobel, it marked the first points of his Falcon career.
• Worner had a pair of goals last season, and now has nine career points, including three goals.
• Junior Chris Sullivan had his second-straight two-assist match, and has had six points in the Falcons' last two wins.
• Sullivan has a total of 11 points in the last four home contests.
• Overall, Sullivan has scored a point in six of the last seven games and seven of the last nine contests. Sullivan has 15 points in that nine-match span.
• On the season, Sullivan has totals of six goals, nine assists and 21 points. He leads the Falcons in all three categories.
• Sullivan has been directly involved in the scoring of nine of BG's last 11 goals.
• Senior Charlie Maciejewski recorded an assist for the second-straight match. He now has three assists and five points this season. All three of those assists have been the primary helper on a game-winning goal, vs. Detroit (Ike Swiger), Purdue Fort Wayne (Kale Nichols) and WVU (Straka). Maciejewski's goal, on Sept. 8 at Northwestern, proved to be the GWG.
• Maciejewski now has career totals of five assists and 13 points.
• Freshman Nathan Masters picked up the first point of his career with the second assist on Straka's goal. Masters has played in five matches this year, including each of the last four.
• Sophomore Ike Swiger, a native of Fairmont, W.Va., recorded his first assist as a Falcon with the primary helper on Worner's goal. Swiger now has five points in his career, with all five coming this season.
• A total of 12 different Falcons have scored at least one goal this season, while 16 players have registered one point or more on the year. Straka became the seventh different Falcon with a GWG in 2019.
• Senior Anthony Mwembia recorded his eighth shutout of the season, tying his career high. He also kept eight clean sheets as a freshman in 2016. Mwembia now has 27 career shutouts at BGSU.
• Sophomore Colin McCort saw his first action since the season's opening weekend. McCort, who played a total of 112 minutes in the Duquesne (Aug. 30) and Robert Morris (Sept. 1) matches, then missed the next 12 contests due to injury. He checked into Saturday's game in the second half and played a total of 15 minutes.

FIRST-HALF HIGHLIGHTS
• 7' | The Falcons had a solid scoring chance off of a free kick by freshman Michael Montemurri. The entry ball was flicked by junior Achille Robin, and classmate Vinny Worner hit a pass across the box. Senior Charlie Maciejewski and sophomore Kale Nichols each were making a run. Maciejewski hit a shot as WVU goalkeeper Steven Tekesky was forced to come off of his line. Tekesky blocked the point-blank effort, and was momentarily shaken up, but remained in the match.
• 9' | Junior Chris Sullivan began a sequence which wound of with a dangerous-looking Maciejewski cross into the box. The ball bounced on the wet ground, but Tekesky was able to cleanly field it on the hop.
• 12' | The Mountaineers had a chance after a steal by Rodrigo Robles Grajera in the BG end, but a curving shot by Brian Bond was well over the target.
• 25' | WVU's Luke McCormick made a run into the BG end and hit a hard shot from the 18-yard line. BGSU 'keeper Anthony Mwembia made the save, but as the ball caromed out of the box, a foul was called on the Falcons. The visitors had a miscommunication on the ensuing free kick, however, and the pass went harmlessly wide of goal and over the end line near the corner flag.
• 31' | After a foul on the Mountaineers near midfield, Sullivan's free kick sailed down the right side to Maciejewski, who won a corner. But, off of that short corner, a diagonal ball got caught in the wind and was blown well wide of the six-yard box.
• 36' | Freshman Nathan Masters played a right-side pass to Maciejewski, who made a nifty cut-back move as he entered the box on the right side. The senior hit a low shot that beat Tekesky, but it scooted just wide of the far post.
• 36' | GOAL | Masters blocked a clearing attempt by a WVU defender on the right side. The ball caromed to Maciejewski, who quickly took the ball into the right side of the box and slid a pass to a wide-open Spencer Straka on the far side. Straka had an easy tap-in on the left side, and the freshman made no mistake, scoring his second goal in as many matches.
• 41' | Off of a turnover in the BG end, Tony Pineda made several nice moves before hitting a low shot from the top of the 18. His shot was tipped just wide of the far post by a diving Mwembia.
• 44' | With just under 90 seconds remaining in the half, the Mountaineers had a chance after a quick free kick down the right side. A short cross was chipped into the box, and a Mountaineer couldn't quite get his boot on the ball at the six-yard line, and Mwembia was able to grab the ball.

SECOND-HALF HIGHLIGHTS
• 50' | After the Falcons created a turnover, junior Zach Buescher's effort found Straka in the box. Straka's shot was blocked, but the ball ping-ponged around the box. A WVU player attempted to clear the ball, but Straka blocked it with a lunging effort, and the ball rebounded toward the upper right corner, where Tekesky was able to grab it.
• 51' | The visitors immediately had a chance at the other end. Off of a right-side cross, Josh DiMatteo hit a hard shot from the 18-yard line, but it was blocked by a BG defender.
• 60' | Worner won a corner kick for the Falcons, and off of that short corner, Sullivan beat his would-be defender on the right side and hit a cross toward goal. Near the end line, senior Tom Wrobel and a WVU defender were vying for position, and the ball was deflected into the upper half of the net to double the BG lead.
• 66' | The Mountaineers threatened to cut that BG lead in half, as Robles Grajera hit a hard shot against the run of play, after a steal and a long pass from midfield. But, Mwembia went to the ground to make the save on the wet turf.
• 74' | GOAL | Sullivan hit a right-side pass to sophomore Ike Swiger in the box. Swiger, facing away from goal, held off a defender and laid the ball off to the charging Worner. Worner, from just inside the 18-yard line, buried his shot to give the Brown and Orange a three-goal lead.
• 83' | Buescher was fouled on the left side of the field, near the end line. Sullivan took the ensuing free kick and, from a difficult angle, hit a curving shot that Tekesky was able to grab. Tekesky's save was all the more impressive given that Montemurri was making a near-post run and very nearly got his head on the ball.
• 85' | Nichols played a gorgeous diagonal ball from the left side, and Sullivan just missed getting his head on the ball with a diving effort in the center of the box.
• 87' | Swiger hit a hard one-timer off of a right-side cross, but Tekesky was able to make the save, knocking the ball out for a corner kick. BG would have back-to-back-to-back corners, as the first two were deflected out of play by WVU defenders before the Mountaineers finally cleared the third corner out of the danger zone.

WHAT'S NEXT?
• The Falcons will begin the November schedule with a pair of road matches. BG will make a trip to Kalamazoo to face Western Michigan on Saturday, Nov. 2, with first touch set for 1:00 p.m. at the WMU Soccer Complex.
• BGSU wraps up the regular-season slate the following week, with a midweek trip to Wright State (Tuesday, Nov. 5) and a home matchup with Northern Illinois that weekend (Saturday, Nov. 9). The MAC Tournament will begin on Tuesday, Nov. 12, with first-round matches at campus sites.

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