Falcons in the Final! Sullivan's Goal Lifts BGSU Past Akron, 1-0

Friday, November 15

Akron, OH

6:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

13-6-1

Akron (Semifinals)

6-10-2

Bowling Green

Akron

The Falcons celebrate Chris Sullivan's first-half goal

Photo by: Ernie Aranyosi

November 15, 2019 | Men's Soccer

Box Score Final Stats Post-Match Press Conference - Sullivan & Coach Nichols BGSU-UA Photo Gallery (Ernie Aranyosi)MAC Tournament Bracket Photo Gallery

By: AKRON, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Junior Chris Sullivan scored in the 18th minute, and senior Anthony Mwembia and the Bowling Green State University men's soccer back line made that goal stand up. It all added up to a 1-0 win over the University of Akron on Friday night (Nov. 15) in the semifinal round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament.

With the win, the Falcons (13-6-1) advance to the MAC Tournament's championship match. BGSU, the league tournament's number-four seed, will meet West Virginia in Sunday's (Nov. 17) final.

The top-seeded Zips bow out of the tournament with an overall record of 6-10-2. UA won the MAC regular-season title with a 4-0-1 league mark.

BGSU will appear in the MAC Tournament's championship match for the first time in five years.

Friday night's win marked BGSU's first victory over Akron since the 2002 season, and the Falcons' first road win against the Zips since 1997.

NOTE OF THE NIGHT: FALCONS IN THE FINAL
• BGSU advances to the championship match of the MAC Tournament for the 10th time in program history, and the first time since 2014.
• The Falcons have an all-time record of 3-6-0 in championship-game appearances since the MAC began sponsoring men's soccer prior to the 1993 season. BGSU won the league tournament title in three consecutive seasons from 1995-97.
• BG also appeared in the championship match in 1994, '98, 2000, 2002, '03 and 2014.

POST-MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE

BONUS NOTE OF THE NIGHT: IT'S BEEN A WHILE
• The Falcons' win over Akron marked BG's first victory against the Zips since a 1-0 win at Cochrane Stadium in late October of 2002, and it was the program's first road win against UA since October of 1997.
• The Falcons' last MAC Tournament win over the Zips came in November of '97, in the championship match in Oxford, Ohio. BG now has an all-time record of 4-6-0 vs. UA in the league tournament.

FIRST-HALF HIGHLIGHTS
• 3' | Akron's Will Jackson curved a shot into the net, but the assistant referee's flag was raised as the Zips were offside.
• 4' | Blast by Mani Austmann went over the crossbar.
• 5' | Junior Chris Sullivan's free kick was knocked out of box. Classmate Zach Buescher hit a nifty volley, but the shot was hit directly at UA goalkeeper Tor Saunders.
• 7' | A ball over the top found Austmann on the left side. He hit a hard shot, but BGSU 'keeper Anthony Mwembia had the near post covered and made the save.
• 13' | A BGSU right-side cross was deflected. Junior Vinny Worner attempted to play it along the end line, but Saunders grabbed it.
• 17' | GOAL | Sullivan, near the top of the penalty area, played a pass out wide to sophomore Matt Walters. Walters worked his way back toward the center of the field, before crossing a low ball back toward Sullivan. The junior, now inside the area, volleyed the ball off of the bounce, and his shot got past the diving Saunders and found the lower-left-hand corner of the net.
• 21' | A Sullivan corner kick was headed just wide by fellow junior Achille Robin at the near post, as the ball hit the outside netting only about a foot from that post.
• 24' | Senior Charlie Maciejewski's pass found Sullivan, but the junior's shot was blocked near the top of the box, and a follow-up try went high.
• 24' | Almost immediately after the ensuing goal kick, Sullivan pounced on an errant pass and fired a shot from the right side of the box. His blast hit the crossbar and bounced straight down. Sullivan wheeled away in celebration, thinking the ball had landed behind the goal line, but the referee had other thoughts as Saunders gratefully grabbed the ball and play continued.
• 29' | Sullivan went down in the box as he attempted to split a pair of Akron defenders, and several Falcons made their case for a penalty kick, but their pleas were not heard.
• 31' | Akron's David Egbo made a nice move and hit the corner of the goal where the crossbar meets the left goalpost. The shot glanced off of the bar and went over the top for a BGSU goal kick.
• 33' | Robin got his head on a right-side serve, but the effort was wide right and the UA 'keeper picked it up on the bounce
• 36' | Akron had a chance as Skye Harter got through the BG defense. Harter poked at the ball, but a charging Anthony Mwembia made a point-blank stop. The ball went to Egbo near the left post, but the UA striker somehow missed the goal from close range.
• 38' | Sullivan's left-side serve deflected off of a defender, but Saunders corralled the ball on one hop.
• 39' | A UA defender passed the ball back a little too hot for Saunders to handle, and the ball went out of bounds for a BG corner. But, UA successfully cleared that corner away.
• 43' | The Zips won their first corner kick of the night, and off of that corner, Christian Lue Young's shot was blocked on the goal line by sophomore Kale Nichols, near the right post.

SECOND-HALF HIGHLIGHTS
• 48 ' | Mwembia made a nifty save on Marco Milanese after another UA corner.
• 51' | A left-side cross found Egbo, but a BG defender knocked the ball away, and Mwembia outleaped everyone to grab a diagonal ball off of that ensuing corner .
• 53' | Another corner bounced to Egbo, but his shot sailed high.
• 54' | The Zips were threatening, but senior Tom Wrobel knocked the ball out of the box in a scramble, after a back-post header slowly rolled and hit the post.
• 68' | UA's Jackson made a long run into the box, but his last touch past a defender was hit hard enough that Mwembia was able to fall on the ball.
• 73' | BGSU won a corner, and that Sully kick was tipped by a BGSU player, but the ball went through the box and out the other side.
• 77' | Sullivan stole the ball on the right side, and played a pass to Worner in the box. Worner uncorked a shot that hit the right post, where the post meets the bar.
• 80' | Akron's Jackson missed a sitter after a right-side cross fell to him near the goalmouth. His shot from close range sailed high with just over 10 minutes to go.
• 84' | Mwembia grabed a long shot off of the boot of Carlo Ritaccio, hanging onto the ball after the hard shot from distance.
• 85' | Off of an Akron corner from the right side, the ball sailed toward the far side of the box, and was played back the other way. Milanese hit a shot that seemed destined for the upper-right corner, but Nichols again was there to block the shot off of the line.
• 90' | Mwembia's final save came with just 27 seconds left, when he grabbed an effort by Jackson.

FINAL STATISTICS
• The Zips had a 20-6 advantage in shot attempts, including a 6-2 margin in shots on goal.
• Senior Anthony Mwembia made four saves on the night, while the Falcons blocked a pair of shots off of the goal line for 'team saves' in the win.
• Tor Saunders made one save for the Zips.
• Zach Buescher and Chris Sullivan each were credited with a pair of shots in the win, and Sullivan scored the lone goal of the match.
• Sullivan's goal was his seventh of the season and the 11th of his career, but it was his first game-winning goal as a Falcon.
• Akron had 13 corner kicks to the Falcons' five, and UA had an 11-3 advantage in that category in the second half.
• David Egbo had a team-high seven shot attempts, but none of the seven were on goal.

WHAT'S NEXT?
• The Falcons advance to Sunday's (Nov. 17) final to face sixth-seeded West Virginia. The Mountaineers upset second-seeded Western Michigan, topping the Broncos by a 3-2 count in the day's first semifinal..
• Sunday's BGSU-WVU match begins at 1:00 p.m. at UA's First Energy Stadium.

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.

Gallery: (11/15/2019) M.Soccer at Akron - Nov. 15 2019