Second-Half Explosion Sends Falcons Past Central & Into Semifinals

Sunday, November 3

Bowling Green, OH

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

13-5-2, 10-1-0

Central Michigan (Quarterfinals)

7-7-4, 4-5-2

Central Mich.

Bowling Green

Kennedy White Lynsey Spotts goal v CMU - Nov 3 2019

Kennedy White (right) scored BG's last goal after receiving a pass from Lynsey Spotts (on ground)

Photo by: Larry Clapper

Second-Half Explosion Sends Falcons Past Central & Into Semifinals

November 03, 2019 | Women's Soccer

Box Score Final Stats BGSU-CMU Highlights Sarah Allen Interview Nikki Cox Interview Matt Fannon Interview

BGSU wins, 4-1; Remainder of MAC Tournament Will Be Held at Cochrane

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team exploded for four second-half goals on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 3), downing Central Michigan by a 4-1 final. The match, a Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinal-round contest, was held at a sun-drenched Cochrane Stadium.

With the victory, the Falcons (13-5-2) will host the University at Buffalo in Friday's (Nov. 8) semifinal round. BGSU, as the top-seeded team for the tournament, will host both the semifinals and the championship match.

Sophomore Sarah Allen and redshirt junior Nikki Cox teamed up for a pair of goals less than three minutes apart early in the second period, and freshman Makenzie Ortman gave the Falcons a 3-0 lead with her first collegiate goal in the 71st minute. Another freshman, Kennedy White, recorded her team-leading 10th goal of the year with just over 12 minutes to go.

Central Michigan (7-6-4) spoiled the Falcons' shutout bid, getting a goal from Katie Coleman with 7:19 on the clock.

Cox had the game-winning goal for the second-straight match.

Senior Kathleen Duwve made three saves in goal for the Falcons, who are now 5-1-1 in MAC Tournament matches under third-year head coach Matt Fannon.

BGSU will face fourth-seeded UB on Friday, while the other match at Cochrane will pit sixth-seeded Ohio University against seventh-seeded Eastern Michigan University. The order of matches and starting times for Friday's semifinal-round matches have not yet been announced.

NOTE OF THE DAY
• BGSU's total of four goals tied the school record for goals in a MAC Tournament match. BGSU also found the net four times in a 4-1 win over Western Michigan in 2004. That victory came in the semifinal round of the league tourney in Athens, Ohio.

BONUS NOTE OF THE DAY
• The Falcons now have an all-time record of 8-1-3 in MAC Tournament matches played at home. In all three ties, BGSU advanced via penalty kicks, meaning that BG has survived and advanced in 11 of 12 MAC Tournament matches at Cochrane Stadium.
• Sunday's victory marked the first time in those 12 matches that BGSU won by three goals. BG has posted four one-goal victories and three two-goal decisions at Cochrane in the league tourney.

BONUS BONUS NOTE OF THE DAY
• Kennedy White scored her 10th goal of the season in Sunday's win. White is the first freshman to score 10 goals in a season since Kristy Coppes scored 12 in 2001.
• White is just the third freshman in school history (Tracy Gleixner - 12 goals in 1998; Coppes - 12 in 2001) to hit double digits in goals.

A FEW MORE NOTES IN CASE TODD WALKER NEEDS THEM FOR WHEN HE INTERVIEWS COACH FANNON ON THE FALCONS NEST COACHES SHOW MONDAY NIGHT AT APPROXIMATELY 6:20 PM AT FRICKERS
• BGSU now has an overall record of 40-17-6 since Matt Fannon was named head coach prior to the 2017 season. BGSU has a record of 26-6-1 in MAC regular-season matches in that time.
• In the last 26 matches (both regular-season and tournament) vs. MAC foes, the Falcons have lost just twice. BGSU is 23-2-1 against the MAC since the start of the 2018 season.
• The Falcons are now 36-1-1 when scoring at least two goals in a match in the Fannon Era.
• BGSU has scored a total of 43 goals this season, tying the school record. The Falcons set the record in 2017, Fannon's first year with the program, then matched it last fall, and BG has now reached the 43-goal mark for the third-straight year.
• With her goal on Sunday, freshman Makenzie Ortman became the 11th different Falcon to find the back of the net this season.
• Those 11 goal-scorers include three freshmen, three sophomores, two juniors and three seniors.
• BG has gotten 12 goals from the freshmen, six from the sophs, 11 from the juniors and 14 from the seniors.
• Following Sunday's win over Central, BGSU now has an all-time record of 16-7-6 in the MAC Tournament, including 10-1-1 in the quarterfinal round.

FIRST-HALF HIGHLIGHTS
• 10' | For much of the first half, the Chippewas were content to let BGSU possess the ball in the Falcons' own end of the field. BG's first shot of the match came when sophomore Sarah Allen brought the ball down the left side of the field to the end line. Allen's cross was deflected, but the Falcons maintained possession, and freshman Makenzie Ortman laid the ball off to classmate Katie Cox. Cox hit a shot from just outside the 18-yard box, but CMU goalkeeper Zoie Reed made the save at the near post.
• 11' | CMU's Lauren DeBeau played a dangerous-looking cross from the right side that went through the box. But, no Chippewa teammate was in the area, and the ball rolled out the other side and over the end line for a BG goal kick.
• 28' | BGSU brought the ball downfield, with redshirt junior Nikki Cox and freshman Kennedy White working a combination play near midfield. Cox found senior Chelsee Washington, who in turn played the ball forward to sophomore Mackenzie Reuber. Reuber won a corner kick, and off of that corner, a pass by freshman Lena Kovar squirted past the CMU back line toward freshman Jasmijn Dijsselhof, but a Central player poked at the ball at the last second, knocking it off of Dijsselhof and out of play for a goal kick.
• 37' | The Chippewas nearly took the lead after forcing a BG mistake in the Falcons' defensive end. A hard pass by a defender toward senior Kathleen Duwve proved difficult for her to handle. The 'keeper stopped the ball with a lunging effort, but the ball caromed toward the top of the 18-yard box in the center of the field. Samantha Kaye-Toral was the first to reach it, and the CMU striker hit a quick shot, but Duwve recovered in time to block the shot with a diving effort nera the top of the 18.
• 40' | A Dijsselhof cross/shot from the left side bounced just wide of the far post and snuck over the end line before White could reach it.
• 42' | Senior Hannah Dolfuss was fouled just outside the penalty area on the left side of the field, but freshman Lena Kovar's free kick was blocked by the CMU wall.

Gallery: (11/3/2019) W.Soccer v Central Mich - Nov 3 2019

SECOND-HALF HIGHLIGHTS
• 46' | Just 30 seconds into the second half, Reuber fired a cross/shot into the box from the right side, but Reed grabbed the ball out of the air.
• 49' | GOAL | The Falcons got on the board when junior Nikhita Jacob played a ball ahead to Nikki Cox. Cox headed toward the 18, and slid a through ball between two defenders and into the path of Allen. Allen, cutting behind the defense, took one touch and then slotted the ball past Reed and into the lower left corner of the net.
• 50' | Allen and the Falcons had another chance almost immediately after the goal. Freshman Audrey Shea played a ball forward to Nikki Cox, and Cox found Allen to her left. Allen took the ball into the box, but she, Reed and two defenders all met on the left side of the six-yard box. The Chippewas finally poked the ball out of the penalty area, where Ortman picked it up. The freshman hit a shot, but the ball was blocked.
• 52' | GOAL | This time, Allen found Nikki Cox for the goal. Washington sent Allen into the box on the left side, and the sophomore took two quick touches before playing a short cross to the onrushing Cox. Cox, from the six-yard line, redirected the ball past Reed and into the right side of the net.
• 57' | CMU's Maddie West brought the ball upfield and played a pass ahead to Marle Bringard. Bringard hit a difficult turnaround shot from distance, but the shot rolled just wide of the left post. It appeared that Duwve had the goal area covered on the play.
• 65' | Nikki Cox took a Washington pass on the left side of the box. She brought the ball across the box, somehow splitting a pair of CMU defenders and hitting a hard right-footed shot. But, Reed made a nifty diving save.
• 66' | The Chippewas looked to counter and cut the BG lead in half. Riley Mann laid a pass off to Bringard, who hit a quick shot, but it was off the mark.
• 68' | BG moved the ball downfield, as a Nikki Cox backheel found Washington in stride. Washington threaded a pair of defenders with a pass, hitting a cutting Sophia Barnes near the top of the box. Barnes quickly hit a shot, but it sailed over the crossbar.
• 70' | Roughly 30 seconds after returning to the match, White found Washington in the box with a pass from the left side. Washington trapped the ball down and hit a quick volley fro the 18-yard line, but Reed made a spectacular diving save to momentarily keep her team's deficit at two goals.
• 71' | GOAL | Reed's diving save led to a BG corner kick. That Kovar corner was deflected by a CMU defender at the far post, and the ball caromed to Ortman, who quickly hit a one-timer from the center of the six-yard box for her first collegiate goal.
• 77' | Washington found Katie Cox racing into the penalty area, and off of Washington's right-side pass, Cox hit a shot from about 15 yards out, but it was deflected out of play for a corner.
• 78' | GOAL | That corner, taken by Kovar, led to one of the Falcon's prettier goals of the season. Kovar's kick found Ortman at the penalty spot, and the freshman headed the ball forward. Sophomore Lynsey Spotts, facing away from goal, headed the ball to her right, and White was there, tapping a shot into the left side of the net.
• 83' | GOAL | Katie Coleman and the Chippewas avoided the shutout, getting on the board with 7:19 to go. Coleman stole the ball near midfield, made a long run and hit a shot from distance that found the upper half of the net.

STATISTICS
• Unofficially, the Falcons had 67 percent of the possession time in the first half, and 61% of the possession for the full 90 minutes.
• BGSU outshot CMU by a 14-9 count, and the Falcons had a 9-4 advantage in shots on goal.
• Sarah Allen, Nikki Cox and Makenzie Ortman each had a goal and an assist in the win, while Kennedy White had her team-leading 10th goal of the year.
• Nikki Cox and Ortman tied for game honors with three shot attempts and two shots on goal apiece.
• Senior Kathleen Duwve made three saves to pick up the win for the Falcons, while Zoie Reed had five stops for the Chippewas.
• A total of 21 different Falcons saw action in the match. Only Duwve and freshman defenders Lena Kovar and Audrey Shea played all 90 minutes for the Brown and Orange.

WHAT'S NEXT?
• The remainder of the MAC Tournament will be held at Cochrane Stadium. In addition to the top-seeded Falcons, fourth-seeded Buffalo, sixth-seeded Ohio and seventh-seeded Eastern Michigan have advanced to the semifinals.
• BGSU will face UB in semifinal-round action on Friday (Nov. 8), with the Bobcats meeting the Eagles in the other match. The order of matches has yet to be determined, but the contests are scheduled to be played at 4:00 and 7:00 p.m.
• Friday's two survivors will return to Cochrane for next Sunday's (Nov. 10) championship match, with the winner of that contest earning the MAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.

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