Spartans Strike in OT for 3-2 Win

Thursday, September 12

East Lansing, MI

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

2-3-1, 0-0-0

Michigan State

6-1-0, 0-0-0

Bowling Green

Michigan St.

Photo by: Larry Clapper

September 12, 2019 | Women's Soccer

Box Score Final Stats

MSU overcomes a two-goal night by Nikki Cox

By: EAST LANSING, Mich. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Gia Wahlberg scored with just under two minutes gone in overtime, lifting Michigan State University to a 3-2 win over the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team Thursday night (Sept. 12). The non-conference match was held at DeMartin Stadium.

With the victory, the Spartans improve to 6-1-0 on the young season. The Falcons are now 2-3-1 on the year.

Redshirt junior Nikki Cox scored both BGSU goals, with her second marker giving BG a 2-1 first-half lead. But, Paige Webber tied the score with just under 10 minutes remaining in regulation, before Wahlberg scored the winner at the 91:51 mark.

Cox, in her second year with the Falcons, has 28 points in 28 matches at BGSU.

Senior Kristin Tveit assisted on Cox's first goal, while classmates Chelsee Washington and Maureen Kennedy picked up assists on her second.

Senior Kathleen Duwve made three saves in goal for the Brown and Orange.

QUOTING COACH MATT FANNON
"This is a tough one to swallow. We feel like we've done well in all phases of the game but given away goals in big moments that we handled poorly. We know at this level that if we let a quality team stay in the game, there's always the chance we will get punished. Ultimately, we've given another opportunity away."

FALCON NOTES
• Redshirt junior Nikki Cox scored both BG goals at Michigan State. It marked her second multiple-goal game as a Falcon, and also was her second such match against a school from Michigan whose primary colors are green and white. Cox scored both BG goals in a 2-1 win over Eastern Michigan in a Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinal-round match last season.
• For Cox, Thursday marked the third multi-goal match of her career. While at UNC Wilmington in 2016, she had a hat trick in her second career match, a win over South Carolina State.
• Senior Kristin Tveit assisted on Cox's first goal of the MSU match. Tveit now has four career assists, tying her for fifth among active Falcons.
• Senior Maureen Kennedy had an assist on Cox's second goal of the night. Kennedy has moved into a tie for ninth on the BGSU career scoring list, with 49 points as a Falcon. She is tied with Britt Anderson (2002-05), just one point behind eighth-place Alyssa Zuccaro (50 points from 2008-11) and two points in back of seventh-place Corbie Yee (51 points from 2005-08).
• Kennedy's assist was the 25th of her Falcon career, tying her for second in school history. She has matched Jill Conover (1999-2002) on that chart, and that duo trails only Julie Trundle (33 assists from 2002-05).
• Fellow senior Chelsee Washington also had an assist on Thursday night, giving her 17 assists and 45 points in her BG career. Washington is tied with Anderson and Samantha Meister (2002-05) for seventh on the career assists list, and she needs just three more points to move into a tie for 11th on that BG list.
• Freshman Makenzie Ortman made her first collegiate start on Thursday night. Ortman becomes the 18th different Falcon to have made at least one start this year.
• Through six matches, six of the team's nine freshman have started at least one contest.
• Thursday night marked BG's third overtime contest in six matches this season. The Falcons are 1-1-1 when heading to OT in 2019.
• The MSU match marked the first time in the Matt Fannon Era that BG lost when scoring at least two goals in a match. BG is now 27-1-1 in such matches during that time, including 2-1-1 this season.
• Nikki Cox has been directly involved in the scoring of six of BG's 10 goals this season, including each of the last four.
• BG has lost back-to-back matches for the first time in just over a year. Last season, the Falcons fell to Xavier (1-0 in 2-OT, Sept. 6) and Northwestern (2-0, Sept. 9), but responded by going on a 10-match unbeaten streak. That streak began with a 1-1 tie against DePaul – BG's next 2019 opponent – before the 2018 Falcons reeled off nine-straight wins.

FIRST-HALF HIGHLIGHTS
• 7' | Senior Chelsee Washington did impressive work, tracking back to shield the ball from an MSU attacker before a BG teammate could clear it out of the box.
• 9' | Washington won the ball at midfield and played it ahead to redshirt junior Nikki Cox, but her shot from outside the box was off the mark
• 9' | MSU goalkeeper Lauren Kozal slipped as she went to clear the ball, and freshman Makenzie Ortman looked to capitalize, with a shot toward the lower left corner of the net. But, Kozal was able to recover in time to make the save.
• 11' | GOAL | Nikki Cox got the Falcons on the board, hitting a one-time shot past Kozal from the center of the six-yard box. Cox's goal, which came off of a right-side cross from senior Kristin Tveit, was the culmination of some solid team possession by the Falcons.
• 14' | GOAL | MSU equalized off of a corner kick. The ball was deflected in the six-yard box, caroming out to Camryn Evans who put her shot into the lower left corner of the goal.
• 17' | GOAL | The Falcons retook the lead, with that goal coming off of a corner kick as well. Senior Maureen Kennedy took the corner kick, and Washington's hard header was on target, but was blocked by an MSU player on the line. The ball deflected directly to Nikki Cox on the doorstep, and the redshirt junior quickly knocked it home to give the Falcons a 2-1 lead.
• 22' - Kennedy's corner kick was punched away by Kozal, just before Washington could get to it.
• 26' | After a foul by BG, just outside the box on the right side, Danielle Stephan put her free kick on frame, but senior Kathleen Duwve made the save. The shot was just MSU's second of the night to that point, as the Falcons had already taken seven shots.
• 29' | Junior Nikhita Jacob's nifty ball put freshman Kennedy White through the MSU defense, but Kozal did a nice job to come charging off of her line and make a point-blank save at the top of the 18-yard box.
• 33' | Kennedy did impressive work to knock the ball away from an MSU striker on the right side, after a Spartan teammate attempted to put her past the BG defense.
• 34' | Another MSU corner was headed wide by a forward. A Spartan striker saved the ball on the far side of the box, blooping it back over her head into the danger zone. Duwve, who had been knocked to the ground contesting the original shot, quickly scrambled to her feet to grab the ball out of traffic.
• 41' | Duwve punched a cross away from a charging Spartan, and grabbed the ball on one bounce to end the threat.

SECOND-HALF HIGHLIGHTS
• 47' | The Spartans, who had only three first-half shots, had three shot attempts in the first five minutes of the second period. The first was an attempt by Camryn Evans after quick change of possession, but the effort sailed several feet over the bar.
• 47' | MSU quickly got the ball back, and a volley by Stephan was tipped over the crossbar by a leaping Duwve.
• 49' | Kennedy blocked a shot by Evans at the top of the box, then kept going forward to block the ensuing MSU cross/shot.
• 50' | Duwve blocked a Spartan diagonal ball as a striker attempted to poke it past her with a sliding effort.
• 53' | Washington stole an MSU goal kick and worked a quick give-and-go with Nikki Cox. But, Washington's shot from distance went wide of the left post.
• 64' | Sophomore Lynsey Spotts stole an MSU clearing attempt, took a return pass from classmate Sarah Allen and fired from the top of the circle at the top of the penalty area. But, that shot went over the bar.
• 65' | Freshman Audrey Shea tracked back to thwart a would-be breakaway, knocking the ball out of bounds after a long pass ahead by MSU.
• 70' | BG enjoyed a lengthy stretch of possession, with Spotts, Jacob, junior Sophia Barnes, Kennedy and soph Alexis Miller all getting at least one touch on the ball. Kennedy's pass found White heading into the MSU defensive third of the field, but White's diagonal ball was just out of reach of Spotts as Kozal was able to get to the ball first.
• 81' | GOAL | Off of a left-side cross by Samantha Sklarski, Paige Webber headed home the tying goal with 9:47 on the second-half clock.
• 82' | Washington hit a long shot from outside the penalty area, but the shot was just over the crossbar.
• 83' | Freshman Katie Cox won a corner kick, and Washington got her head on that ensuing corner, but was unable to put her effort on frame.
• 85' | Nikki Cox played the ball ahead to White on the right side, and the freshman won a corner for the Falcons. That Kennedy corner was knocked back out to the senior, who put the ball back into the mixer, but Kozal was able to grab the ball in traffic.
• 87' | Sophomore Mackenzie Reuber hit a right-side cross, and Washington played it back across the box from the far side. Nikki Cox met the ball with a lunging effort and a defender with her step for step. But, Cox's shot whizzed just high.

OVERTIME HIGHLIGHTS
• 92' | GOAL | The Spartans won a corner, which was taken by Gabriala Jodzis. Gia Wahlberg hit a header from the far side of the six-yard box, and the shot was deflected by a BG player and spun into the net, just inside the right post. The goal was Wahlberg's eighth of the season.

STATISTICS
• BGSU had a 14-10 lead in total shot attempts, but both teams put six shots on goal.
• Chelsee Washington (six) and Nikki Cox (five) combined for 11 of BG's 14 shots, with each player putting two shots on goal. Danielle Stephan and Camryn Evans each had three total shots for the Spartans, and Stephan had a team-high two SOG.
• Senior Kathleen Duwve made three saves in net for the Falcons, while Lauren Kozal had four stops for the hosts.
• MSU had a slim 6-5 advantage in corner kicks.

WHAT'S NEXT?
• The Falcons continue a four-match road swing this weekend, heading to Chicago for a Sunday (Sept. 15) match at DePaul. That contest is set to begin at 1:00 p.m. local time (2:00 p.m. ET) at Wish Field.
• Then, the Brown and Orange will face West Virginia on Sept. 22, wrapping up the non-conference schedule.
• BGSU's next home match is Friday, Sept. 27, when Akron comes to town for the Mid-American Conference opener.

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.