What To Watch For: Top-25 Matchup on Tap for #17 Falcons

Saturday, October 16

DeKalb, IL

8:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

#22 Northern Illinois

Kale Nichols scored a goal in each of BGSU's two wins last week

Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics

October 14, 2021 | Men's Soccer

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BGSU begins four-game road swing with Saturday's match at #22 NIU

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

#17 FALCONS at #22 NORTHERN ILLINOIS – Saturday, October 16
8:00 p.m. | NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex | DeKalb, Ill.
• Video/Web Stream: Huskie All-Access •
• Live Stats: NIUHuskies.com | Twitter: @BGSUmenssoccer •

#17 FALCONS at PURDUE FORT WAYNE – Tuesday, October 19
7:00 p.m. | Hefner Soccer Complex | Fort Wayne, Ind.
• Video/Web Stream: ESPN+ •
• Live Stats: GoMastodons.com | Twitter: @BGSUmenssoccer •

WHAT TO WATCH FOR...
• The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team, off to a 2-0-0 start in Mid-American Conference play, heads to the MAC's "West Coast" for a weekend showdown between the two league leaders. Head coach Eric Nichols and the defending MAC champions travel to DeKalb, Ill., for a Saturday (Oct. 16) matchup with Northern Illinois. First touch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. local time (8:00 p.m. ET) at the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex.

• Then, on Tuesday night (Oct. 19), the Orange and Brown will step outside of conference play, meeting Purdue Fort Wayne in a 7:00 p.m. start at the Hefner Soccer Complex in Fort Wayne, Ind.

UPDATE: BETO IN TOP 100
On Thursday, Alberto Anaya was named to the Top Drawer Soccer Midseason list of the Top 100 Freshmen in the nation. Anaya checked in at No. 61 on the national list.

A TOP-25 MATCHUP
• Saturday's BGSU-NIU match in DeKalb, as mentioned, features the two teams at the top of the MAC standings. The Falcons and Huskies are the only 2-0-0 clubs in the conference, and BGSU is ranked 17th in the nation while NIU is 22nd in the United Soccer Coaches poll this week.

• The Falcons are ranked 20th in the country in the College Soccer News poll and 23rd in the Top Drawer Soccer rankings, while NIU is 30th in the CSN poll.

• BG (9-2-1 overall) has won two-straight matches and six of the last seven contests, while NIU (10-1-0) has won nine matches in a row, including seven consecutive shutouts.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Saturday's NIU match will be streamed via Huskie All-Access (fee required), while Tuesday's contest in Fort Wayne will be available via ESPN+. Live stats for both matches will be available, and twitter updates will be available at @BGSUmenssoccer.

• Links to live audio/video/stats for all 2021 matches can be found on the web at BGSUFalcons.com (on the men's soccer schedule page as well as at the top of the main page) on game day.

FASCINATING FALCON FACTS
• The Falcons are 9-2-1 on the season, and BGSU is off to a 2-0-0 start in MAC play. BG picked up a pair of home wins over the league's two newest members, defeating Georgia State (3-2) and Georgia Southern (4-0) at Cochrane Stadium.

• After battling IUPUI to a scoreless draw in the season opener at Cochrane, BG went on the road and won three consecutive matches, topping Gonzaga, Cleveland State and Michigan State.

• Then #6/7 Marshall got a goal with just 93 seconds left in the second half as the defending national champions downed the Falcons, 1-0, on Sept. 11. But, the Orange and Brown bounced back with four-straight wins, including shutout victories over Wright State, then #13/17 FIU and Detroit Mercy.

• BG downed Canisius before falling at Ohio State in overtime, but the Falcons then posted the two wins to begin MAC play.

• The Georgia State match marked only the second time all season that BGSU trailed during a match. The Falcons trailed for just 1:33 of the total minutes (937:55) over the first 10 contests.

•BGSU led by two goals on only one occasion during all of last season, and the Falcons never led by three (BG took a 2-0 lead against Syracuse [Feb. 23, 2021] before winning by a 2-1 final). But, BG has led by two or more goals in seven of the last 10 matches, winning six of those contests by multiple goals.

• BGSU scored as many as two goals in a match only three times in 13 games in the spring. But, the Falcons have scored two or more goals nine times in 12 matches this season to date.

• The Falcons have scored three or more goals five times this year after doing so only once in those 13 spring matches.

• BGSU is now 74-8-6 when scoring two or more goals in a match in the Eric Nichols Era.

• BG is 5-1-1 at home and 4-1-0 on the road, and the Falcons have topped the home, road and overall win totals for all of last season. BGSU has outscored opponents by a 25-7 count this season.

• Alberto Anaya and Kyle Cusimano lead a balanced Falcon scoring attack with 12 points apiece, while Jacob Erlandson has 11 points and Sergi Martinez 10. Anaya was named a MAC co-Player of the Week on Monday after scoring five points in the wins over Georgia State and Georgia Southern. He has four goals and four assists this season to date.

• Cusimano leads the Falcons with eight assists, while Erlandson is tied with Anaya for the team goals lead, with four. Martinez, who has three goals and four assists on the season, was chosen as the United Soccer Coaches Division I Player of the Week on Sept. 22.

‼️ TOP 100 FRESHMEN ‼️

Alberto "Beto" Anaya was recently named to @TopDrawerSoccer Top 100 Freshmen coming in at #61 in the nation!

🗞: https://t.co/aZ73Zrjdow pic.twitter.com/ooHs3AcgLc
— BGSU Men's Soccer (@BGSUmenssoccer) October 14, 2021

• Roberto Fernandez Garrido also has four goals on the year, matching Anaya and Erlandson's team-leading totals. He came off the bench to score a goal in three-straight matches during BGSU's September winning streak. Fernandez Garrido has eight points, as does Nathan Masters.

• Logan Kowalczyk has played every second between the posts this fall, and has seven shutouts and a goals-against average of just 0.56. Kowalczyk has kept 12 clean sheets in 24 career starts at BGSU.

• Entering the NIU contest, the Falcons have an overall record of 34-16-5 over the last 55 games, dating to late in the 2018 season. Twelve of the 16 setbacks in that time have come by a single goal.

A FEW FACTS ABOUT BGSU'S MAC CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON
• BGSU returned 15 of last season's 18 letterwinners, including eight of 11 starters from the spring. The 2020(-21) Falcons went 7-5-1 overall and 5-2-1 in the MAC, winning the league regular-season title and advancing to the NCAA Championships for the seventh time in school history and the first time since 1997.

• The Falcons won the MAC regular-season crown outright for the first time since 1996, and for just the second time since the MAC began sponsoring the sport of men's soccer in 1993 (BG tied for first in the final league regular-season standings in both 2000 and 2002).

• By winning the MAC, BGSU finished as the number-one team in the number-one conference in the country, in terms of RPI rankings. The MAC ended the 2020-21 season as the top-rated conference in the final RPI, and four of the conference's six teams – West Virginia (12th), BGSU (27th), Western Michigan (33rd) and Akron (39th) – were ranked among the top-40 teams in the nation.

• The Falcons went 3-0-1 in home matches, 2-4-0 in road contests and 2-1-0 in neutral-site action last season. As mentioned, all four of BGSU's home games went to overtime. BG allowed just one goal at Cochrane Stadium in those four matches.

• BGSU had six players named to the All-MAC Team last season, tying the school record. Among the returnees, Jacob Erlandson was named to the all-league first team, while Zach Buescher, Logan Kowalczyk and Nathan Masters all earned second-team honors.

• Erlandson is the top returning scorer, having registered eight points on three goals and two assists a year ago. Masters and Cusimano each had five points including a pair of goals.

• Kowalczyk had a GAA of 0.80 last season. In MAC matches, he went 5-2-1 with a GAA of just 0.59. Kowalczyk and the Falcons posted five shutouts in MAC play, the program's highest total since 1998.

• BGSU's total of five MAC wins was the program's highest since the 1997 team went 5-2-0. Only the 1996 (5-0-0), '97 and 2020-21 teams have won as many as five league matches.

CAPTAINS
• Zach Buescher, Jacob Erlandson and Jensen Lukacsko are the captains of the 2021 Falcons.

THE OPPONENTS
• Northern Illinois enters Saturday's match with an overall record of 10-1-0, and the Huskies, like the Falcons, are 2-0-0 in MAC play. NIU has won nine consecutive matches, including seven-straight shutouts. The Huskies lead the nation in goal differential, shutout percentage and team goals-against average. Nick Markanich has team-leading totals of 12 goals and 27 points, and leads the nation in both categories. In goal, Martin Sanchez has 21 saves, a national-high eight shutouts and a GAA of just 0.30. The Huskies are 5-0-0 at home (with five shutouts) and 5-1-0 on the road this season to date.

• Purdue Fort Wayne is 3-7-1 on the season, and the Mastodons face both Detroit Mercy and UIC before meeting the Falcons. PFW will be looking to snap a three-match losing streak in the UDM game. Keith Larson leads the team with three goal and six points, and Erik Josson has 35 saves, two shutouts and a 1.51 GAA in between the posts.

THE SERIES
• BGSU and Northern Illinois are tied, 17-17-1, in the all-time series, but the Falcons have won seven-straight meetings, including a pair of one-goal decisions in the spring. BG captured a 1-0 win in DeKalb (March 21, 2021) before picking up a 2-1 overtime victory in the final regular-season game of the season at Cochrane Stadium (April 18, 2021). BGSU is 11-7-0 at home, 5-9-1 on the road and 1-1-0 in neutral-site matches vs. the Huskies through the years.

• The Falcons lead Purdue Fort Wayne, 10-7-2, in that series, and BGSU won the most recent meeting, a 4-0 victory at Cochrane two years ago (Sept. 22, 2019). Exactly one year prior to that, the Mastodons picked up a 3-2 overtime win in the teams' last meeting in Fort Wayne. BGSU is 6-3-2 at home and 4-4-0 on the road vs. the 'Dons.

UP NEXT
• Following the PFW match, the Falcons' four-match road swing will continue with a trip to Akron to face the Zips on Friday, Oct. 22. Then, the Orange and Brown will meet Oakland (Oct. 26) before returning to Cochrane to face Western Michigan on Saturday night, Oct. 30.

# BGSU FALCON SOCCER #