IT'S A FALCON FOUR-PEAT! BGSU Blanks KSU, 3-0, to Capture MAC Tournament Crown

Sunday, November 7

Bowling Green, OH

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

11-6-3, 8-2-1

Kent State (Championship)

13-5-3, 7-1-3

Kent St.

Bowling Green

Nikki Cox scores what would prove to be the game-winning goal in the MAC Tournament's championship match

Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics

IT'S A FALCON FOUR-PEAT! BGSU Blanks KSU, 3-0, to Capture MAC Tournament Crown

November 07, 2021 | Women's Soccer

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Up Next: The 2021 NCAA Championships

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Champions. Again.

For the fourth consecutive season and the sixth time in program history, the Bowling Green State University women's soccer program has won the Mid-American Conference Tournament title.

Nikki Cox scored in the seventh minute on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 7), giving the top-seeded Falcons (11-6-3) the lead for good, and Audrey Shea and Lacee Bethea scored second-half goals as BGSU went on to a decisive 3-0 win over Kent State (13-5-3) at Cochrane Stadium.

Lili Berg made five saves in net as the BG back line posted a fourth consecutive shutout.

With the win, the Falcons have earned the MAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships for the fourth consecutive season. BGSU will learn the date, opponent and site of the next match when the NCAA reveals the tournament field Monday (Nov. 8) at 4:30 p.m. ET.

The three-goal win was BGSU's largest margin of victory in a MAC Tournament final in program history.

Bethea was named the MAC Tournament's Most Valuable Player, while Cox, Shea and Madi Wolfbauer joined her on the MAC's All-Tournament Team.

The Falcons' win snapped Kent State's nine-match unbeaten streak. The Flashes had been 7-0-2 since a 3-2 loss to BGSU in Kent on Oct. 3.

KSU, the tournament's third seed, was shut out for just the fourth time this season. The Golden Flashes had scored seven goals in two tournament wins leading up to Sunday's final.

BGSU now has an overall record of 20-7-7 in MAC Tournament matches. The Falcons' total of 20 wins is the second-highest of any conference team (Miami has 21 tourney wins), and BG's .691 winning percentage is the best of all league schools.

NOTE(S) OF THE DAY
• BGSU set or extended numerous MAC Tournament records on Sunday. The Falcons were participating in the league tourney's championship match for the 10th time, a league record.
• BG was participating in the final for the fifth consecutive season, also a MAC record.
• And, the Falcons captured the crown for the fourth-straight year, setting a new conference record. Miami (2000-01-02) and Toledo (2006-07-08) each had shared the record with BGSU prior to Sunday.
• BGSU's MAC Tournament title, as mentioned, is the program's sixth overall, a new conference record. UT has won the tourney crown five times and Miami four.

BONUS NOTE(S) OF THE DAY
• BGSU, as mentioned, won the MAC Tournament title for the league-record sixth time. Sunday's match, however, marked just the second time the Falcons had won the title game by multiple goals.
• The Falcons' first tourney title, in 2004, was a 2-0 victory over Central Michigan. Then, however, BGSU's next three titles saw the team advance past the opponent – Kent State in 2005, Ball State in 2018 and Eastern Michigan in 2019 – via penalty kicks in the championship contest.
• In 2020(-21), BGSU defeated BSU by a single goal, 2-1 at Cochrane.
• The MAC Tournament final had not been decided by three goals or more since 2003 (when Western Michigan topped BGSU, 4-1, in Kalamazoo).

POST-MATCH REACTION
"This was a really solid team performance today. Nobody had an off day. We talked about that – we were waiting for the game where everybody played well, and we got that today. Every single player did their job for the team, and that (result) is what happens when good teams show up, and everyone does their job and is ready to play." – Head Coach Jimmy Walker

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Falcons took the lead in the seventh minute, and that goal proved to be the game winner. Audrey Shea played a long free kick into the KSU end, and the ball was headed by a defender. Nikki Cox picked up the ball approximately 40 yards from goal, took a player on and went past her as she headed into the penalty area. Cox hit a low shot toward the far corner of the net, and KSU goalkeeper Heidi Marshall got a piece of the shot, but could not keep it from getting past her and finding the far-side netting.
• Zoe Hudson very nearly doubled the BG lead as the clock ticked down toward the final minute of the opening half. Maya Dean played a short corner kick to Jasmijn Dijsselhof, and the duo exchanged several passes on the left side of the field. Dijsselhoff slid a ball across to Hudson, who was in the center of the field, about 30 yards from goal. She hit a hard, low shot, and only a diving stop by Marshall kept the Falcons' lead at a single goal at the break.
• BG indeed doubled the lead in the 70th minute. Dijsselhof put a free kick (from near the corner flag) into the box, and the ball hit a KSU defender and glanced off of the crossbar. It caromed into the air, and another defender got her head on it. This time, the ball went straight up, and when it came back down, Shea headed it toward the far post, and a KSU player was able to get her head on it, but could not keep it out of the goal. Marshall made a diving effort, but the ball landed near the left post, across the goal line.
• Lacee Bethea put the finishing touches on the Falcons' win with a quick-strike goal. A free kick by the Golden Flashes found a KSU player just over midfield. She knocked it back toward a teammate, but the ball rolled into the path of Madi Wolfbauer. Wolfbauer quickly lofted a perfect ball toward the penalty area, and Bethea – with a defender on either side of her, also needed just one touch. The sophomore poked the ball over Marshall and into the upper half of the net to give the Orange and Brown a three-goal lead.

STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• The Falcons had an 11-7 shots advantage, although KSU put five shots on goal to BG's four. The home side had a 5-1 lead in corner kicks.
• Lili Berg made five saves en route to a shutout win. Heidi Marshall, making her first collegiate start, had one stop for the Flashes.
• Lacee Bethea scored her seventh goal of the season and the eighth of her BGSU career.
• Bethea also found the back of the net for the second-straight game, after scoring the lone goal in BG's semifinal-round win over Buffalo on Thursday (Nov. 4).
• Nikki Cox has been involved in the scoring of the GWG in each of the last four matches. After scoring the winning goal against both Akron and Toledo, she assisted on Bethea's winner vs. UB Thursday before opening the scoring herself on Sunday.
• Nikki Cox scored the GWG on Sunday after her sister, Katie Cox, recorded the winner in the 2020(-21) league championship match. Katie broke a 1-1 tie with a goal against Ball State that lifted the Falcons to victory last April.
• In her Falcon career, Nikki Cox now has 24 goals and 66 points in 72 matches.
• Berg has now been a part of 16 shutouts in 28 career starts at BGSU. She has 12 complete-match shutouts, and has combined on a shutout on four other occasions.
• Audrey Shea now has 10 points as a Falcon, with all 10 coming this season. Her goal on Sunday was her fourth of the year.
• Jasmijn Dijsselhof recorded her third assist of the season and the fifth of her Falcon career.
• Madi Wolfbauer assisted on BGSU's final goal of the day. She now has a team-leading 22 points this season, and has 32 points in 28 career matches at BG.
• BGSU now has an overall record of 58-25-11 since the start of the 2017 season. The Falcons are 39-9-2 in MAC regular-season matches and 48-10-4 in all games vs. conference foes in that time.
• And, since the beginning of the 2018 campaign, the Falcons are now 45-18-10 overall, 33-5-1 in MAC regular-season action and 40-5-3 in all games vs. league opposition.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons have earned the MAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. The NCAA field will be announced on Monday afternoon (Nov. 8) at 4:30 p.m. on the web at NCAA.com.

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