Falcons Earn Emphatic Win at Akron, 3-0

Thursday, March 4

Akron, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

1-0-0

Akron

0-1-0

Bowling Green

Akron

Lynsey Spotts, shown here in a 2019 win, scored the GWG Thursday at Akron

Photo by: Stephen Linsky, BGSU Athletics

March 04, 2021 | Women's Soccer

Box Score BGSU-Akron Stats

BGSU controls play en route to three-goal road victory in Walker's debut

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Athletics

AKRON, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team opened the regular-season schedule with an emphatic 3-0 road win over the University of Akron on Thursday night (March 4). The Mid-American Conference match was held at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Junior Lynsey Spotts scored what would prove to be the winning goal late in the first half, while sophomore Kennedy White doubled the BG lead early in the second period.

Lacee Bethea capped the scoring with her first goal as a Falcon in her first collegiate match.

The Falcons, playing a game that counted for the first time in 475 days, outshot the Zips by a 14-5 count, and had a 5-2 advantage in shots on goal. Lili Berg and Becky Moss combined on the shutout in goal, as each Falcon 'keeper made one save.

NOTE OF THE NIGHT
• The win was the first in the BGSU head-coaching career of Jimmy Walker. Walker, a one-time Falcon assistant coach, has an overall mark of 141-76-15 in his 13th season as a collegiate head coach.
• Walker is the sixth head coach (including one interim coach) in program history, and the fourth to pick up a win in his debut.

Congratulations to @jimmywalker8200 on his first win as our Head Coach!! #AyZiggy pic.twitter.com/Pv1tpNU6Eo
— BGSU Women's Soccer (@bgsuwsoc) March 5, 2021

QUOTING COACH WALKER
"This was a good start for us. I was really pleased with the shutout, and I thought we were very solid defensively; we didn't give them many chances. We scored three goals and created a lot of chances ourselves, and I'm always happy as a coach when we can create chances.

"We know we can play better, but if you had told me before the game that we would win, 3-0, I would have been pleased with that result. This was a solid performance, a professional, workmanlike performance, and we'll take it and move forward."

GOALS / KEY MOMENTS
• The Falcons' depth was evident, as 22 different players saw action in the match, including 20 in the first half alone.
• 4' | A UA throw-in went right to Kennedy White on the right side of the field, and she hit a quick one-time pass to Nikki Cox. Cox hit a shot from inside the 18-yard box, but it was blocked out of play.
• 9' | Mackenzie Reuber's right-side cross found the head of White, but her shot was wide right. BGSU nearly stole the ensuing goal kick, but an Akron defender poked the ball out of the path of the onrushing Sarah Allen at the last second.
• 22' | A UA defender played the ball back to goalkeeper Vanessa Berlin, but Nikki Cox blocked Berlin's clearing attempt. The ball wound up going out of bounds for a BG throw-in, and off of that throw, a shot by Nikki Cox was blocked at the top of the 18.
• 26' | After a foul at midfield, a long BG free kick was headed into the path of White. Her point-blank shot was saved by Berlin, and a follow-up shot by Madi Wolfbauer was just off the mark.
• 33' | The Falcons had numbers, and a rush toward goal culminuated when Ruby Linton slid her shot just wide of the left goalpost.
• 35' | After an Akron corner, the ball pinged around the BG penalty area for several moments, but a shot by the Zips' Bailee Bowers was blocked, and BG cleared the ball away.
• 43' | GOAL | On a give-and-go play, freshman Maya Dean poked a through-ball between a pair of defenders to Lynsey Spotts on the left side of the box, and Spotts in turn deftly poked it past Berlin and into the far corner of the net. Dean drew the lone assist on the goal.
• 51' | GOAL | Early in the second half, White dispossessed an Akron player at midfield, and the BGSU sophomore took the ball down the middle of the field and all the way into the penalty area before chipping it past Berlin to double the Falcons' lead.
• 55' | BG was buzzing, as White stole the ball again, this time on the right side of the pitch. White played a perfect cross to Nikki Cox, who blasted a shot from the 18-yard line that whizzed just over the bar.
• 56' | Katie Cox stole the ensuing Akron goal kick and got a shot off just as she was knocked to the ground, and the ball was gathered in by Berlin. BG's third shot in under two minutes came soon after, as Nikki Cox fired another attempt that sailed high.
• 70' | GOAL | Bethea took the ball down the right side and played a cross into the box. Nikki Cox just missed getting her head on the ball, but Allen tracked it down just outside the box on the left side. She made several moves and slid a pass to Nikki Cox, who settled it and quickly sent it along to Bethea. The freshman fired a shot from the right side of the area, and Berlin was able to get a hand on it, but could not keep the ball from going into the far side of the net. Nikki Cox and Allen drew assists on the goal.
• 80' | BGSU threatened several more times in the final 10-plus minutes. Bethea hit a hard shot that was blocked out of play by the 'keeper. Several minutes later, Nikki Cox was fouled, then hit the crossbar with the ensuing free kick.
• 85' | Wolfbauer stole the ball deep in the UA end and hit a quick shot from several yards outside the 18. The shot went over the bar, but not by much.
• 87 | Arguably Akron's best chance of the night came with three and a half minutes to go. Becky Moss, who had entered the match in relief of Lili Berg, tipped a shot by Sydney Worthy over the crossbar. That would prove to be the final shot attempt of the night for either team.

STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• BGSU had advantages in total shots (14-5) and shots on goal (5-2). Berlin made two saves for the Zips.
• For the Falcons, Lili Berg played 78 minutes in her BG debut, combining with Becky Moss on the shutout. Both BG 'keepers made one save.
• Lynsey Spotts scored what proved to be the winning goal. Spotts now has three goals, including two GWG, and eight points in her Falcon career.
• Kennedy White's goal was her 11th in 24 career matches. She has 24 points in those 24 matches, after totaling 10 goals and two assists as a freshman.
• Lacee Bethea's goal, of course, was the first of her Falcon career.
• Maya Dean also picked up a point in her collegiate debut, with the lone assists on the Spotts goal.
• Sarah Allen's assist was the fifth of her career, and she now has 15 points as a Falcon.
• And, Nikki Cox, like White, is on roughly a point-per-game scoring pace for her BG career. With the assist on Bethea's goal, Cox has 43 points in 46 matches as a Falcon. The assist was her ninth, to go along with 17 goals.
• A total of six players – Berg, Bethea, Dean, Madison Alberty, Emilie Gardner and Madi Wolfbauer – made their respective BGSU debuts on Thursday night. Berg and Wolfbauer were in the Starting XI.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons open the home portion of the schedule on Sunday afternoon (March 7), hosting Ohio University in a 3:00 p.m. start at Cochrane Stadium. A live stream will be available via WBGU-TV, and the link can be found on the schedule page right here at BGSUFalcons.com.
• Then, the Falcons hit the road next weekend, taking on Buffalo on Sunday, March 14, in Western New York.

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.