THREE-PEAT! Falcons Down Ball State, 2-1, to Capture Conference Crown

Saturday, April 17

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

6-1-0, 5-1-0

Ball State

6-3-1, 6-2-1

Ball St.

Bowling Green

Kennedy White celebrates after scoring the Falcons' first goal on Saturday evening

Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics

THREE-PEAT! Falcons Down Ball State, 2-1, to Capture Conference Crown

April 17, 2021 | Women's Soccer

Box Score BGSU-BSU Stats BGSU-BSU Highlights Coach Walker Post-Match Interview K.Cox Post-Match Interview K.White Post-Match Interview Photo Gallery

Katie Cox's 62nd-minute strike lifts BGSU to third-straight title

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Athletics

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Sophomore Katie Cox scored in the 62nd minute, breaking a 1-1 tie and lifting the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team to a 2-1 win over Ball State University in the Mid-American Conference Championship on Saturday night (April 17) at Cochrane Stadium.

Fellow sophomore Kennedy White had given the Falcons (6-1-0) an early lead, scoring with just over four minutes gone, but Tatiana Mason equalized for the Cardinals (6-3-1) with under nine minutes elapsed.

The game remained knotted at 1-1 until Cox scored from approximately 30 yards out at the 61:01 mark.

The Falcons have earned the MAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, and will find out their next opponent on Monday.

NOTE OF THE NIGHT
• The Falcons are just the third team in MAC history to win three straight league postseason titles. BGSU won the MAC Tournament final at Cochrane Stadium in both 2018 and 2019 as well.
• BGSU joins Miami (2000, '01 and '02) and Toledo (2006, '07 and '08) on that exclusive list.

GOALS / KEY MOMENTS
• 1' | BGSU was on the attack from the outset. Just 35 seconds in, Kennedy White received a pass from Nikki Cox and fired a shot from the right side of the box, but that shot was blocked out for a corner kick.
• 5' | GOAL | Jasmijn Dijsselhof played a long ball ahead to White, who beat her defender on the right side of the penalty area and hit a shot. Ball State goalkeeper Maitane Bravo got a piece of the ball, but could not keep it from getting behind her and bouncing into the net.
• 9' | GOAL | But, it did not take the Cardinals long to equalize. Shelby Kean lifted a diagonal ball into the penalty area from the right side, and Tatiana Mason redirected it into the net to tie the score at 1-1.
• 13' | White's right-side cross was deflected out to Madi Wolfbauer, who hit a shot from near the 18-yard line, but the ball was blocked out for a corner.
• 17' | Katie Cox's pass found White, who served another ball into the 'danger zone.' Wolfbauer nodded it toward goal, but the shot went just wide.
• 18' | Makenzie Ortman won the ball right back for the Falcons after a BSU goal kick, and White's ball into the area fell to Nikki Cox, but her shot from the six-yard line was just off the mark.
• 35' | Wolfbauer's nifty through ball found a streaking White, but Bravo was able to come off of her line and save White's shot at close range.
• 40' | WIth just under five minutes on the clock, BSU's Jenna Dombrowski hit a hard shot, but BGSU goalkeeper Lili Berg tipped it over the crossbar with a leaping effort.
• 42' | Off of a Dijsselhof corner kick, Audrey Shea's header sailed wide of the left post.
• 52' | Early in the second half, White and Wolfbauer connected yet again. This time, Wolfbauer's hard shot was tipped over the bar by Bravo.
• 62' | GOAL | Katie Cox, roughly 35 yards away from goal, attempted a pass to a teammate, but the ball was hit directly at a BSU player and caromed back to Cox. The sophomore took a touch and hit a shot from distance that found the upper-right-hand corner of the net. And, that shot proved to be the winning goal.
• 71' | BSU's Nikki Potts fired a shot that was wide right. The Falcons' back line would allow only four BSU shot attempts in the remaining time after the Cox goal.
• 87' | Mac Henson hit a shot that went wide, and just under 90 seconds later, a Mason effort sailed high. Mason's shot was the final attempt of the night for either team.

STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• BGSU has captured a MAC postseason crown for the third consecutive season and the fifth time in program history. The Falcons won MAC Tournament titles in 2004, 2005, 2018 and 2019, with all but the '04 title coming at Cochrane Stadium.
• BGSU held advantages of 18-10 in total shot attempts, 7-3 in shots on goal and 8-2 in corner kicks.
• Berg made two saves to pick up the win, while Bravo had five stops for the visitors.
• Katie Cox's goal was her third of the season and the fifth of her BGSU career. All three of her goals this spring, and four of her five career goals, have been game-winning goals.
• Cox has scored the GWG in each of the Falcons' last three games, with the opening goal in both a home win over Kent State and a road victory vs. Ohio in late March.
• Cox also has recorded the GWG in each of BGSU's last two conference postseason wins. She had the winning goal in the 2019 MAC Tournament semifinal-round victory over Buffalo at Cochrane.
• Kennedy White's goal was her fourth of the season and the 14th of her BGSU career. She now has 31 points in 30 matches as a Falcon.
• BG has outscored opponents, 17-3, this season to date.
• Ball State's goal on Saturday night was the first goal allowed by a BGSU soccer team, men or women, at Cochrane Stadium in 2020-21. The Falcons' two teams have combined to outscore opponents by a 12-1 count in home matches this season to date.
• BGSU is 47-19-7 overall, 31-7-1 in MAC regular-season matches and 38-8-3 in all games vs. conference foes since the start of the 2017 season.
• Since the beginning of the 2018 campaign, the Falcons are 34-12-6 overall, 25-3-0 in MAC regular-season action and 30-3-2 in all games vs. league opposition.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons are heading to North Carolina. The NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Selection Show will air Monday (April 19) at 1:00 p.m. ET on NCAA.com. A link to the show will be on the front page of NCAA.com shortly before 1:00 p.m.
• Every match in the 48-team NCAA Championships will be held in Cary, North Carolina, and the surrounding areas. First-round matches are scheduled to be played on April 27-28.

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.