MAC CHAMPS! Falcons Top NIU in OT to Win League Title

Sunday, April 18

Bowling Green, Ohio

12:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

7-4-1, 5-2-1

Northern Illinois

5-8-1, 4-6-0

Northern Ill.

Bowling Green

Achille Robin v NIU - April 18 2021 - winning PK

Photo by: Larry Clapper

April 18, 2021 | Men's Soccer

Box Score BGSU-NIU Stats BGSU-NIU Highlights Coach Nichols Post-Match Interview Robin Post-Match Interview Sullivan Post-Match Interview Photo Gallery

BGSU advances to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 1997

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Athletics

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Achille Robin's penalty-kick goal in overtime lifted the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team to a 2-1 win over Northern Illinois University on Sunday afternoon (April 18) at Cochrane Stadium. With the win, the Falcons clinched the Mid-American Conference championship and the MAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.

Chris Sullivan, a native of Naperville, Ill., opened the scoring for the Falcons (7-4-1, 5-2-1 MAC) in the 20th minute, but the Huskies (5-8-1, 4-6-0 MAC) equalized early in the second half as Irvin Dominguez scored less than two minutes after the break. But, Nathan Masters was fouled in the penalty area at the 98:46 mark, leading to Robin's winning PK.

NOTE OF THE DAY
• BGSU has won the MAC's regular-season championship 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.
• BGSU tied for first in the final league regular-season standings in both 2000 and 2002.
• The Falcons advance to the NCAA Championships for the seventh time in program history, but the first time since 1997. BGSU's previous trips to the NCAAs came in 1972, 1973, 1992, 1995, 1996 and '97.

ANOTHER HIGHLY-SIGNIFICANT NOTE
• The 2020-21 academic year marks the first time in school history that both the BGSU men's and women's soccer teams have qualified for the NCAA Championships.

GOALS / KEY MOMENTS
• 3' | The Falcons pressured NIU goalkeeper Martin Sanchez early, and Vinny Worner nearly stole the ball inside the penalty area, but Sanchez was able to avoid a costly turnover and clear the ball away.
• 5' | NIU's Anthony Markanich played a ball into the box, and Nick Markanich hit a volley from the far side. The shot was hit with force, but was always going wide.
• 6' | Nathan Masters lifted a short cross from the left side, and Zach Buescher hit a shot that forced Sanchez into a leaping save. The NIU 'keeper was just able to tip the ball over the crossbar.
• 9' | Malcolm Ward's right-side cross found the head of Nick Markanich in the box, but his effort went wide.
• 13' | Kyle Cusimano's pass found Chris Sullivan on the right side of the field, and Sullivan in turn played a ball ahead to Worner. But, at the edge of the 18-yard box. Worner and a Huskie defender got tangled up, and NIU was able to take possession of the ball.
• 16' | The Falcons had a flurry of shots, but efforts by Masters and Kale Nichols were blocked, and Joey Akpunonu's shot from just outside the 18 went over the bar.
• 20' | GOAL | Nichols served a short diagonal ball into the box from the left side. Sullivan received the pass on the right side of the six-yard box and, using a quick and dizzying array of moves, created enough space to get a shot off and then tucked that shot just inside the left post.

GOOOOAAAAALLLLLL 📸

CHRIS SULLIVAN GIVES THE FALCONS THE LEAD👀

BG 1 - 0 NIU | #AyZiggy #MACtion pic.twitter.com/SFwK8mejFC
— BGSU Men's Soccer (@BGSUmenssoccer) April 18, 2021

• 28' | The Falcons threatened again, possessing the ball deep in the NIU end of the field for roughly a minute. During that time, Jacob Erlandson got a pair of shots off, and Cusimano fired a shot as well, but all three efforts were blocked.
• 38' | After a BGSU foul deep in the Falcons' defensive end, Luis Hernandez hit a free kick toward the far side of the box. Anthony Markanich headed the ball back toward the goalmouth, but BGSU goalkeeper Logan Kowalczyk plucked it out of the air.
• 41' | Nick Markanich flicked a long kick into the path of the onrushing Ward, but the play was whistled down due to an offside call. The Falcons took a 1-0 lead into the half.
• 47' | GOAL | But, it took the Huskies just 78 seconds of second-half play to equalize. A Falcon defender, near the southwest corner of the Cochrane Stadium pitch, looked to knock the ball off of an NIU attacker and out of bounds for a throw-in. But, the ball stayed in play and caromed directly into the path of Enrique Banuelos, who quickly crossed the ball into the box. Irvin Dominguez directed the ball just inside the left post to tie the score.
• 55' | The Falcons, for the third time in the match, fired a trio of shots in quick succession. But, an Achille Robin shot was parried by Sanchez, and Robin's follow-up try was blocked. Cusimano gathered the ball and found Sullivan on the right side of the six-yard box, but Sullivan's shot was blocked as well.
• 65' | On a quick counterattack by the Huskies, Banuelos played the ball ahead to Nick Markanich. Markanich took the ball inside the box and fired, but his shot went wide of the near post.
• 67' | The Huskies had several more chances, coming less than a minute apart. Carlos Valdez hit a cross/shot into the area, and the effort went on goal and forced Kowalczyk to smother it. Only 30 seconds later, the visitors came right back downfield, in the form of a Nick Markanich breakaway. But, the BGSU goalkeeper came off of his line to block the shot, and the Falcons cleared the ball away.
• 81' | The Falcons worked the ball downfield, with Buescher, Roberto Fernandez Garrido and Abdi Faqi involved in a series of quick passes on the left side. Masters took a pass from Faqi, took the ball to the end line and hit a cross, but the ball was deflected and Sanchez was able to grab it out of the air.
• 89' | NIU's Miguel Maynez Jr. uncorked a hard shot, but the effort was hit directly at Kowalczyk, who made the stop. That was the last shot by either side in regulation.
• 90' | But, with just 40 seconds left, Cusimano blocked an NIU pass deep in the Huskies' end of the pitch. The deflection went to Masters, but as Masters looked to knock the ball back to Cusimano, the assistant referee's flag went up, indicating an offside call against the Falcons.
• 92' | The Huskies had several chances in the overtime session. Diego Maynez received a through ball from Dominguez and hit a one-timer, but Kowalczyk made the stop.
• 93' | Just under two minutes later, off of an Akpunonu throw-in, three Falcons – Erlandson, Masters and Worner – headed the ball in the box. But, after Worner's header in traffic, Sanchez was able to leap and grab the ball to quell any BG scoring chance for the time being.
• 99' | GOAL | Masters was taken down by a Huskie defender as he entered the penalty area on the right side, near the Cochrane Stadium scoreboard, and a penalty kick was awarded. Robin stepped up and took that PK, and made no mistake, beating Sanchez to give the Falcons the win and the MAC title.

STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• BGSU had a 22-16 advantage in total shot attempts, but NIU had a slim 7-6 lead in shots on goal.
• Kowalczyk made six saves, tying his career best (set in BGSU's last match, vs. West Virginia on Wednesday), while Sanchez had four stops for the visitors.
• BGSU had a 5-3 lead in corner kicks, while the Huskies committed 20 fouls to BG's 11.
• The Falcons had a 12-4 shots advantage in the first half, but NIU had a 10-8 lead in the second.
• Chris Sullivan, a native of Naperville, Ill., scored in both of BGSU's wins over NIU this season. He scored the lone goal of the match in the 70th minute as the Falcons topped the Huskies, 1-0, in DeKalb last month (March 21).
• Sullivan now has team-leading totals of four goals and 13 points this season.
• Sullivan has career totals of 15 goals and 48 points, leading active Falcons in both categories.
• Robin converted an overtime PK to beat NIU in the Huskies' last visit to Cochrane Stadium. That match, on Nov. 12, 2019, also ended with a 2-1 score, and Robin's PK came against the same goalkeeper, Sanchez. The 2019 match was a MAC Tournament quarterfinal-round contest, and Robin's PK was scored at the south end of the field (Sunday's goal came at the north end).
• NIU's goal on Sunday was the first allowed by the Falcons at Cochrane Stadium this season.
• BGSU went 3-0-1 at home, with all four matches going to overtime. The Falcons topped SIUE and Akron by 1-0 scores, before battling West Virginia to a scoreless draw on Wednesday.
• The Falcons now have a record of 25-13-4 over the last 42 matches, dating to late in the 2018 season. Nine of the 13 setbacks in that time have come by a single goal.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons, as mentioned, have earned the MAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. The NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Selection Show will air Monday (April 19) at 12:00 p.m. ET on NCAA.com. A link to the show will be on the front page of NCAA.com shortly before noon.
• Every match in the 36-team NCAA Championships will be held in Cary, North Carolina, and the surrounding areas. First-round matches are scheduled to be played on April 29.

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