Falcons Drop Weather-Delayed Opener at Notre Dame, 3-1

Thursday, August 19

South Bend, IN

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

0-1-0, 0-0-0

Notre Dame

1-0-0, 0-0-0

Bowling Green

Notre Dame

Madi Wolfbauer v Valparaiso - August 2021

Madi Wolfbauer scored the Falcons' lone goal at Notre Dame Thursday night

Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics

August 19, 2021 | Women's Soccer

Box Score BGSU-UND Stats BGSU Women's Soccer Record Book

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Athletics

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – In a regular-season opener that extended well into the night, the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team fell, 3-1, on the road vs. the University of Notre Dame Thursday night (Aug. 19) at Alumni Stadium.

Olivia Wingate put the Fighting Irish on the board with a goal just over seven minutes into the match, and – after a lightning delay that lasted nearly two and a half hours – Sammi Fisher doubled the lead for the hosts in the 29th minute.

Brianna Martinez capped the scoring for the hosts with just over 67 minutes gone, before Madi Wolfbauer blasted home a free kick from distance to provide the final margin.

NOTE OF THE NIGHT
• Madi Wolfbauer now has scored six goals in nine career matches as a Falcon. She led BGSU with five goals and 10 points last season.

MOTHER NATURE WAS THE REAL WINNER ON THURSDAY NIGHT
• The match was stopped with 18:06 remaining into the first half due to lightning. The delay began at 7:33 p.m.
• The 30-minute clock restarted multiple times as more lightning was spotted over the next two hours. Finally, a half hour passed without any lightning in the vicinity, and the teams returned to the field for a brief warmup period.
• Play resumed at 10:00 p.m. after a delay of two hours and 27 minutes.
• After the teams played the final 18-plus minutes of the first half, the halftime break lasted only eight minutes.
• The second half was played without any weather-related interruptions, and the match, which began at 7:05 p.m., ended at 11:19 p.m.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• 8' | GOAL | The Fighting Irish took an early lead on a goal by Olivia Wingate. After a combination play, Wingate took a pass from Maddie Mercado and fired a shot from the top of the box. A diving Lili Berg got a hand on the ball, but could not keep the hard, well-placed shot from finding the upper left corner.
• 11' | After a foul on the home team, Mackenzie Reuber took a free kick from the left side, just outside the penalty area. Audrey Shea met Reuber's curving free kick with a diving header near the right post, but her shot went just wide.
• 12' | Berg made a nifty save on a point-blank shot by Wingate, as the BG 'keeper parried the ball high into the air and out for a corner kick.
• 24' | Another Wingate shot forced Berg into another impressive save. Wingate made a run into the box and hit a shot from the left side, but Berg made a diving save, tipping the ball wide of the far post.
• 26' | A long diagonal ball by Jasmijn Dijsselhof sailed into the box, and Nikki Cox quickly redirected it with a flick of her head, but the shot was wide of the left post.
• 29' | GOAL | The Irish doubled the lead with 16:42 left before halftime – just under 90 seconds after the teams resumed play after the weather delay – as a low cross found its way to Sammi Fisher, who knocked it inside the far post.
• 34' | Off of a Ruby Linton cross, Nikki Cox's header in the box was blocked by a Notre Dame defender.
• 38' | Madi Wolfbauer, stationed in the center of the box, redirected a cross by Rylee Clark on frame, but the quick one-timer was hit directly at UND goalkeeper Mattie Interian.
• 51' | Reuber played a cross/shot from the right side, that sailed over the UND 'keeper but landed on the netting on top of the goal.
• 58' | White and Isabelle Gilmore each took shots within several minutes of one another, but both were off target.
• 61' | Jaden Frigerio and Maya Dean teamed up to get the ball to Wolfbauer, who hit a turnaround half-volley that forced Interian into a leaping save. The UND 'keeper was able to pluck the ensuing corner kick out of the air.
• 67' | Shea's free kick, taken from the BG defensive side of the midfield line, bounced on the wet turf and went on goal, but it was grabbed by the 'keeper.
• 68' | GOAL | The Irish added to the lead as Brianna Martinez converted a low cross at the far post.
• 68' | Lynsey Spotts played the ball back to Dean, who hit a shot from just outside the penalty area that was saved.
• 85' | GOAL | After a Notre Dame foul, Wolfbauer took the ensuing free kick and hit a blast from distance, putting her shot from approximately 30 yards out into the upper left corner.
• 88' | Wolfbauer got her head on a Nikki Cox diagonal ball, but her shot from the 18-yard line was wide right.

QUOTING COACH WALKER
"We played against one of the best teams in the country tonight. We had some moments when we competed really well, but against a team like Notre Dame, if you switch off a couple of times, they will punish you, and that's what happened tonight."

"There was not much we could have done about their first goal. It was a great strike from the edge of the box. The disappointing one for me was when we conceded less than two minutes after that long break. We didn't come out ready to go, and I think that's the moment we let ourselves down."

"Other than that, I thought we competed really well for large portions of the match. But, Notre Dame is a very good team, and they deserved to win tonight."

STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• Notre Dame had advantages of 15-11 in total shot attempts and 7-4 in shots on goal. Lili Berg made four saves for the Falcons, while Mattie Interian made three stops for the Irish.
• A total of 23 different players saw action for the Falcons on Thursday night.
• Freshman Isabelle Gilmore was in the Starting XI in her collegiate debut, while sophomore Lacee Bethea also made her first collegiate start. Bethea came off the bench to play in all eight of BGSU's matches in the spring.
• Riley Moore made her Falcon debut, playing the final 10:38 between the posts, while Rylee Clark, a transfer from Wright State University, also made her BG debut.
• In addition to Gilmore, true freshmen Jayden Bayes, Jaden Frigerio and Taylor Kenna saw the first action of their respective collegiate careers.
• Despite the loss, BGSU is 47-20-8 overall since the start of the 2017 season. The Falcons are 31-7-1 in MAC regular-season matches and 38-8-3 in all games vs. conference foes in that time.
• And, since the beginning of the 2018 campaign, the Falcons are 34-13-7 overall, 25-3-0 in MAC regular-season action and 30-3-2 in all games vs. league opposition.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons return to the road on Sunday (Aug. 22), heading to Ann Arbor to take on the University of Michigan. That match is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start at U-M Soccer Stadium.

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.