Defending National Champions Down Falcons on Late Goal

Saturday, September 11

Bowling Green, OH

8:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

3-1-1, 0-0-0

#6/7 Marshall

3-1-1, 0-0-1

Marshall

Bowling Green

September 11, 2021 | Men's Soccer

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#6/7 Marshall scores with just 1:33 remaining for 1-0 win at Cochrane

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Marshall University scored with just 1:33 remaining in the match, downing the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team by a 1-0 count on Saturday night (Sept. 11). The non-conference match was held at Cochrane Stadium.

Pedro Dolabella scored the lone goal of the match to give the Thundering Herd (3-1-1) the victory. The defending national champions knocked the Falcons (3-1-1) from the ranks of the unbeaten.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The first half featured a total of just six shot attempts, and only one on goal. That SOG came off of the boot of BGSU's Alberto Anaya from outside of the box, but MU 'keeper Cooper Blay made a diving stop near the left goalpost.
• In the second half, the Falcons had a chance with 25 minutes to go. BGSU controlled the ball in the Marshall end of the field, with Michael Montemurri, Gaetano D'Argento and Colin McCort involved in the play. McCort found Nathan Masters on the left side, and Masters hit a low cross into the box. Kyle Cusimano redirected the cross, but his shot was blocked by a Thundering Herd defender.
• Each team had several chances in the final 10 minutes of the match. With 7:20 on the clock, Marshall's Milo Yosef headed a left-side cross toward net, but his shot hit the outside of the left goalpost and went out of play for a BG goal kick.
• Just over a minute later, Joey Akpunonu hit a diagonal ball into the penalty area from the right side, forcing Blay to tip the ball over the crossbar.
• The ensuing corner kick was taken by Anaya, and found Cusimano on the far side of the six-yard box. Cusimano headed the ball toward the left post, where Masters and Blay collided as they went for the ball. The ball went into the net, but the Falcons were whistled for a foul.
• With just over three minutes remaining, Montemurri got his head on a Kale Nichols serve, but Montemurri's effort went over the crossbar.
• The Herd scored with 1:33 remaining. Pedro Dolabella brought the ball down the center of the park and slid a pass to Yosef on the right side of the box. Yosef slid the ball back into the path of Dolabella, who hit a low shot from the top of the box into the right corner of the net.

QUOTING COACH NICHOLS
"I'm really proud of the group. Marshall is a tremendous team; they're defending national champs for a reason. When you play a team like that, you can kind of bow down and give them too much respect. We didn't really change our tactics. We went toe-to-toe, and we went for it. When you play a team like Marshall, the margins are very small. If you make a mistake, you get punished for it, but I'm really proud of the guys for coming out and going for it. We will learn from this game. That's why we are playing teams like Marshall. We wanted to win, but we know playing a game like this will make us better."

STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• Marshall had a 10-5 lead in total shot attempts, but BGSU had a narrow 2-1 advantage in shots on goal. And, the Falcons had a 7-5 lead in corner kicks, including a 6-2 edge in the second half.
• Cooper Blay made two saves, one in each half, for the Herd. Blay, a transfer from USF, was making his Marshall debut.
• Junior Josh Erlandson, a transfer from Huntington (Ind.) University, made his first collegiate start for the Falcons. It was also his BGSU debut, as he had not seen action in the Falcons' first four matches of the season.
• The Falcons have a record of 28-15-5 over the last 48 matches, dating to late in the 2018 season. Eleven of the 15 setbacks in that time have come by a single goal.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons' season-long four-match homestand continues on Tuesday (Sept. 14), as BGSU hosts Wright State in a 7:00 p.m. start at Cochrane Stadium. The homestand also includes matches vs. FIU (Friday, Sept. 17) and Detroit Mercy (Tuesday, Sept. 21).
• BGSU's next road match will be against Canisius on Friday afternoon, Sept. 24.

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.

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