Falcons Battle #17 Xavier to 1-1 Draw

Thursday, September 16

Bowling Green, OH

6:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

1-4-2, 0-0-0

#17 Xavier

7-0-1, 0-0-0

Xavier

Bowling Green

Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics

September 16, 2021 | Women's Soccer

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BGSU earns first result against a top-25 team in program history

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team responded after a tough home loss last week, battling nationally-ranked Xavier University to a 1-1 draw on Thursday evening (Sept. 16). The non-conference match was held at Cochrane Stadium.

Junior Audrey Shea scored her first collegiate goal for the Falcons (1-4-2), who got what is believed to be the first result against a top-25 team in program history.

Molly McLaughlin scored the tying goal late in the first half for the Musketeers (now 7-0-1), who are ranked 17th in the nation in this week's United Soccer Coaches poll.

Lili Berg made a career-high eight saves for the Orange and Brown.

LESLIE DAWLEY NIGHT
• Prior to the match, the BGSU women's soccer program honored the memory of Leslie Dawley. On Nov. 5, 2002, Dawley collapsed during the Falcons' MAC Tournament match vs. Buffalo and later passed away.
• Dawley, a freshman on that 2002 team, was part of a BGSU women's soccer signing class that went on to win MAC titles in both 2004 and '05. Members of her family were in attendance on Thursday night, and members of the current BGSU team presented the Dawley family with a framed jersey.
• A number-18 jersey (Leslie's number) also hung beside the BGSU bench during the match.
• Along with members of Dawley's family, two of her teammates, Megan (Rapp) Tice and Ashley Wentzel, were at the match on Thursday night.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Early in the match, BGSU appeared to have taken the lead. With under six minutes gone, Jasmijn Dijsselhof played a free kick toward the top of the 18-yard box from the left side. Kennedy White, facing away from goal, got her head on the ball, nodding it into the path of Madi Wolfbauer. The ball bounced once before Wolfbauer hit a one-timer from eight yards out that found the back of the net. But, the assistant referee's flag was raised, and the goal was nullified due to an offside call.
• With just over 20 minutes gone, however, the Falcons indeed did get on the scoreboard. Dijsselhof's corner kick sailed toward the far side of a crowded six-yard box. White knocked the ball toward the goalmouth, and as it bounced, Nikki Cox got her boot on the ball.
• Cox, facing away from goal, was able to direct the ball toward net, and her shot hit the crossbar. Audrey Shea headed the rebound into the net as she took a boot to the face, and the Falcons had the lead.
• Lili Berg made no fewer than six first-half saves, and the last of those saves may have been the best. Molly McLaughlin hit a shot from distance that was ticketed for the lower left corner, but Berg made a headlong dive to tip the ball wide of the post.
•Off of the ensuing corner kick, however, Xavier's final shot attempt of the half enabled the Musketeers to tie the score. Off of that Carrie Lewis CK, Molly McLaughlin headed the ball into the right side of the net from approximately six yards out. With 4:56 left to go before the half, the score was tied.
• Just over 17 minutes remained in regulation when the Falcons nearly took the lead. Nikki Cox won a ball near midfield and hit a nifty pass that split a pair of defenders and found Madison Alberty on the right side of the field. Alberty ran onto the pass and hit a shot from the 18-yard line. That shot went over the head of XU goalkeeper Olivia Jenkins, but glanced off of the crossbar. The rebound came to Lynsey Spotts in the center of the box, but her follow try went just over the bar.
• Berg made a pair of saves midway through the second overtime period, stopping a redirection off of a corner kick, then grabbing a lofted ball from outside the box roughly 10 seconds later.
• Arguably the best chance for the Falcons in overtime came with just three minutes left. Lacee Bethea got past a Xavier defender who was attempting to usher a ball over the end line for a Musketeer goal kick. Bethea kept the ball in play and poked a pass toward the onrushing Wolfbauer, but an XU defender was able to knock the ball out of Wolfbauer's path at the last second.

QUOTING COACH WALKER
"I'm so proud of the women tonight. That was an excellent performance. I would say that is probably our best performance of the year so far. We wanted to play the toughest (non-conference) schedule possible to prepare us for MAC play, which we've done. But I thought tonight was a reminder of how good we are when we put a full game together. That's what we did tonight - we put a full game together. We defended really well and we created some good opportunities going forward. That's a heck of a Xavier team, and this was a very good performance tonight."

STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• Xavier had advantages of 21-8 in total shots and 9-2 in shots on goal. Lili Berg, as mentioned, made a career-high eight saves, while Olivia Jenkins had one stop for the visitors.
• The draw is believed to be BGSU's first result against a nationally-ranked opponent in program history. This is the 25th season of Falcon women's soccer.
• Audrey Shea's goal was the first of her BGSU career. She now has four career points.
• Nikki Cox and Kennedy White assisted on Shea's goal. Cox now has four assists and eight points this season, leading the Falcons in both categories.
• White has three points this fall, all on assists.
• Cox now has 14 assists and 54 points as a Falcon. She is ninth in BGSU history in career points, and has moved into a tie for 13th in career assists.
• White now has 34 career points, and is tied for 16th in BGSU history in that category.
• Cox has scored 30 of her career points at Cochrane Stadium. She is tied for seventh all-time in career points in home matches.
• The Falcons are now 7-1-2 at Cochrane over the last 10 matches.
• BGSU has an overall record of 48-23-10 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 35-16-9 overall, 25-3-0 in MAC regular-season action and 30-3-2 in all games vs. league opposition.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons begin the Mid-American Conference portion of the schedule with a pair of matches next week. BGSU will travel to Kalamazoo for a matchup with Western Michigan next Thursday (Sept. 23). That contest is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. at the WMU Soccer Complex.
• Then, the Orange and Brown will return home for the next two contests, beginning with a game vs. Northern Illinois on Sunday, Sept. 26. That match will begin at 1:00 p.m. at Cochrane.

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.

Gallery: (9-16-2021) W.Soccer v Xavier - Sept 16 2021

Gallery: (9-16-2021) W.Soccer v Xavier - Sept 16 2021 - 2