What To Watch For: Falcons Host Defending National Champions Saturday

Saturday, September 11

Bowling Green, OH

8:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

#6/7 Marshall

Zach Buescher & the defending MAC champions host the defending national champs on Saturday night

Photo by: Larry Clapper

What To Watch For: Falcons Host Defending National Champions Saturday

September 08, 2021 | Men's Soccer

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Marshall comes to town as BGSU begins four-match homestand

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

FALCONS vs. #6/7 MARSHALL – Saturday, September 11
8:00 p.m. | Cochrane Stadium | Bowling Green, Ohio
• Video/Web Stream: WBGU-TV (YouTube) •
• Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com | Twitter: @BGSUmenssoccer •

FALCONS vs. WRIGHT STATE – Tuesday, September 14
7:00 p.m. | Cochrane Stadium | Bowling Green, Ohio
• Video/Web Stream: WBGU-TV (YouTube) •
• Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com | Twitter: @BGSUmenssoccer •

WHAT TO WATCH FOR...
• The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team, after posting a pair of impressive road wins over Labor Day weekend, returns home for the next four matches. Head coach Eric Nichols and the defending Mid-American Conference champions begin that homestand by facing the defending national champion, Marshall University. The Falcons and Thundering Herd will meet on Saturday night (Sept. 11), with first touch scheduled for 8:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium.

• Then, on Tuesday (Sept. 14), the Falcons will face Wright State University in the latest battle for the I-75 Cup. That contest is set for a 7:00 p.m. start at Cochrane.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Both the Marshall and WSU matches will be streamed on YouTube, and produced by WBGU-TV. Live stats for both matches will be available, and twitter updates will be available at @BGSUmenssoccer.

• Links to live audio/video/stats for all 2021 matches can be found on the web at BGSUFalcons.com (on the men's soccer schedule page as well as at the top of the main page) on game day.

• Admission is free to all home regular-season matches.

IN THE POLLS
• Marshall is ranked in the top-10 in the nation in each of this week's national polls. The Herd is ranked sixth in the nation in the College Soccer News poll, seventh in Top Drawer Soccer's rankings and 10th in the United Soccer Coaches poll.

• BGSU is receiving votes in both the CSN and United Soccer Coaches polls, earning 11 votes in the latter poll (the CSN poll does not list total votes for the teams listed under 'also receiving votes'). For the second-straight week, BG is ranked fifth in the North Region in the United Soccer Coaches poll.

• The Falcons will host FIU next week, and the Panthers are currently ranked 13th in the USC poll, 16th by CSN and 24th in the TDS listings.

TO BE THE BEST, YOU'VE GOTTA BEAT THE BEST
• Saturday's opponent, Marshall, is the defending national champion. The Falcons last played the defending NCAA champs in 2011, dropping a match at Akron.

• BGSU is hosting a top-10 team for the first time in three years, since a 3-0 loss to #3 Michigan State at Cochrane on Sept. 7, 2018. The Falcons' last home win over a top-10 squad came on Aug. 26, 2011, when BG topped #9 Michigan, 2-0.

• Last season, BG hosted a pair of nationally-ranked teams, and picked up a pair of 1-0 victories in overtime. Those wins came over #25 SIUE and #21 Akron.

FASCINATING FALCON FACTS
• The Falcons are 3-0-1 on the young season. BGSU battled IUPUI to a scoreless, double-overtime draw in the season opener at Cochrane, before going on the road and recording three-straight victories. Those wins included a 2-1 OT triumph at Gonzaga and back-to-back 3-0 wins at Cleveland State and Michigan State.

• The latter win was BGSU's first over MSU in 20 years. The Falcons had gone 0-16-1 against the Spartans since a 3-1 victory in East Lansing in September of 2001.

• BGSU led by two goals on only one occasion during all of last season, and the Falcons never led by three (BG took a 2-0 lead against Syracuse [Feb. 23, 2021] before winning by a 2-1 final). But, BG has now led – and won – by three goals in back-to-back matches.

• The CSU win was BGSU's first three-goal victory since a 3-0 win over West Virginia on Oct. 26, 2019. The win at MSU gave the Falcons back-to-back three-goal wins for the first time since downing Purdue Fort Wayne (4-0) and WVU at Cochrane Stadium in October of '19.

• The Falcons had not won by three goals on the road since earlier that season (Sept. 8, 2019), when the Brown and Orange picked up a 3-0 victory at Northwestern. Now, of course, BG has posted back-to-back three-goal road wins.

• With a perfect 3-0-0 record on the road, the Falcons have topped the road win total for all of last season. BG went 2-4-0 on the road in the 2020(-21) campaign.

• Sophomore Kyle Cusimano was involved in the scoring of all three goals for the Falcons at Michigan State. He scored BG's second goal of the afternoon while assisting on the other two. Jacob Erlandson and Roberto Fernandez Garrido also found the back of the net vs. the Spartans.

• Less than 72 hours earlier, Sergi Martinez had a three-point night in Cleveland, assisting on BGSU's first goal and scoring the third. Alberto Anaya recorded the game-winning goal for the second consecutive match, opening the scoring with just over 15 minutes gone. Anaya had scored in overtime at Gonzaga.

• Entering the Marshall match, the Falcons have an overall record of 28-14-5 over the last 47 matches, dating to late in the 2018 season. Ten of the 14 setbacks in that time have come by a single goal.

• Anaya, Cusimano and Martinez each have four points to lead a balanced scoring attack in the season's early going. Nathan Masters and Michael Montemurri each have three points.

• Logan Kowalczyk has played every second between the posts this fall, and has allowed just one goal to date. He has three shutouts and a goals-against average of just 0.24. Kowalczyk has kept eight clean sheets in 16 career starts at BGSU.

• BGSU returned 15 of last season's 18 letterwinners, including eight of the 11 starters from the spring. The 2020(-21) Falcons went 7-5-1 overall and 5-2-1 in MAC play, winning the conference regular-season title and advancing to the NCAA Championships for the seventh time in school history, but the first time since 1997.

• The Falcons won the MAC regular-season crown 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 (BG tied for first in the final league regular-season standings in both 2000 and 2002).

• By winning the MAC, BGSU finished as the number-one team in the number-one conference in the country, in terms of RPI rankings. The MAC ended the 2020-21 season as the top-rated conference in the final RPI, and four of the conference's six teams – West Virginia (12th), BGSU (27th), Western Michigan (33rd) and Akron (39th) – were ranked among the top-40 teams in the nation.

• The Falcons went 3-0-1 in home matches, 2-4-0 in road contests and 2-1-0 in neutral-site action last season. As mentioned, all four of BGSU's home games went to overtime. BG allowed just one goal at Cochrane Stadium in those four matches.

• BGSU had six players named to the All-MAC Team last season, tying the school record. Among the returnees, Jacob Erlandson was named to the all-league first team, while Zach Buescher, Logan Kowalczyk and Nathan Masters all earned second-team honors.

• Erlandson is the top returning scorer, having registered eight points on three goals and two assists a year ago. Masters and Cusimano each had five points including a pair of goals.

• Kowalczyk had a GAA of 0.80 last season. In MAC matches, he went 5-2-1 with a GAA of just 0.59. Kowalczyk and the Falcons posted five shutouts in MAC play, the program's highest total since 1998.

• BGSU's total of five MAC wins was the program's highest since the 1997 team went 5-2-0. Only the 1996 (5-0-0), '97 and 2020-21 teams have won as many as five league matches.

LOOKING TO MAINTAIN THAT HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE
• The Falcons certainly have given fans their money's worth at Cochrane Stadium (especially since admission is free!). BGSU finished the 2020(-21) season with a record of 3-0-1 at home, and the Falcons allowed only one goal at Cochrane Stadium in those four matches.

• BGSU is now unbeaten in the last 10 matches at Cochrane Stadium, having gone 8-0-2. Each of the last seven home matches has been decided by one goal or fewer, with the last six contests at Cochrane requiring overtime.

• The last home match that did not require more than 90 minutes came on Nov. 9, 2019, when the Falcons downed Northern Illinois by a 1-0 score. Just three days later (Nov. 12, 2019), BGSU topped NIU in OT in the MAC Tournament quarterfinals. Then, all four of the Falcons' home matches in the 2020(-21) season went to overtime.

• The Falcons' last home loss was a 4-3 OT setback vs. Cincinnati on Sept. 17, 2019.

• BGSU is 9-2-2 at home in the last two-plus seasons, having outscored the opponents by a 23-9 count during that time.

• Taking it back a few more years, BG is 21-6-10 at Cochrane Stadium since the start of the 2016 season, and the Falcons have a home record of 33-10-11 since the beginning of the 2014 campaign. The Falcons have outscored the opposition, 104-41, at Cochrane, dating to the final home game of the 2013 season.

CAPTAINS
• Zach Buescher, Jacob Erlandson and Jensen Lukacsko are the captains of the 2021 Falcons.

THE OPPONENTS
• Marshall enters Saturday's match with a 2-1-1 record, after a 4-1 win at East Tennessee State Tuesday night. The Thundering Herd also defeated James Madison, lost to Virginia Tech and tied Coastal Carolina. Vinicius Fernandes leads the team with four goals and 10 points, while Vitor Dias has three goals and nine points. Goalkeeper Oliver Semmie has 14 saves and a 1.95 GAA, but will miss the BGSU match due to a red card assessed in the ETSU contest. In the spring, the Herd finished 13-2-3 overall and 6-0-1 in Conference USA. Then, in the NCAA Championships, MU advanced past five ranked opponents – Fordham, Clemson, Georgetown, North Carolina and Indiana – to win the national title. Coach Chris Grassie welcomed back 21 players from that squad.

• Wright State is 1-2-0 on the young season, heading into a Saturday afternoon match at IUPUI. The Raiders dropped road matches to Akron and Kentucky before picking up a 2-1 win over Bradley in the home opener. Joe Kouadio has scored two of the team's three goals, while Sebastian Jimenez has started each of the last two matches in goal and has a 2.00 GAA.

THE SERIES
• BGSU leads Marshall, 8-5-3, in the all-time series, but the Herd picked up a 1-0 win in Huntington in the spring (Feb. 27, 2021), snapping a five-match series unbeaten streak (3-0-2) for the Falcons. The last meeting at Cochrane saw BG pick up a 3-0 win five years ago (Sept. 2, 2016). The Falcons are 5-1-1 at home, 1-4-2 on the road and 2-0-0 in neutral-site matches vs. the Herd over the years.

• The Falcons lead Wright State, 11-7-3, in that series, and BG won the most recent meeting, a 1-0 road triumph in November of 2019. The teams battled to a scoreless draw in the last meeting at Cochrane (Aug. 31, 2018). BGSU is 6-2-3 at home and 5-5-0 on the road vs. the Raiders. Since Eric Nichols became head coach, the Falcons are 7-3-1 vs. the Raiders, including 4-0-1 at home.

UP NEXT
• Following the WSU contest, the Falcons will continue the four-match homestand with contests vs. FIU (Fri., Sept. 17) and Detroit Mercy (Tue., Sept. 21). BGSU's next road game is Friday, Sept. 24, against Canisius.

# BGSU FALCON SOCCER #