Three Second-Half Goals Help Falcons Tame Cougars

Thursday, October 13

Chicago, Ill.

8:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

3-4-4, 1-1-1

Chicago State

1-9-3, 0-4-0

Bowling Green

Chicago St.

BGSU 1, #20 Akron 1 - Oct. 6, 2022 - photos by Larry Clapper

Photo by: Larry Clapper

October 13, 2022 | Men's Soccer

Box Score BGSU-CSU Stats

BGSU posts 3-0 MAC win in Chicago

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

CHICAGO, Ill. – The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team scored a trio of second-half goals en route to a 3-0 win over Chicago State University Thursday evening (Oct. 13). The Mid-American Conference matchup took place at Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep Academy.

Joey Akpunonu, Andrew Shaffer and Eli Shope each scored for the Falcons (3-4-4, 1-1-1 MAC), with Sergi Martinez assisting on all three goals.

Akpunonu headed home a Martinez corner kick in the 57th minute of the match, before Shaffer and Shope scored less than two minutes apart in the latter stages of the match.

Brendan Graves made two saves in the shutout win. For the Cougars (1-9-3, 0-4-0 MAC), Marco Seyfert had five stops on the evening.

NOTE OF THE NIGHT
• BGSU had gone nearly nine years without having a player record three assists in a match, but now it has happened twice in under a month. Sergi Martinez had the primary assist on all three goals Thursday night, falling just one helper shy of the school single-game record.
• Alberto Anaya also has had a three-assist game this fall, as he turned the trick on BGSU's home win over Oakland on Sept. 23. Prior to Anaya's feat, no Falcon had had a three-assist match since November of 2013.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The teams battled through a scoreless first half. Arguably the best chance of the period came with under three minutes left. Off of a BGSU corner kick, Gaetano D'Argento's header forced CSU goalkeeper Marco Seyfert to make a diving save as he poked the ball wide of the far post.
• The Falcons got on the scoreboard in the 57th minute, as a Sergi Martinez corner kick was headed home by Joey Akpunonu.
• Approximately six minutes later, off of a Kyle Cusimano throw-in, Nathan Masters hit a bicycle-kick attempt while facing away from goal near the top of the 18. The shot nearly got under the crossbar, but Seyfert got a glove on it at the very last instant. The ball caromed back into play, and Kale Nichols fired it into the far side of the goal, but the goal did not count as the ball had hit the American football crossbar after Seyfert's save of the Masters shot, and was therefore out of play.
• With just over 10 minutes to go, a foul on the Cougars gave the Falcons a free kick. Akpunonu took that kick, and blasted a shot from 32 yards out. Seyfert had no chance to stop the ball, but the shot rang off of the right post.
• One minute later, however, the Falcons had doubled the lead. Trace Terry played a low crossing ball from the right side, and a Masters dummy took a defender out of the play as the ball went through Masters' legs toward the center of the field. Martinez beat another defender to the ball, winning a challenge which kept the ball moving along its original path. Andrew Shaffer ran onto the Martinez pass and fired a low shot that beat Seyfert to his left.
• And, less than two minutes later, BG scored again. This time, Martinez – near the top of the 18 on the right side of the box – slid a pass to Eli Shope. From a difficult angle, Shope fired a shot across his body that not only was on frame, but eluded Seyfert and found the back of the net. The goal came just 1:58 after Shaffer's marker.

STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• The Falcons had a 14-5 advantage in total shot attempts, an 8-2 lead in shots on goal and a 7-0 margin in corner kicks.
• Goalkeeper Brendan Graves made two saves on Thursday night. Graves and the Falcons have not allowed more than one goal in a game this season. BGSU has surrendered a total of seven goals in 11 matches.
• Graves now has four shutouts this fall and six in his career. He lowered his goals-against averages to 0.64 this fall and 1.05 in his career.
• Freshman Andrew Shaffer scored a goal for the second consecutive match. He also found the net in last Thursday's (Oct. 6) 1-1 draw vs. Akron.
• Shaffer is now tied for the team lead with three goals on the season.
• Joey Akpunonu also has three goals this fall, and he scored his first game-winning goal this season and the second of his BGSU career.
• Akpunonu now has career totals of five goals and 13 points.
• Eli Shope, who picked up his first career point with the primary assist on Shaffer's goal vs. Akron, scored the first goal of his collegiate career on Thursday night. Shope now has three points on the season.
• BGSU played a 0-0 first half for the ninth time in 11 matches this season.
• The Falcons have kept the opponent off of the scoreboard in the first half in 12 of the last 13 matches, dating to last November.
• Kyle Blasingame made first career start on Thursday night, and played a total of 62 minutes vs. CSU.
• Sergi Martinez, as mentioned earlier, had assists on all three BGSU goals. He fell just one shy of tying the school single-game record. Brian Ferguson had four assists in a win over Eastern Michigan on Sept. 20, 1989.
• Martinez is the second Falcon with a three-assist match this fall, joining Alberto Anaya (Sept. 23 vs. Oakland). Prior to Anaya's accomplishment, no Falcon had had three assists in a match in nearly nine years, since Danny Baraldi had three helpers against Purdue Fort Wayne (then IPFW) on Nov. 5, 2013.
• The Falcons now have a record of 39-24-11 over the last 74 matches, dating to late in the 2018 season. Sixteen of the 24 setbacks in that time have come by a single goal.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons head to Northeast Ohio for a Monday (Oct. 17) matchup with the nationally-ranked University of Akron. The game, the teams' second meeting in under two weeks, will begin at 7:00 p.m. at FirstEnergy Stadium.
• Then, the Brown and Orange will face Chicago State for the second time in eight days. BGSU welcomes the Cougars to Cochrane Stadium next Friday (Oct. 21). First touch for the Senior Night match is set for 7:00 p.m.

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.