Falcons Host Chicago State in Friday's Senior-Night Match

Friday, October 21

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Chicago State

Kale Nichols Jensen Lukacsko Sergi Martinez

Team captains Kale Nichols (left), Jensen Lukacsko (center) & Sergi Martinez are three of the Falcons who will take part in Friday's Senior-Night festivities

Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics

October 19, 2022 | Men's Soccer

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BGSU battles the MAC's newest member under the lights at Cochrane

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

FALCONS vs. CHICAGO STATE – Friday, October 21
7:00 p.m. | Cochrane Stadium | Bowling Green, Ohio
• Video/Web Stream: WBGU-TV (YouTube) •
• Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com | Twitter: @BGSUmenssoccer •

FIRST TOUCH
• The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team returns home to begin the second half of the Mid-American Conference schedule this weekend. Head coach Eric Nichols and the Falcons meet Chicago State University on Friday evening (Oct. 21), with first touch set for 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Friday's CSU contest will be streamed on YouTube, free of charge, and produced by WBGU-TV. Live stats and Twitter updates (@BGSUmenssoccer), as always, will also be available.

• Links to live audio/video/stats for all 2022 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.

SENIOR NIGHT
• Friday's match also will be Senior Night at Cochrane Stadium, with a large contingent of Falcons recognized prior to the contest. That group includes Brevin Andreadis, Abdi Faqi, Logan Kowalczyk, Jensen Lukacsko, Sergi Martinez, Michael Montemurri, Kale Nichols, Eli Shope, Carter Womack and student director of operations Trevor Jones.

SENIOR NIGHT SUCCESS
• The Falcons enter Friday night's game with a record of 8-3-2 in Senior Day/Night matches since Eric Nichols became head coach prior to the 2009 season. BGSU is undefeated (7-0-1) in the last eight matches, with wins in the last five such contests. BGSU has won the last four Senior Day/Night games – vs. SIUE, West Virginia, Akron and Georgia Southern – by a combined score of 10-0.

A FEW FASCINATING FALCON FACTS
• The Falcons are 3-4-5 on the season, and BGSU is 1-1-2 in MAC play entering the Chicago State rematch. Friday marks the Falcons' second meeting with the Cougars in just over a week.

• BGSU posted a 3-0 win in the Windy City last Thursday night (Oct. 13). Joey Akpunonu, Andrew Shaffer and Eli Shope each scored for the Falcons, with Sergi Martinez assisting on all three goals. Brendan Graves made two saves en route to the shutout.

• Graves again made two saves on Monday (Oct. 17) to earn another clean sheet on the road, this time against #20 Akron. The Falcons and Zips played to draws in each of this year's two meetings (Akron is 3-0-0 against the rest of the MAC).

• BGSU had gone nearly nine years without having a player record three assists in a match, but it then happened twice in under a month. Martinez had the primary assist on all three goals at Chicago State, falling just one helper shy of the school single-game record.

• BGSU has allowed just seven goals in 12 matches this season. The first Akron game marked the first time this year that the Brown and Orange surrendered a first-half goal. The Falcons had not given up a goal prior to halftime in 11-straight contests, dating to a MAC Tournament match at Northern Illinois last Nov. 11.

• No fewer than 10 of this year's 12 games have been scoreless at the half, with the lone exceptions being the Oakland (BG led, 3-0) and Akron (BG trailed, 1-0) matches at Cochrane.

• The Falcons have kept the opponent off of the scoreboard in the first half in 13 of the last 14 matches, dating to last November.

• All four of BGSU's losses – to Loyola (Ill.), Ohio State, Western Michigan and Georgetown – have come by identical 1-0 scores.

• In the Falcons' five draws – scoreless ties at DePaul, Michigan and Akron, and 1-1 home outcomes vs. Michigan State and UA – BG outshot the foes by a combined total of 71-41. The Falcons had a 21-15 lead in shots on goal against those five opponents.

• BGSU's other two contests – wins at Air Force and at home vs. Oakland – saw the Falcons score nine goals in a two-match span. The Falcons downed Air Force, 3-1 (Sept. 17), before posting a 6-0 win over OU six days later at Cochrane.

INDIVIDUALLY...
• Alberto Anaya leads the Falcons in scoring. The 2021 MAC Freshman of the Year has nine points on three goals and three assists.

• Sergi Martinez has eight points on a pair of goals and a team-high four assists, while Joey Akpunonu and Andrew Shaffer each have six points. Akpunonu has three goals, including the game-winning marker at Chicago State, and at the other end of the pitch, Akpunonu had three 'team saves' over the two-match span vs. Air Force and Oakland, including a first-half sequence in the Air Force match in which he blocked back-to-back shots off the goal line.

• Shaffer has three goals to tie Anaya and Akpunonu for the team lead. He has found the back of the net in each of BGSU's last two games, and has two of the Falcons' four goals in MAC play to date.

• Brendan Graves and the BGSU back line have allowed just seven goals – including one on a PK – in 1080 minutes of action. Graves has 28 saves and a goals-against average of 0.58 this season. He now has a career GAA of 0.99 and seven shutouts in 19 career starts.

• Akpunonu, Graves and Martinez each have started all 12 matches this season. Kyle Cusimano, Josh Erlandson, Jensen Lukacsko and Kale Nichols also have started every match, while Amer Dedic and Nathan Masters have made 11 starts apiece, Anaya 10 and Eli Shope eight.

THE OPPONENT
• Chicago State enters Friday's match with an overall record of 1-10-3, and the Cougars are 0-5-0 in MAC play. CSU dropped a 2-0 decision at Northern Illinois on Monday night, with one of NIU's goals coming with just eight seconds to go. Danail Sergiev leads the team with six goals and 13 points, while Niall Reid-Stephen's 10 points include four goals. Marco Seyfert has started 13 games in goal, and has a 3.15 goals-against average along with 45 saves and one shutout. Norris Howze is in his first season as head coach of the Cougars. Last fall, CSU went 2-13-3 overall and 0-9-2 in the Western Athletic Conference.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Chicago State, 1-0-0, in the series. The first-ever meeting between the teams came last week (Oct. 13), when BGSU picked up a 3-0 win in the Windy City.

UP NEXT
• Following the CSU match, the Falcons will return to the road for a Tuesday (Oct. 25) meeting with Northern Illinois. That contest will begin at 7:00 p.m. local time (8:00 p.m. ET) in DeKalb.

• Then, the Falcons will face Western Michigan in Kalamazoo (Wed., Nov. 2) before hosting NIU four days later (Sat., Nov. 6) to end the regular season.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• For more information on the BGSU 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.

# BGSU FALCON SOCCER #