Brynn for the Win! Gardner's Goal Caps Amazing Falcon Comeback at NIU

Thursday, October 27

DeKalb, Ill.

2:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

8-5-4, 6-2-3

Northern Illinois

6-8-4, 3-6-2

Bowling Green

NIU

Brynn Gardner (9) had a goal & an assist (not in that order) in the final 2:12 of Thursday's win at NIU

Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics

Brynn for the Win! Gardner's Goal Caps Amazing Falcon Comeback at NIU

October 27, 2022 | Women's Soccer

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Pool, Gardner score in game’s final 2:12 as BG gets a 2-1 win in DeKalb

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

DeKALB, Ill. – Brynn Gardner's goal with just 1:21 on the clock capped an amazing comeback, giving the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team a 2-1 win over Northern Illinois University on Thursday afternoon (Oct. 27). The Mid-American Conference match took place at the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex.

Ellie Pool scored the tying goal with just 2:12 to go for the Falcons (8-5-4, 6-2-3 MAC), heading home a cross from Gardner just 51 seconds before Gardner's winner.

With the victory, the Falcons finish the regular season in third place in the MAC standings. BGSU will host sixth-seeded Western Michigan University in the quarterfinal round of the MAC Tournament. That match will begin at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday (Oct. 30) at Cochrane Stadium.

Lili Berg had one save in goal for the Falcons, while Sadie McGill made nine stops for the Huskies (6-8-4, 3-6-2 MAC).

NOTE OF THE DAY
• Thursday's game marked the first time in over a year that the Falcons came back from a deficit to win. BGSU last turned that trick on Oct. 3, 2021, rebounding from an early Kent State goal for a 3-2 victory over the Golden Flashes.

BONUS NOTE OF THE DAY
• Mackenzie Reuber played in the 90th match of her Falcon career on Thursday, tying the school record set by Julie Trundle (2002-05). Should Reuber take the field for Sunday's WMU match, she will own the record outright.

POST-MATCH REACTION – HEAD COACH JIMMY WALKER
"We were a bit slow to get started today and went against the wind in the first half. The game was really tight with neither team creating too many chances.

"In the second half we really stepped it up a gear but conceded a goal off a set piece against the run of play. We continued to dominate the ball and finally broke the deadlock in the last few minutes scoring two goals in 50 seconds.

"That was the first time all year we came back from behind to win a game. The ladies showed great character in the second half today."

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The first half featured a total of just seven shot attempts, and only two shots on goal. Lili Berg made a diving stop on a Jordyn King shot at the near post, as King's one-time effort from inside the six-yard box came off of an NIU free kick in the 25th minute.
• Three minutes later, Katie Cox hit a hard shot from just outside the 18 at the other end of the field after a BGSU corner kick, but Cox's effort went over the crossbar.
• The Falcons had a good chance in the opening minute of the second half, off of a right-side cross, but a shot by Lacee Bethea went just over the bar.
• BGSU immediately won the ball back, and a Bethea cross led to a header toward the far post by Kennedy White. NIU goalkeeper Sadie McGill made a headlong dive, getting her fingertips on the ball to nudge it wide. White got her head on the ensuing corner kick, but McGill grabbed that ball out of the air.
• The Huskies got on the board at the 49:32 mark. A free kick by Lea Gruennagel sailed over Berg's head, and Amber Best was able to tap it in at the far post.
• Midway through the second half, Brynn Gardner got on the end of a forward pass in the box, and hit a shot toward the far post. But, McGill was there to make the save.
• Cox fired a shot on frame in the 74th minute. On a BGSU counterattack, Ellie Pool received a pass with her back to goal and slid it to the onrushing Cox. Cox took a touch and fired a shot, but McGill made a leaping save.
• With under five minutes to go, Brynn Gardner got her head on a loose ball and hit a hard shot on frame, but McGill made the grab.
• But, with just over two minutes remaining, the Falcons tied the score. Gardner hit a diagonal ball into the box from the right side. Pool met the ball, heading a shot back across and into the lower right corner of the goal with just 2:12 on the clock.
• And, less than a minute later, BGSU took the lead. After a Falcon throw-in, a foul was whistled on the Huskies near midfield. Isabelle Gilmore took the ensuing free kick and played a long ball into the penalty area. White, facing away from goal, got her head on the ball. It was deflected by a Huskie defender and fell to the turf. Gardner ran onto it and fired a shot that found the upper-right-hand corner of the goal.

STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• BGSU had advantages of 19-6 in total shot attempts, 11-2 in shots on goal and 5-1 in corner kicks in Thursday's win.
• After firing just four total shots in the first 45 minutes, BGSU had four shot attempts in the first 3:37 of second half. The Falcons outshot the Huskies, 15-3, after halftime.
• Lili Berg, as mentioned, made one save, while NIU's Sadie McGill had nine stops, including eight in the second half alone.
• For Berg, NIU's goal on Thursday snapped her personal shutout streak at 343:54. She had not allowed a goal since the Kent State match on Oct. 13.
• The Falcons have outscored the opponents, 19-3, over the last seven games.
• Freshman Brynn Gardner's goal on Thursday was her fifth of the season and the first game-winning goal of her BGSU career.
• With three points in the win, Gardner now has 17 points in 2022, good for second on the Falcons. She is also second on the club in goals, and leads BGSU with seven assists.
• Ellie Pool played in each of BGSU's first seven matches of the season, but was injured early in the MAC opener vs. Toledo on Sept. 22. Pool missed the next eight contests before returning on Sunday. She has scored a goal in each of her two appearances since returning.
• Pool had what proved to be the game-winning marker in Sunday's 7-1 victory at Eastern Michigan,then scored the tying goal with 2:12 to go on Thursday in DeKalb.
• Pool, who played two seasons at Toledo before transferring to BG, now has career totals of 10 goals and 26 points.
• Kennedy White's assist on the winning goal was her second assist of the season and the ninth of her career.
• White now has 63 career points, and ranks eighth on that BGSU list.
• Isabelle Gilmore recorded her first collegiate point with an assist on Thursday's winning goal.
• BGSU now has an overall record of 66-31-15 since the start of the 2017 season. And, since the beginning of the 2018 campaign, the Falcons are 53-24-14.
• Since the start of 2017, BG is now 46-11-5 in MAC regular-season matches and 55-12-7 in all matches (regular-season and tournament) vs. MAC foes.
• The Falcons are 18-2-1 in the last 21 MAC road matches. BGSU has outscored the opponents, 59-12, in those 21 contests.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons, the number-three seed for the MAC Tournament, will host sixth-seeded Western Michigan University in a league tourney quarterfinal-round match on Sunday (Oct. 30). First touch is set for 1:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium.
• The BGSU-WMU survivor will advance to next Thursday night's (Nov. 3) semifinal round, and will meet second-seeded Ball State University in Buffalo, N.Y., That contest will begin at 7:30 p.m.
• Sunday's other quarterfinal match will see No. 4 Ohio host No. 5 Miami. Either the Bobcats or the RedHawks will face top-seeded Buffalo in next Thursday's first semifinal.
• The MAC Tournament's championship match will be held on Sunday, Nov. 6, at 1:00 p.m. in Buffalo.

MAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Quarterfinals | Sunday, October 30 | (at campus sites/higher seed)
Game 1 -- No. 5 Miami at No. 4 Ohio, 1:00 p.m.
Game 2 -- No. 6 Western Michigan at No. 3 Bowling Green, 1:00 p.m.

Semifinals | Thursday, November 3 | Buffalo, N.Y.
Game 3 -- Game 1 Survivor at No. 1 Buffalo, 5:00 p.m.
Game 4 -- Game 2 Survivor vs. No. 2 Ball State, 7:30 p.m.

Championship | Sunday, November 6 | Buffalo, N.Y.
Game 5 -- Semifinal-Round Survivors, 1:00 p.m.

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.