Falcons Entertain Nationally-Ranked Zips Thursday Night

Thursday, October 6

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Akron

Nathan Masters at Michigan - Sept 5 2022

Nathan Masters (27) & the Falcons host No. 20 Akron Thursday night

Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics

October 05, 2022 | Men's Soccer

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No. 20 Akron comes to Cochrane for BGSU's first of seven-straight MAC matches

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

FALCONS vs. #20 AKRON – Thursday, October 6
7:00 p.m. | Cochrane Stadium | Bowling Green, Ohio
• Video/Web Stream: BCSN/ESPN+ •
• Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com | Twitter: @BGSUmenssoccer •

FIRST TOUCH
• For the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team, it's all #MACtion all the time from here on out. Head coach Eric Nichols and the Falcons end the regular-season schedule with seven consecutive Mid-American Conference contests, beginning Thursday night (Oct. 6). BGSU hosts the University of Akron, with first touch at 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium. Admission is free.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Thursday's Akron matchup will be aired by BCSN in the Toledo area, and also will be available via both the BCSN App and on ESPN+. 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.

FASCINATING FALCON FACTS
• The Falcons are 2-4-3 on the season. BGSU fell, 1-0, at Georgetown – a 2021 national semifinalist – on Saturday (Oct. 1), after suffering a loss by the identical score to Western Michigan in the MAC opener four days earlier (Sept. 27) at Cochrane Stadium.

• BGSU has allowed just six goals – all in the second half – in nine matches this season. The Falcons have not given up a first-half goal in 11 consecutive contests, dating to a MAC Tournament match at Northern Illinois last Nov. 11.

• All six opponent goals this season have come in the 65th minute or later.

• No fewer than eight of this year's nine games have been scoreless at the half, with the lone exception being the Oakland contest on Sept. 23.

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

• In the Falcons' three draws – scoreless ties at DePaul and Michigan and a 1-1 home outcome vs. Michigan State – BGSU outshot the opponents by a combined total of 59-20. The Falcons had 17 shots on goal, compared to eight for those three 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.

• Alberto Anaya exploded for a seven-point night in the Oakland match. He was involved in the scoring of five of BGSU's six goals, scoring the first two (just 2:23 apart) and assisting on all three second-half markers.

• Sergi Martinez had a three-point night, with a goal and an assist vs. the Golden Grizzlies. Kyle Cusimano had three points in the win at Air Force, scoring BGSU's first goal and assisting on the third.

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 five points on a pair of goals and an assist, while Joey Akpunonu has four points, with two penalty-kick goals to date. 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.

• Brendan Graves and the BGSU back line have allowed just six goals – including one on a PK – in 810 minutes of action. Graves has 21 saves and a goals-against average of 0.67 this season. He now has a career GAA of 1.11 and five shutouts in 16 career starts.

• Akpunonu, Anaya, Graves and Martinez each have started all nine 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 eight starts apiece and Eli Shope six.

A FEW MORE NOTES AND NUMBERS
• In the Eric Nichols Era, BGSU is 77-9-6 when scoring two or more goals.

• The Falcons are 55-29-20 in home matches since Nichols took the helm prior to the 2009 season. After going 4-8-2 at home in his first two years, the Falcons are 51-21-18 at Cochrane since the start of the 2011 campaign.

• BG is 33-11-12 at home since the start of the 2015 season and 27-9-12 (.688) since the beginning of 2016. BGSU went 8-1-3 at Cochrane in the 2021 calendar year.

• Entering the Akron match, the Falcons have an overall record of 38-24-10 over the last 72 games, dating to midway through the 2018 season. Sixteen of the 24 setbacks in that time have come by a single goal.

THE OPPONENT
• Akron enters Thursday's match with an overall record of 6-2-2, and the Zips are 1-0-0 in MAC play. UA has won two-straight matches, with a 1-0 win over Duquesne followed by a 4-1 drubbing of Northern Illinois in Sunday night's (Oct. 2) MAC opener. The Zips are ranked No. 20 in the nation in this week's United Soccer Coaches poll, and Akron is also listed in the latest Top Drawer Soccer (19th) and College Soccer News (21st) polls. Dyson Clapier has a team-high 12 points, including five goals, while Jason Shokalook has 11 points on four goals and three assists. Mitch Budler has played every second in goal, and has a 1.50 goals-against average along with 29 saves and two shutouts. Head coach Jared Embick's 2021 club went 9-6-3 overall and 2-3-1 in the MAC, advancing to the NCAA Championships.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons trail Akron, 50-10-5, in the all-time series. The teams have split the last four meetings, with the Zips capturing last year's lone meeting by a 5-1 final in the Rubber City (Oct. 22, 2021). The teams split the spring 2021 meetings with the home team victorious in each match (Akron 2-0, BGSU 1-0 in overtime). The Falcons' last road win over UA was a 1-0 triumph in the semifinals of the 2019 MAC Tournament. BG is 4-19-4 at home, 4-29-1 on the road and 2-2-0 at neutral sites vs. the Zips over the years.

UP NEXT
• Following the Akron match, the Falcons will head to the Windy City to face first-year MAC affiliate member Chicago State next Thursday (Oct. 13). That contest will begin at 7:00 p.m. local time (8:00 p.m. ET) at Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep.

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 #