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Thursday, November 3
Buffalo, N.Y.
7:30 PM
Bowling Green State University
9-5-5, 6-2-3
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Ball State (Semifinal)
7-4-8, 6-1-4
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Bowling Green
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Ball St.
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Photo by: Buffalo Athletics
Cardinals Advance Past Falcons in MAC Tournament Semifinal
November 03, 2022 | Women's Soccer
Ball State moves on to Sunday's final via PKs after teams battle to 1-1 draw
BUFFALO, N.Y. – For the first time since 2017, a team other than Bowling Green State University will win the Mid-American Conference Women's Soccer Tournament championship.
The Falcons battled Ball State University to a 1-1 draw through regulation and a pair of overtime periods in MAC Tournament semifinal-round action on Thursday night (Nov. 3), but the Cardinals advanced via penalty kicks. The match took place at UB Stadium.
Freshman Brynn Gardner scored a second-half goal for the third-seeded Falcons (9-5-5), answering Sammi Corcoran's first-half marker for BSU.
Junior Lacee Bethea had the lone assist on Gardner's goal, making a dizzying array of moves on the right side of the pitch before chipping a gorgeous cross over the Ball State goalkeeper and onto the head of Gardner at the far post.
BGSU held decisive advantages in shot attempts, shots on goal and corner kicks during the 110 minutes of play. But, the second-seeded Cardinals (7-4-8) became just the second team in history to advance past the Orange and Brown via penalty kicks in the MAC Tournament.
Ball State advances to Sunday's (Nov. 6) MAC Tournament final to meet top-seeded Buffalo. The Bulls downed fifth-seeded Miami, 1-0, in Thursday's first game.
NOTE OF THE NIGHT
• Thursday's match marked the eighth time in program history that the Falcons participated in a MAC Tournament match that required penalty kicks, but just the second time that the other team advanced via the PK route.
• BGSU now has a record of 21-7-8 in MAC Tournament action.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
• Seven minutes into the contest, BSU's Abby Elgert fired the first shot of the match on a counterattack, after BGSU had controlled the possession. But, Lili Berg was in perfect position to make the save.
• In the 13th minute, Lacee Bethea beat her would-be defender on the left side, crossing the ball into the box, but a defender knocked the ball away just before it reached Maya Dean. Off of the ensuing corner kick, Mackenzie Reuber put the ball into the box. It was played in the direction of Kennedy White, and White got a shot off as she was falling backward, but the ball went over the target.
• The Cardinals took the lead at the 18:09 mark. Sammi Corcoran won the ball approximately 40 yards from goal, took a touch, and fired a shot from distance that found the upper half of the goal.
• Dean played a ball toward the end line, and Jasmijn Dijsselhof raced forward and got to the ball before it rolled out of bounds. Dijsselhof played a low cross to Katie Cox, who fired a shot from the center of the box. But, BSU 'keeper Bethany Moser made a diving save to keep the Falcons off of the scoreboard.
• With just over five minutes left in the half, Alaina Uncapher crossed the ball into the box from the right side. Ellie Pool got a foot on the cross, sending the ball to Rylee Clark. Clark hit a hard shot from just outside the six-yard box, but a BSU defender was able to block the ball out for a corner kick.
• The Falcons tied the score at the 56:04 mark. Bethea possessed the ball on the right side of the field, cutting back several times as she worked against a BSU defender. Bethea took the ball toward the end line and chipped a perfect crossing ball toward the far post. The ball sailed over the outstretched arms of Moser and into the path of Brynn Gardner, who headed it into the net to knot the score at 1-1.
• At the hour mark, off of a BGSU corner kick, Cox saw her shot blocked just outside the 18. The ball caromed into the box and ping-ponged around for several moments. Bethea attempted a shot while facing away from goal, but the ball went over the bar.
• With just under 12 minutes to go in regulation, Bethea played a diagonal ball from the left side, and Uncapher got her head on it, putting a shot on frame. But, Moser was somehow able to make a diving save.
• BGSU won the ball right back, and Bethea fired a shot/cross that was blocked out for a corner kick.
• With under five minutes on the clock, and after a 10-minute stretch in which the ball never left Ball State's defensive half of the field, Dean hit a shot from near the 18, but the ball went directly to Moser.
• After a BSU corner kick, the Falcons looked to counter with just over a minute left. Reuber played a ball forward, and Gardner and White were involved in the quick sequence of passes as well. White laid the ball into the path of the onrushing Cox, but her low shot was gathered in by Moser.
• BGSU immediately stole the ball right back, but Moser was able to grab Reuber's diagonal ball.
• The first overtime period saw the ball spend the entirety of the first 2:30 in BGSU's defensive end. Then, however, the Falcons were on the front foot for nearly all of the remaining time in the period.
• Three-and-a-half minutes in, Reuber played a ball forward. White saved the ball before it went over the end line, firing a cross to Gardner in the box. Gardner, sandwiched by a pair of defenders and facing away from goal, was unable to get a shot off before she was sent to the ground, and Moser went to the ground to fall on the ball and end the threat.
• Two minutes later, White and Cox teamed up to get the ball to Bethea. She played a low cross from the right side that was dummied by Cox and rolled to Dean. Dean put her shot on goal, but Moser made the stop.
• Again, the Falcons won the ball right back. This time, Bethea's diagonal ball went just over the head of Gardner at the far post, rolling out for a goal kick.
• Two minutes into the second overtime, a Dijsselhof corner kick was knocked out of the box. Cox tapped it back out wide to Dijsselhof, who served it once again. Lexi Czerwien, one of several Falcons near the left post, got her head on the ball, but it went wide of the target.
• With just over six minutes Maria Broering's diagonal ball found the head of Avery Fenchel. BSU's leading scorer put a shot on frame, but Berg made a nice save, grabbing the shot at the near post, just under the crossbar.
• In the final minute of overtime, BG had one final chance. A cross/shot by Bethea was blocked, and Cox fired a shot from distance, but Moser was there.
• The Cardinals made all four of their penalty-kick attempts. White scored on BGSU's first try, but Cox's shot glanced off of the crossbar and Moser was able to save Dean's effort.
• Meanwhile, Corcoran, Tiffani Torres and Fenchel had all converted for Ball State. When Jenna Dombrowski made her PK to begin the fourth round, the Cardinals were on to the final.
PENALTY KICKS
• BSU – #14 Corcoran – GOAL
• BGSU – #24 White – GOAL
• BSU – #8 Torres – GOAL
• BGSU – #8 Cox – Missed (off crossbar and goes high)
• BSU – #5 Fenchel – GOAL
• BGSU – #7 Dean – SAVED
• BSU – #15 Dombrowski – GOAL
ÂGallery: (11-3-2022) 110322 WSOC v Ball State - Ken Smith
STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• BGSU had 17-9 in total shot attempts, 9-3 in shots on goal and 9-4 in corner kicks.
• Lili Berg made two saves for the Falcons. Bethany Moser had eight stops for the Cardinals.
• The Falcons allowed a first-half goal for the first time in over a month – since the match at Western Michigan on Sept. 25.
• BGSU trailed at halftime for the first time since three days prior to that WMU match – the MAC opener vs. Toledo on Sept. 22.
• The last time BGSU trailed at any point of a MAC Tournament match was the last time the Falcons did not advance – on Nov. 5, 2017. On that afternoon, the Falcons fell behind UT in the second half, but rallied to tie the contest before losing in overtime. That game was the championship match of the 2017 MAC Tournament.
• With Thursday night's match officially being recorded as a tie, the Falcons are now 8-0-3 in their last 11 MAC Tournament contests.
• All-time, the Falcons have a 21-7-8 record in MAC Tournament play. BGSU's winning percentage of .694 is the highest among all MAC schools, and the Falcons' total of 21 MAC Tournament victories ranks second (Miami has 22).
• Thursday night's match marked the second time in program history that BGSU played an overtime match that was not sudden death. In the Falcons' first-ever trip to the MAC Tournament, in 1998, sixth-seeded BG pulled a quarterfinal-round upset before falling to second-seeded Northern Illinois, 2-1 in overtime, in the semifinal round. That match saw the Huskies score at the 117:58 mark (teams played 30 minutes of overtime), and BG could not find the tying goal in the final 2:02.
• Freshman Brynn Gardner's goal on Thursday was her sixth of the season. Gardner finished second on the Falcons in both goals and points (19), and led the Orange and Brown with seven assists.
• Junior Lacee Bethea's assist vs. the Cardinals increased her season totals to four assists and six points. She now has career totals of 23 points on nine goals and five assists.
• Lili Berg finished the season with 74 saves and a goals-against average of just 0.87. Berg's career GAA is also 0.87, as she has allowed 41 goals in nearly 4,300 minutes of work between the posts.
• Berg has allowed just two goals in her five career MAC Tournament matches.
• A pair of fifth-year Falcons, Alexis Miller and Mackenzie Reuber, saw action for the Falcons on Thursday night. Miller, who missed much of the spring season and all of the fall campaign in 2021, played in a career total of 53 matches, making 13 starts, and had seven points on a goal and five assists.
• Reuber played in her 92nd career match on Thursday, extending her own school record. In Sunday's win over Western Michigan in the MAC Tournament quarterfinals, Reuber moved past Julie Trundle (90 games played from 2002-05) into sole possession of first place.
• Reuber made 74 career starts and had totals of three goals, 10 assists and 16 points as a Falcon.
• The Falcons outscored the opponents, 22-4, over the last nine games.
• BGSU now has an overall record of 67-31-16 since the start of the 2017 season. And, since the beginning of the 2018 campaign, the Falcons are 54-24-15.
• Since the start of 2017, BGSU is now 56-12-8 in all matches (regular-season and tournament) vs. MAC foes.
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.
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The Falcons battled Ball State University to a 1-1 draw through regulation and a pair of overtime periods in MAC Tournament semifinal-round action on Thursday night (Nov. 3), but the Cardinals advanced via penalty kicks. The match took place at UB Stadium.
Freshman Brynn Gardner scored a second-half goal for the third-seeded Falcons (9-5-5), answering Sammi Corcoran's first-half marker for BSU.
Junior Lacee Bethea had the lone assist on Gardner's goal, making a dizzying array of moves on the right side of the pitch before chipping a gorgeous cross over the Ball State goalkeeper and onto the head of Gardner at the far post.
BGSU held decisive advantages in shot attempts, shots on goal and corner kicks during the 110 minutes of play. But, the second-seeded Cardinals (7-4-8) became just the second team in history to advance past the Orange and Brown via penalty kicks in the MAC Tournament.
Ball State advances to Sunday's (Nov. 6) MAC Tournament final to meet top-seeded Buffalo. The Bulls downed fifth-seeded Miami, 1-0, in Thursday's first game.
NOTE OF THE NIGHT
• Thursday's match marked the eighth time in program history that the Falcons participated in a MAC Tournament match that required penalty kicks, but just the second time that the other team advanced via the PK route.
• BGSU now has a record of 21-7-8 in MAC Tournament action.
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An absolute beauty.
— #MACtion (@MACSports) November 4, 2022
Lacee Bethea to @brynn_gardner for the SCORE! @NCAASoccer | #AyZiggy | #MACtion pic.twitter.com/BRpfVz3Rca
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Seven minutes into the contest, BSU's Abby Elgert fired the first shot of the match on a counterattack, after BGSU had controlled the possession. But, Lili Berg was in perfect position to make the save.
• In the 13th minute, Lacee Bethea beat her would-be defender on the left side, crossing the ball into the box, but a defender knocked the ball away just before it reached Maya Dean. Off of the ensuing corner kick, Mackenzie Reuber put the ball into the box. It was played in the direction of Kennedy White, and White got a shot off as she was falling backward, but the ball went over the target.
• The Cardinals took the lead at the 18:09 mark. Sammi Corcoran won the ball approximately 40 yards from goal, took a touch, and fired a shot from distance that found the upper half of the goal.
• Dean played a ball toward the end line, and Jasmijn Dijsselhof raced forward and got to the ball before it rolled out of bounds. Dijsselhof played a low cross to Katie Cox, who fired a shot from the center of the box. But, BSU 'keeper Bethany Moser made a diving save to keep the Falcons off of the scoreboard.
• With just over five minutes left in the half, Alaina Uncapher crossed the ball into the box from the right side. Ellie Pool got a foot on the cross, sending the ball to Rylee Clark. Clark hit a hard shot from just outside the six-yard box, but a BSU defender was able to block the ball out for a corner kick.
• The Falcons tied the score at the 56:04 mark. Bethea possessed the ball on the right side of the field, cutting back several times as she worked against a BSU defender. Bethea took the ball toward the end line and chipped a perfect crossing ball toward the far post. The ball sailed over the outstretched arms of Moser and into the path of Brynn Gardner, who headed it into the net to knot the score at 1-1.
• At the hour mark, off of a BGSU corner kick, Cox saw her shot blocked just outside the 18. The ball caromed into the box and ping-ponged around for several moments. Bethea attempted a shot while facing away from goal, but the ball went over the bar.
• With just under 12 minutes to go in regulation, Bethea played a diagonal ball from the left side, and Uncapher got her head on it, putting a shot on frame. But, Moser was somehow able to make a diving save.
• BGSU won the ball right back, and Bethea fired a shot/cross that was blocked out for a corner kick.
• With under five minutes on the clock, and after a 10-minute stretch in which the ball never left Ball State's defensive half of the field, Dean hit a shot from near the 18, but the ball went directly to Moser.
• After a BSU corner kick, the Falcons looked to counter with just over a minute left. Reuber played a ball forward, and Gardner and White were involved in the quick sequence of passes as well. White laid the ball into the path of the onrushing Cox, but her low shot was gathered in by Moser.
• BGSU immediately stole the ball right back, but Moser was able to grab Reuber's diagonal ball.
• The first overtime period saw the ball spend the entirety of the first 2:30 in BGSU's defensive end. Then, however, the Falcons were on the front foot for nearly all of the remaining time in the period.
• Three-and-a-half minutes in, Reuber played a ball forward. White saved the ball before it went over the end line, firing a cross to Gardner in the box. Gardner, sandwiched by a pair of defenders and facing away from goal, was unable to get a shot off before she was sent to the ground, and Moser went to the ground to fall on the ball and end the threat.
• Two minutes later, White and Cox teamed up to get the ball to Bethea. She played a low cross from the right side that was dummied by Cox and rolled to Dean. Dean put her shot on goal, but Moser made the stop.
• Again, the Falcons won the ball right back. This time, Bethea's diagonal ball went just over the head of Gardner at the far post, rolling out for a goal kick.
• Two minutes into the second overtime, a Dijsselhof corner kick was knocked out of the box. Cox tapped it back out wide to Dijsselhof, who served it once again. Lexi Czerwien, one of several Falcons near the left post, got her head on the ball, but it went wide of the target.
• With just over six minutes Maria Broering's diagonal ball found the head of Avery Fenchel. BSU's leading scorer put a shot on frame, but Berg made a nice save, grabbing the shot at the near post, just under the crossbar.
• In the final minute of overtime, BG had one final chance. A cross/shot by Bethea was blocked, and Cox fired a shot from distance, but Moser was there.
• The Cardinals made all four of their penalty-kick attempts. White scored on BGSU's first try, but Cox's shot glanced off of the crossbar and Moser was able to save Dean's effort.
• Meanwhile, Corcoran, Tiffani Torres and Fenchel had all converted for Ball State. When Jenna Dombrowski made her PK to begin the fourth round, the Cardinals were on to the final.
PENALTY KICKS
• BSU – #14 Corcoran – GOAL
• BGSU – #24 White – GOAL
• BSU – #8 Torres – GOAL
• BGSU – #8 Cox – Missed (off crossbar and goes high)
• BSU – #5 Fenchel – GOAL
• BGSU – #7 Dean – SAVED
• BSU – #15 Dombrowski – GOAL
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STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• BGSU had 17-9 in total shot attempts, 9-3 in shots on goal and 9-4 in corner kicks.
• Lili Berg made two saves for the Falcons. Bethany Moser had eight stops for the Cardinals.
• The Falcons allowed a first-half goal for the first time in over a month – since the match at Western Michigan on Sept. 25.
• BGSU trailed at halftime for the first time since three days prior to that WMU match – the MAC opener vs. Toledo on Sept. 22.
• The last time BGSU trailed at any point of a MAC Tournament match was the last time the Falcons did not advance – on Nov. 5, 2017. On that afternoon, the Falcons fell behind UT in the second half, but rallied to tie the contest before losing in overtime. That game was the championship match of the 2017 MAC Tournament.
• With Thursday night's match officially being recorded as a tie, the Falcons are now 8-0-3 in their last 11 MAC Tournament contests.
• All-time, the Falcons have a 21-7-8 record in MAC Tournament play. BGSU's winning percentage of .694 is the highest among all MAC schools, and the Falcons' total of 21 MAC Tournament victories ranks second (Miami has 22).
• Thursday night's match marked the second time in program history that BGSU played an overtime match that was not sudden death. In the Falcons' first-ever trip to the MAC Tournament, in 1998, sixth-seeded BG pulled a quarterfinal-round upset before falling to second-seeded Northern Illinois, 2-1 in overtime, in the semifinal round. That match saw the Huskies score at the 117:58 mark (teams played 30 minutes of overtime), and BG could not find the tying goal in the final 2:02.
• Freshman Brynn Gardner's goal on Thursday was her sixth of the season. Gardner finished second on the Falcons in both goals and points (19), and led the Orange and Brown with seven assists.
• Junior Lacee Bethea's assist vs. the Cardinals increased her season totals to four assists and six points. She now has career totals of 23 points on nine goals and five assists.
• Lili Berg finished the season with 74 saves and a goals-against average of just 0.87. Berg's career GAA is also 0.87, as she has allowed 41 goals in nearly 4,300 minutes of work between the posts.
• Berg has allowed just two goals in her five career MAC Tournament matches.
• A pair of fifth-year Falcons, Alexis Miller and Mackenzie Reuber, saw action for the Falcons on Thursday night. Miller, who missed much of the spring season and all of the fall campaign in 2021, played in a career total of 53 matches, making 13 starts, and had seven points on a goal and five assists.
• Reuber played in her 92nd career match on Thursday, extending her own school record. In Sunday's win over Western Michigan in the MAC Tournament quarterfinals, Reuber moved past Julie Trundle (90 games played from 2002-05) into sole possession of first place.
• Reuber made 74 career starts and had totals of three goals, 10 assists and 16 points as a Falcon.
• The Falcons outscored the opponents, 22-4, over the last nine games.
• BGSU now has an overall record of 67-31-16 since the start of the 2017 season. And, since the beginning of the 2018 campaign, the Falcons are 54-24-15.
• Since the start of 2017, BGSU is now 56-12-8 in all matches (regular-season and tournament) vs. MAC foes.
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.
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Team Stats
BGS
BSU
Goals
1
1
Shots
17
9
Shots on Goal
9
3
Saves
2
8
Corners
9
4
Fouls
11
8
Scoring Plays
Sammi Corcoran (2)
GOAL by BSU Corcoran, Sammi.
18:09
Brynn Gardner (6)
Assisted By: Lacee Bethea
GOAL by BGS Gardner, Brynn Assist by Bethea, Lacee.
56:04
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
2
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
2
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
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