Bowling Green State University Athletics

NIU Comes to Cochrane for Sunday Night Futbol
November 05, 2022 | Men's Soccer
BGSU NotesNIU Men's SoccerWatch BGSU-NIUBGSU-NIU Live StatsBGSU Men's Soccer on Twitter2022 Media Guide / Record BookSupport Our Student-AthletesGet your Nike Sideline Gear
BGSU closes the regular-season schedule in a 6:00 p.m. start vs. the Huskies
FALCONS vs. NORTHERN ILLINOIS – Sunday, November 6
6:00 p.m. | Cochrane Stadium | Bowling Green, Ohio
• Video/Web Stream: BCSN / ESPN3 •
• Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com | Twitter: @BGSUmenssoccer •
FIRST TOUCH
• The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team closes the 2022 regular-season schedule with a rare Sunday evening (Nov. 6) contest at Cochrane Stadium. Head coach Eric Nichols and the Falcons face Northern Illinois University in a Mid-American Conference matchup. First touch is set for 6:00 p.m., and admission is free.
HOW TO FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Sunday's NIU contest will be aired by BCSN in the Toledo area, and also will be available via both the BCSN App and on ESPN3. 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 5-5-5 on the season, and BGSU is 3-2-2 in MAC play entering the NIU match. The Falcons saw a five-match unbeaten streak come to an end on Wednesday (Nov. 2), with a 2-0 loss at Western Michigan.
• BGSU is in third place and NIU is fourth in the MAC standings, and both the Falcons and the Huskies are locked into their respective spots.
• The WMU match on Wednesday marked the first time all season that BGSU has allowed more than one goal in a match. One of the Broncos' goals came on a PK.
• If Jensen Lukacsko takes the field on Sunday, he will tie a school record. On Wednesday, Lukacsko played in the 86th match of his BGSU career. He has moved into a tie for second place on the BG chart for games played, and is just one game shy of matching the record set by his former teammate, Zach Buescher (87 matches played from 2017-21).
• Lukacsko has made 83 career starts, and is fourth on that BG list. Buescher holds that record as well, with 87.
• BGSU's five-match unbeaten streak saw the Falcons tie first-place Akron twice while posting a pair of 3-0 wins over the MAC's newest member, Chicago State. BG picked up a 3-1 victory at Northern Illinois (Oct. 25) prior to falling at WMU.
• Joey Akpunonu has a team-leading five goals this season. He has scored the first goal of the match in all three of BGSU's MAC wins to date.
• BG has allowed just 10 goals in 15 games this season. Wednesday's WMU match marked the first time the Falcons have given up more than one goal in a game since last year's NCAA Championships second-round contest at Indiana.
• The Falcons have kept the opponent off of the scoreboard in the first half in 16 of the last 17 matches, dating to last November. The first Akron game (Oct. 6) marked the first – and so far the only – time this year that the Brown and Orange surrendered a first-half goal.
RHYMES WITH SAVES
• Brendan Graves and the BG back line posted three-straight shutouts before allowing a goal in the first NIU match. That goal snapped the Falcons' shutout streak at 430:35, as BGSU had not allowed a goal since early in the Akron match of Oct. 6.
• Graves ranks 13th in the nation in goals-against average (0.67), and is also among the NCAA leaders in saves percentage (.804; 24th) and shutouts (six; also 24th). He has a career GAA of 0.99, with eight shutouts in his 22 total starts as a Falcon.
THE OPPONENT
• Northern Illinois enters Sunday's match with an overall record of 5-7-4, and the Huskies are 2-4-1 in MAC play. Most recently, NIU dropped a 2-1 home decision to Akron on Oct. 29. Taisei Arima has three goals and seven points to lead a balanced attack, while Enrique Banuelos and Miguel Maynez Jr. each have seven points as well. Martin Sanchez has made 13 starts and has 44 saves, four shutouts and a goals-against average of 1.77. Head coach Ryan Swan welcomed back seven starters from last year's team that finished 15-3-2 overall and 4-0-2 in the MAC. NIU won the league's regular-season and tournament titles in 2021.
THE SERIES
• The Falcons and NIU are tied, 18-18-2, in the all-time series. BGSU had won seven-straight meetings prior to the teams' 1-1 draw in DeKalb in last season's lone regular-season match (Oct. 16, 2021). NIU then topped the Falcons, 5-2, a month later in the MAC Tournament (Nov. 11, 2021). But, BG captured this season's first meeting, 3-1 in DeKalb (Oct. 25, 2022). BGSU is 11-7-0 at home, 6-10-2 on the road and 1-1-0 in neutral-site matches vs. the Huskies over the years.
UP NEXT
• The NIU match, as mentioned, concludes the 2022 regular-season schedule.
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.
6:00 p.m. | Cochrane Stadium | Bowling Green, Ohio
• Video/Web Stream: BCSN / ESPN3 •
• Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com | Twitter: @BGSUmenssoccer •
FIRST TOUCH
• The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team closes the 2022 regular-season schedule with a rare Sunday evening (Nov. 6) contest at Cochrane Stadium. Head coach Eric Nichols and the Falcons face Northern Illinois University in a Mid-American Conference matchup. First touch is set for 6:00 p.m., and admission is free.
HOW TO FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Sunday's NIU contest will be aired by BCSN in the Toledo area, and also will be available via both the BCSN App and on ESPN3. 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 5-5-5 on the season, and BGSU is 3-2-2 in MAC play entering the NIU match. The Falcons saw a five-match unbeaten streak come to an end on Wednesday (Nov. 2), with a 2-0 loss at Western Michigan.
• BGSU is in third place and NIU is fourth in the MAC standings, and both the Falcons and the Huskies are locked into their respective spots.
• The WMU match on Wednesday marked the first time all season that BGSU has allowed more than one goal in a match. One of the Broncos' goals came on a PK.
• If Jensen Lukacsko takes the field on Sunday, he will tie a school record. On Wednesday, Lukacsko played in the 86th match of his BGSU career. He has moved into a tie for second place on the BG chart for games played, and is just one game shy of matching the record set by his former teammate, Zach Buescher (87 matches played from 2017-21).
• Lukacsko has made 83 career starts, and is fourth on that BG list. Buescher holds that record as well, with 87.
• BGSU's five-match unbeaten streak saw the Falcons tie first-place Akron twice while posting a pair of 3-0 wins over the MAC's newest member, Chicago State. BG picked up a 3-1 victory at Northern Illinois (Oct. 25) prior to falling at WMU.
• Joey Akpunonu has a team-leading five goals this season. He has scored the first goal of the match in all three of BGSU's MAC wins to date.
• BG has allowed just 10 goals in 15 games this season. Wednesday's WMU match marked the first time the Falcons have given up more than one goal in a game since last year's NCAA Championships second-round contest at Indiana.
• The Falcons have kept the opponent off of the scoreboard in the first half in 16 of the last 17 matches, dating to last November. The first Akron game (Oct. 6) marked the first – and so far the only – time this year that the Brown and Orange surrendered a first-half goal.
RHYMES WITH SAVES
• Brendan Graves and the BG back line posted three-straight shutouts before allowing a goal in the first NIU match. That goal snapped the Falcons' shutout streak at 430:35, as BGSU had not allowed a goal since early in the Akron match of Oct. 6.
• Graves ranks 13th in the nation in goals-against average (0.67), and is also among the NCAA leaders in saves percentage (.804; 24th) and shutouts (six; also 24th). He has a career GAA of 0.99, with eight shutouts in his 22 total starts as a Falcon.
THE OPPONENT
• Northern Illinois enters Sunday's match with an overall record of 5-7-4, and the Huskies are 2-4-1 in MAC play. Most recently, NIU dropped a 2-1 home decision to Akron on Oct. 29. Taisei Arima has three goals and seven points to lead a balanced attack, while Enrique Banuelos and Miguel Maynez Jr. each have seven points as well. Martin Sanchez has made 13 starts and has 44 saves, four shutouts and a goals-against average of 1.77. Head coach Ryan Swan welcomed back seven starters from last year's team that finished 15-3-2 overall and 4-0-2 in the MAC. NIU won the league's regular-season and tournament titles in 2021.
THE SERIES
• The Falcons and NIU are tied, 18-18-2, in the all-time series. BGSU had won seven-straight meetings prior to the teams' 1-1 draw in DeKalb in last season's lone regular-season match (Oct. 16, 2021). NIU then topped the Falcons, 5-2, a month later in the MAC Tournament (Nov. 11, 2021). But, BG captured this season's first meeting, 3-1 in DeKalb (Oct. 25, 2022). BGSU is 11-7-0 at home, 6-10-2 on the road and 1-1-0 in neutral-site matches vs. the Huskies over the years.
UP NEXT
• The NIU match, as mentioned, concludes the 2022 regular-season schedule.
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 #
BGSU MSOC: USMNT GOAT (Lucas Kleimeyer)
Wednesday, September 17
Off The Pitch: Andrew Shaffer (Sept. 11, 2025)
Thursday, September 11
Eric Nichols Post-Match Interview (Sept. 5, 2025)
Saturday, September 06
Off The Pitch: Bennett Painter (Sept. 3, 2025)
Thursday, September 04