.png&type=webp)
Thursday, October 12
Bowling Green, Ohio
7 p.m.
Bowling Green State University
vs
Kent State
Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics
Falcons Face Flashes in MAC Matchup of Top-Four Teams
October 11, 2023 | Women's Soccer
BGSU Battles Kent State Thursday Night at Cochrane
BGSU vs. KENT STATE
Thursday, Oct. 12 | 7:00 p.m.
Cochrane Stadium | Bowling Green, Ohio
Video/Web Stream: WBGU-TV (YouTube)
Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com
• The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, looking to extend a four-game winning streak, concludes a two-match homestand with a Thursday evening (Oct 12) contest at Cochrane Stadium. Head coach Jimmy Walker and the Falcons, who are currently atop the Mid-American Conference standings, face Kent State University, with first touch set for 7:00 p.m.
FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Thursday's KSU matchup will be streamed on YouTube, and produced by WBGU-TV. Live stats, as well as periodic Twitter updates (@BGSU_Wsoccer), will also be available.
• Links to live audio/video/stats for all 2023 matches can be found on the web at BGSUFalcons.com (on the women's soccer schedule page and in the right column on the main page) on match day.
#MACTION
• BGSU is undefeated in Mid-American Conference play entering the week. The Falcons have enjoyed more than their fair share of success in conference action over the last few years. BG finished third in the 12-team league in 2022, but earned regular-season and tournament titles in each of the previous four seasons.
• Since the start of the 2018 season, the Falcons now have a record of 44-7-5 in MAC regular-season matches, good for a winning percentage of .830. BGSU has seven more wins than any other team during that span, and every other program except one has at least twice the amount of losses as the Falcons in that time...
MAC RECORDS SINCE 2018 (entering matches of Thursday, Oct. 12)
School Record Pct. MAC Championships *
Bowling Green 44- 7- 5 .830 8 (4 Regular-Season, 4 MAC Tournament)
Ball State 37-12-10 .712 1 (1 Regular-Season)
Buffalo 31-15-12 .638 2 (1 Regular-Season, 1 MAC Tournament)
Western Mich. 31-21- 8 .583 0
Kent State 27-19-11 .570 0
Ohio 29-23- 8 .550 0
Central Mich. 22-29- 8 .441 0
Toledo 18-30- 9 .395 0
Eastern Mich. 20-33- 6 .390 0
Miami 18-34- 6 .362 0
Akron 16-36- 7 .331 0
Northern Ill. 10-44- 6 .217 0
* Includes division titles (MAC split into East & West divisions for the 2020[-21] season)
FUN FALCON FACTS
• The Falcons are 7-4-1 on the season, and BGSU is currently in first place in the MAC with a conference record of 5-0-1 to date. Three of the team's four losses this season have come at the hands of nationally-ranked teams, and all four setbacks were against schools from Power 5 conferences (two schools from the Atlantic Coast Conference and one each from the Big Ten and Big 12).
• On Sunday afternoon (Oct. 8), the Falcons posted a 3-2, come-from-behind win over Eastern Michigan at Cochrane Stadium. Brynn Gardner scored off of a nifty Lizzie Bultynck assist with just 2:01 remaining. Taylor Green scored her first collegiate goal early in the match, and after EMU scored a pair of goals before the half, Gardner found Ellie Pool for the tying goal just past the hour mark.
• The EMU match was BGSU's first come-from-behind win this season. The last time the Falcons rallied from a deficit to win was on Oct. 27, 2022, at Northern Illinois. In that match, just like on Sunday, Brynn Gardner assisted Pool on the tying goal before scoring the winner herself. Those goals came at 87:48 and 88:39, respectively, while Gardner's winner on Sunday came at the 87:59 mark.
• The 2023 Falcons did not score more than two goals in any of the first 10 matches of the year, but BGSU has found the net three times in each of the last two contests. Last Thursday, Lexi Czerwien, Pool and Katie Cox each scored first-half goals, with Brynn Gardner picking up two assists in a 3-2 road win over Miami.
• BGSU downed Toledo, 2-0, in the MAC opener (Sept. 21), as Pool – a transfer from UT – scored what proved to be the winning goal early in the match. The Falcons then battled Western Michigan to a scoreless draw (Sept. 24) at Cochrane, before freshman Emma Stransky's goal in the 78th minute lifted the Orange and Brown to a 1-0 win over visiting Akron (Sept. 28).
• Czerwien's first collegiate goal midway through the first half proved to be the game winner as the Falcons were victorious, 2-0, at Ohio (Oct. 1). Brynn Gardner scored off of a nifty Stransky assist early in the second half. Czerwien then made it two-straight matches with the game-opening goal on Thursday at Miami.
• Madison Vukas and Lili Berg have combined for four shutouts in MAC play and five total clean sheets on the year. The BGSU defense allowed only 10 shots on goal – and zero goals – in the first four MAC games.
• Center back Isabelle Gilmore, a big reason for those shutouts, was named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week (Sept. 25), before being named the MAC Defensive Player of the Week the following week (Oct. 3).
• After dropping road decisions against #17 Michigan State and Cincinnati to begin the season, BG bounced back to end the month of August with wins over Loyola Chicago and Detroit Mercy. Then, however, the Falcons suffered a pair of losses against top-25 teams to end the non-conference slate, dropping a 5-1 decision at #21 Pittsburgh and a 3-0 match against #11 Notre Dame at Cochrane.
• Brynn Gardner leads the team in scoring with 11 points, while Pool has 10 and Stransky six. Gardner and Pool each have four goals, while Stransky, Cox and Czerwien have found the back of the net twice so far this season. Gardner has a team-high three assists, while Pool, Stransky and Maya Dean have two each.
• Gilmore is the lone Falcon to have been on the pitch for all 1,080 minutes, while Emilie Gardner is second on the team with 868 minutes played, despite missing the EMU match due to injury. Cox (816), Dean (790) and Czerwien (768) round out the team's top five in that category.
• Berg and Vukas have split time in each of BGSU's first 12 matches. Each has played 540 minutes, and Vukas has 27 saves while Berg has 23 stops this year to date. Vukas has a goals-against average of 1.17 while Berg sports a 1.67 GAA, and as mentioned, they have shared five shutouts.
• A total of 24 different players have seen action in at least one match this season. That lengthy list includes all nine of the team's true freshmen. Three Falcons – Cox, Dean and Gilmore – each have started all 12 games so far, while Brynn Gardner, Emilie Gardner and Makenzie Ortman each have made 11 starts.
• A total of 18 different Falcons have started at least one match this season.
• The Falcons returned 16 letterwinners, including eight starters, from last season's club. The 2022 team went 9-5-5 overall and 6-2-3 in MAC play, placing third in the 12-team league. BG battled Ball State to a 1-1 draw in the semifinals of the '22 league tourney, before the Cardinals advanced via PKs.
THE OPPONENT
• Kent State is 7-4-2 on the year, and the Golden Flashes are 4-2-0 in MAC play. KSU has matched the team's conference win total for all of last year, and the Flashes have nearly doubled the 2022 team's overall victory total. KSU began this year's conference schedule with three-straight wins, and after falling on the road against Miami and Ball State, the Flashes bounced back with a 3-1 win over Central Michigan on Sunday. Individually, Alisa Arthur leads the team with five goals and 13 points, while Josie Morgan has four goals and nine points on the season. In goal, Saran Melen has started all 13 matches, and has 57 saves, two shutouts and a GAA of just 1.18. Head coach Rob Marinaro welcomed back 18 letterwinners, including 10 starters, from a 2022 team that finished with records of 4-7-7 overall and 4-2-5 in the MAC.
THE SERIES
• BGSU leads Kent State, 18-8-5, in the all-time series, but the Flashes captured the teams' last meeting. KSU picked up a 1-0 win in Kent last season (Oct. 13, 2022), snapping a seven-game series winning streak for the Falcons. The last meeting at Cochrane Stadium was the 2021 MAC Tournament championship, with BGSU capturing a 3-0 victory (Nov. 7, 2021). BG is 9-2-5 at home and 9-6-0 on the road against KSU through the years.
UP NEXT
• Following the KSU matchup, BGSU will head to Western New York for a Sunday (Oct. 15) contest vs. Buffalo. That match is set for a 1:00 p.m. start at UB Stadium.
• Then, BGSU will return home to meet Central Michigan next Thursday (Oct. 19), in a 7:00 p.m. start at Cochrane.
FOR MORE INFORMATION...
• For more information on the women's soccer program, follow the Falcons on Twitter/X (@BGSU_Athletics and @BGSU_WSoccer), Instagram (bgsu_wsoccer) and Facebook (bgsuwsoc) as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.
Thursday, Oct. 12 | 7:00 p.m.
Cochrane Stadium | Bowling Green, Ohio
Video/Web Stream: WBGU-TV (YouTube)
Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com
• The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, looking to extend a four-game winning streak, concludes a two-match homestand with a Thursday evening (Oct 12) contest at Cochrane Stadium. Head coach Jimmy Walker and the Falcons, who are currently atop the Mid-American Conference standings, face Kent State University, with first touch set for 7:00 p.m.
FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Thursday's KSU matchup will be streamed on YouTube, and produced by WBGU-TV. Live stats, as well as periodic Twitter updates (@BGSU_Wsoccer), will also be available.
• Links to live audio/video/stats for all 2023 matches can be found on the web at BGSUFalcons.com (on the women's soccer schedule page and in the right column on the main page) on match day.
#MACTION
• BGSU is undefeated in Mid-American Conference play entering the week. The Falcons have enjoyed more than their fair share of success in conference action over the last few years. BG finished third in the 12-team league in 2022, but earned regular-season and tournament titles in each of the previous four seasons.
• Since the start of the 2018 season, the Falcons now have a record of 44-7-5 in MAC regular-season matches, good for a winning percentage of .830. BGSU has seven more wins than any other team during that span, and every other program except one has at least twice the amount of losses as the Falcons in that time...
MAC RECORDS SINCE 2018 (entering matches of Thursday, Oct. 12)
School Record Pct. MAC Championships *
Bowling Green 44- 7- 5 .830 8 (4 Regular-Season, 4 MAC Tournament)
Ball State 37-12-10 .712 1 (1 Regular-Season)
Buffalo 31-15-12 .638 2 (1 Regular-Season, 1 MAC Tournament)
Western Mich. 31-21- 8 .583 0
Kent State 27-19-11 .570 0
Ohio 29-23- 8 .550 0
Central Mich. 22-29- 8 .441 0
Toledo 18-30- 9 .395 0
Eastern Mich. 20-33- 6 .390 0
Miami 18-34- 6 .362 0
Akron 16-36- 7 .331 0
Northern Ill. 10-44- 6 .217 0
* Includes division titles (MAC split into East & West divisions for the 2020[-21] season)
FUN FALCON FACTS
• The Falcons are 7-4-1 on the season, and BGSU is currently in first place in the MAC with a conference record of 5-0-1 to date. Three of the team's four losses this season have come at the hands of nationally-ranked teams, and all four setbacks were against schools from Power 5 conferences (two schools from the Atlantic Coast Conference and one each from the Big Ten and Big 12).
• On Sunday afternoon (Oct. 8), the Falcons posted a 3-2, come-from-behind win over Eastern Michigan at Cochrane Stadium. Brynn Gardner scored off of a nifty Lizzie Bultynck assist with just 2:01 remaining. Taylor Green scored her first collegiate goal early in the match, and after EMU scored a pair of goals before the half, Gardner found Ellie Pool for the tying goal just past the hour mark.
• The EMU match was BGSU's first come-from-behind win this season. The last time the Falcons rallied from a deficit to win was on Oct. 27, 2022, at Northern Illinois. In that match, just like on Sunday, Brynn Gardner assisted Pool on the tying goal before scoring the winner herself. Those goals came at 87:48 and 88:39, respectively, while Gardner's winner on Sunday came at the 87:59 mark.
• The 2023 Falcons did not score more than two goals in any of the first 10 matches of the year, but BGSU has found the net three times in each of the last two contests. Last Thursday, Lexi Czerwien, Pool and Katie Cox each scored first-half goals, with Brynn Gardner picking up two assists in a 3-2 road win over Miami.
• BGSU downed Toledo, 2-0, in the MAC opener (Sept. 21), as Pool – a transfer from UT – scored what proved to be the winning goal early in the match. The Falcons then battled Western Michigan to a scoreless draw (Sept. 24) at Cochrane, before freshman Emma Stransky's goal in the 78th minute lifted the Orange and Brown to a 1-0 win over visiting Akron (Sept. 28).
• Czerwien's first collegiate goal midway through the first half proved to be the game winner as the Falcons were victorious, 2-0, at Ohio (Oct. 1). Brynn Gardner scored off of a nifty Stransky assist early in the second half. Czerwien then made it two-straight matches with the game-opening goal on Thursday at Miami.
• Madison Vukas and Lili Berg have combined for four shutouts in MAC play and five total clean sheets on the year. The BGSU defense allowed only 10 shots on goal – and zero goals – in the first four MAC games.
• Center back Isabelle Gilmore, a big reason for those shutouts, was named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week (Sept. 25), before being named the MAC Defensive Player of the Week the following week (Oct. 3).
• After dropping road decisions against #17 Michigan State and Cincinnati to begin the season, BG bounced back to end the month of August with wins over Loyola Chicago and Detroit Mercy. Then, however, the Falcons suffered a pair of losses against top-25 teams to end the non-conference slate, dropping a 5-1 decision at #21 Pittsburgh and a 3-0 match against #11 Notre Dame at Cochrane.
• Brynn Gardner leads the team in scoring with 11 points, while Pool has 10 and Stransky six. Gardner and Pool each have four goals, while Stransky, Cox and Czerwien have found the back of the net twice so far this season. Gardner has a team-high three assists, while Pool, Stransky and Maya Dean have two each.
• Gilmore is the lone Falcon to have been on the pitch for all 1,080 minutes, while Emilie Gardner is second on the team with 868 minutes played, despite missing the EMU match due to injury. Cox (816), Dean (790) and Czerwien (768) round out the team's top five in that category.
• Berg and Vukas have split time in each of BGSU's first 12 matches. Each has played 540 minutes, and Vukas has 27 saves while Berg has 23 stops this year to date. Vukas has a goals-against average of 1.17 while Berg sports a 1.67 GAA, and as mentioned, they have shared five shutouts.
• A total of 24 different players have seen action in at least one match this season. That lengthy list includes all nine of the team's true freshmen. Three Falcons – Cox, Dean and Gilmore – each have started all 12 games so far, while Brynn Gardner, Emilie Gardner and Makenzie Ortman each have made 11 starts.
• A total of 18 different Falcons have started at least one match this season.
• The Falcons returned 16 letterwinners, including eight starters, from last season's club. The 2022 team went 9-5-5 overall and 6-2-3 in MAC play, placing third in the 12-team league. BG battled Ball State to a 1-1 draw in the semifinals of the '22 league tourney, before the Cardinals advanced via PKs.
THE OPPONENT
• Kent State is 7-4-2 on the year, and the Golden Flashes are 4-2-0 in MAC play. KSU has matched the team's conference win total for all of last year, and the Flashes have nearly doubled the 2022 team's overall victory total. KSU began this year's conference schedule with three-straight wins, and after falling on the road against Miami and Ball State, the Flashes bounced back with a 3-1 win over Central Michigan on Sunday. Individually, Alisa Arthur leads the team with five goals and 13 points, while Josie Morgan has four goals and nine points on the season. In goal, Saran Melen has started all 13 matches, and has 57 saves, two shutouts and a GAA of just 1.18. Head coach Rob Marinaro welcomed back 18 letterwinners, including 10 starters, from a 2022 team that finished with records of 4-7-7 overall and 4-2-5 in the MAC.
THE SERIES
• BGSU leads Kent State, 18-8-5, in the all-time series, but the Flashes captured the teams' last meeting. KSU picked up a 1-0 win in Kent last season (Oct. 13, 2022), snapping a seven-game series winning streak for the Falcons. The last meeting at Cochrane Stadium was the 2021 MAC Tournament championship, with BGSU capturing a 3-0 victory (Nov. 7, 2021). BG is 9-2-5 at home and 9-6-0 on the road against KSU through the years.
UP NEXT
• Following the KSU matchup, BGSU will head to Western New York for a Sunday (Oct. 15) contest vs. Buffalo. That match is set for a 1:00 p.m. start at UB Stadium.
• Then, BGSU will return home to meet Central Michigan next Thursday (Oct. 19), in a 7:00 p.m. start at Cochrane.
FOR MORE INFORMATION...
• For more information on the women's soccer program, follow the Falcons on Twitter/X (@BGSU_Athletics and @BGSU_WSoccer), Instagram (bgsu_wsoccer) and Facebook (bgsuwsoc) as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
M
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
GK
/ Women's SoccerChris Fox Post-Match Interview (Sept. 7, 2025)
Sunday, September 07
Taylor Green Post-Match Interview (Sept. 7, 2025)
Sunday, September 07
Emma Stransky Post-Match Interview (Sept. 7, 2025)
Sunday, September 07
Off The Pitch: Chris Fox (Sept. 5, 2025)
Saturday, September 06