Saturday, October 14
Nashville, Tenn.
7 p.m.
Bowling Green State University
at
Belmont
Photo by: Riley Rumbley, Maryland Athletics
BGSU Battles Belmont Saturday Night in Nashville
October 12, 2023 | Men's Soccer
Falcons return to MVC play for finai five regular-season matchups
BGSU at BELMONT
Saturday, Oct. 14 | 7:00 p.m.
E.S. Rose Park | Nashville, Tenn.
Video/Web Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: BelmontBruins.com
• The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team ends the regular-season schedule with five consecutive Missouri Valley Conference contests, beginning this weekend. The Falcons of head coach Eric Nichols travel to Nashville, Tenn., for a Saturday (Oct. 14) matchup with Belmont University, with first touch set for 6:00 p.m. local time (7:00 p.m. ET) at E.S. Rose Park.
HOW TO FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Saturday's Belmont matchup will be streamed via ESPN+. Live stats and Twitter/X updates (@BGSUMSoccer), as always, will also be available.
• Links to any available live audio/video/stats for all 2023 matches can be found on the web at BGSUFalcons.com on game day.
RHYMES WITH SAVES
• Brendan Graves and the Falcons allowed just one goal in last week's two road matches. Graves picked up his second shutout of the season and the 11th clean sheet of his career at Detroit Mercy last Tuesday (Oct. 3).
• Graves made two saves in the UDM match, snapping a streak of four consecutive matches in which Graves made at least six saves. He made five stops four nights later at Maryland.
• Graves had a career-high 10 saves at Duquesne (Aug. 31), then tied that mark in the MVC opener at Western Michigan (Sept. 16). On Sept. 30, he had nine saves, including a diving stop of a penalty kick, in the Falcons' win over Evansville.
• Entering the Belmont match, Graves has 63 saves on the season, and the Perrysburg native has goals-against average figures of 1.42 this year and 1.11 in his Falcon career. As of Wednesday morning (Oct. 11), he is ranked third in the nation in total saves, tied for sixth in minutes played among goalkeepers, and eighth in saves per game (5.25).
FASCINATING FALCON FACTS
• The Falcons have an overall record of 5-4-3, and BGSU is 2-1-0 in Missouri Valley Conference action. After scoring nine goals over the first eight matches of the season, the Falcons then scored a combined seven goals over the next two games, both wins (3-1 over Bradley, 4-2 over Evansville).
• Last week, BG battled Detroit Mercy to a scoreless draw on Tuesday (Oct. 3), before falling by a 1-0 count at Maryland on Saturday night (Oct. 7).
• Sophomore Trace Terry had a pair of goals, including the game winner with under eight minutes to go, in the win over Bradley. After Terry broke a 1-1 tie in the 83rd minute, freshman Jake Lane put the Falcons up by two just 1:36 later.
• Then, Terry had a five-point night the following Saturday against UE. He assisted on Eli Shope's goal that opened the scoring, before netting the game's next two goals himself. Shope had a goal and an assist, with Andrew Shaffer also finding the back of the net for the Orange and Brown.
• Brendan Graves had nine saves vs. the Purple Aces, stopping a penalty kick in the first half. Graves had two more stops three nights later, in the draw in Detroit, and made five more saves at Maryland.
• BGSU opened the 2023 campaign in thrilling fashion, posting a 3-2, come-from-behind win over Cleveland State (Aug. 24). Shaffer scored a pair of goals less than nine minutes apart to erase a second-half deficit.
• After a loss at Michigan State (Aug. 28), BGSU began a four-game unbeaten streak, battling Duquesne to a 2-2 draw on the road (Aug. 31). Kyle Cusimano and Rodrigo Montez Silva each found the back of the net and Graves made a career-high 10 saves vs. the Dukes.
• On Labor Day (Sept. 4), Cusimano opened the scoring with a diving header, and Shope scored the game-winning goal midway through the second half as the Falcons topped Michigan, 2-1, at Cochrane Stadium.
• The Falcons then played DePaul to a scoreless draw (Sept. 8) before picking up a 2-1, come-from-behind win over Northern Kentucky four days later (Sept. 12). Taylor Dyson converted a penalty kick late in the first half, and Jake Bergin scored the winning goal midway through the second.
• Nathan Masters was involved in the scoring of both BGSU goals vs. NKU. He was fouled in the box in the first half, leading to Dyson's PK, and he worked a nifty give-and-go with Bergin for what proved to be the GWG in the 71st minute.
• The Falcons suffered a 1-0 loss at Western Michigan (Sept. 16) in the first-ever MVC match for both teams. Graves tied his season and career high with 10 saves, including nine in the first half alone, vs. the Broncos. Then, BGSU lost, 3-0, at Wright State as the Raiders broke a scoreless tie late in the match.
• Bowling Green returned 11 letterwinners, including seven starters, from the 2022 team that went 6-5-5 overall and finished third in the Mid-American Conference with a 4-2-2 league ledger. Nichols and his staff have a whopping 14 newcomers on the 2023 roster.
• After 30 seasons of men's soccer in the MAC, BGSU entered the Missouri Valley Conference in 2023. BGSU and fellow MAC institutions Northern Illinois and Western Michigan joined the MVC, which also includes Belmont, Bradley, Drake, Evansville, UIC and Missouri State.
• The Falcons were picked to finish third in the MVC race in the 2023 season. Missouri State, the defending MVC regular-season and tournament champion, was picked to win the league title in 2023, with WMU tabbed for second.
• A pair of Falcons – Graves and Alberto Anaya – were named to the Preseason All-MVC Team.
INDIVIDUALLY...
• Entering the Belmont match, the Falcons have scored 16 goals while allowing 17 this fall. A pair of sophomores lead the way offensively, as Trace Terry and Andrew Shaffer are BGSU's top-two scorers. Terry, after scoring nine points in a two-match span, has 12 points on a team-high four goals and four assists. He is tied for the team lead in the latter category. Terry has tripled his point total for all of last season.
• Shaffer has matched his 2022 totals with three goals and two assists for eight points. Eli Shope also has three goals, and ranks third on the team with seven points, while Kyle Cusimano and Alberto Anaya each have four points. Anaya has four assists to tie Terry for the team lead in that category.
• Four Falcons – Rodrigo Montez Silva, Taylor Dyson, Jake Bergin and Jake Lane – each have found the back of the net once this year.
• Anaya is the Falcons' top returning scorer from a year ago. He had 10 points on three goals and four assists in 2022, despite missing four of BG's 16 matches due to injury. Shaffer had eight points and Josh Erlandson seven last season, with each player scoring three goals.
• Brendan Graves has played all 12 matches in goal this season, and has 63 saves, two shutouts and a goals-against average of 1.42.
• Graves has played every second of the Falcons' last 34 matches – a total of 3,080 minutes. No other BGSU player has been between the posts since Oct. 22, 2021.
• A total of 18 different Falcons have started at least one match this season. Only four players – Graves, Terry, Kyle Blasingame and Mads Christensen – have been in the Starting XI for all 12 contests.
• Graves, as mentioned, has played every second so far this season. Blasingame leads the field players in minutes played, having been on the pitch for 1,022 of the 1,080 total minutes. Christensen (925), Shope (895) and Nathan Masters (893) round out the team's top five in that category.
A FEW MORE NOTES & NUMBERS
• Since the start of the 2009 season, BGSU is 86-9-7 when scoring two or more goals in a match. In fact, even when scoring just one goal, the Falcons are unbeaten in the last 14 matches (11-0-3) dating to late in the 2021 season.
• The Falcons are 62-29-22 in home matches since Eric Nichols took the helm prior to the 2009 season. BG is 58-21-20 at Cochrane since the start of 2011.
• BGSU is 40-11-14 at home since the start of the 2015 season and 34-9-14 since the beginning of 2016. The Falcons are 5-0-1 at home so far in 2023.
• Entering the Belmont match, the Falcons have an overall record of 47-29-15 over the last 91 games, dating to midway through the 2018 season. BGSU has 22 multiple-goal victories and 11 multi-goal losses in that time.
THE OPPONENT
• Belmont is 6-4-2 overall, and the Bruins are 2-2-0 in MVC play. BU dropped a 4-2 thriller at Lipscomb on Tuesday (Oct. 10), snapping a three-game winning streak. A total of six different players have at least two goals this season, including Jansen Wilson and Brock Kiper with four apiece. Wilson also has team-best totals of five assists and 13 points, while Kiper and Dylan Steely each have nine points this year. In goal, Grant Calvert has started all 12 matches and has 51 saves, one shutout and a GAA of just 1.30. Head coach David Costa welcomed back 14 letterwinners from a 2022 team that went 7-4-7 overall and 2-2-4 in the MVC.
THE SERIES
• The Falcons trail Belmont, 1-0-0, in the all-time series. The lone prior meeting was a 3-2 Bruin victory 12 years ago (Sept. 16, 2011) in Nashville.
UP NEXT
• Following the Belmont match, the Falcons will return home to face UIC on Wednesday night (Oct. 18), with first touch set for 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium.
• Then, BGSU will return to the road to meet Drake next weekend (Oct. 22), before ending the month of October with a home match vs. nationally-ranked Missouri State (Oct. 27).
FOR MORE INFORMATION...
• For more information on the BGSU men's soccer program, follow the Falcons on Twitter/X (@BGSU_Athletics and @BGSUMSoccer), Instagram (bgfalcons and bgsumsoccer) and Facebook (BGMensSoccer) as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.
Saturday, Oct. 14 | 7:00 p.m.
E.S. Rose Park | Nashville, Tenn.
Video/Web Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: BelmontBruins.com
• The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team ends the regular-season schedule with five consecutive Missouri Valley Conference contests, beginning this weekend. The Falcons of head coach Eric Nichols travel to Nashville, Tenn., for a Saturday (Oct. 14) matchup with Belmont University, with first touch set for 6:00 p.m. local time (7:00 p.m. ET) at E.S. Rose Park.
HOW TO FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Saturday's Belmont matchup will be streamed via ESPN+. Live stats and Twitter/X updates (@BGSUMSoccer), as always, will also be available.
• Links to any available live audio/video/stats for all 2023 matches can be found on the web at BGSUFalcons.com on game day.
RHYMES WITH SAVES
• Brendan Graves and the Falcons allowed just one goal in last week's two road matches. Graves picked up his second shutout of the season and the 11th clean sheet of his career at Detroit Mercy last Tuesday (Oct. 3).
• Graves made two saves in the UDM match, snapping a streak of four consecutive matches in which Graves made at least six saves. He made five stops four nights later at Maryland.
• Graves had a career-high 10 saves at Duquesne (Aug. 31), then tied that mark in the MVC opener at Western Michigan (Sept. 16). On Sept. 30, he had nine saves, including a diving stop of a penalty kick, in the Falcons' win over Evansville.
• Entering the Belmont match, Graves has 63 saves on the season, and the Perrysburg native has goals-against average figures of 1.42 this year and 1.11 in his Falcon career. As of Wednesday morning (Oct. 11), he is ranked third in the nation in total saves, tied for sixth in minutes played among goalkeepers, and eighth in saves per game (5.25).
FASCINATING FALCON FACTS
• The Falcons have an overall record of 5-4-3, and BGSU is 2-1-0 in Missouri Valley Conference action. After scoring nine goals over the first eight matches of the season, the Falcons then scored a combined seven goals over the next two games, both wins (3-1 over Bradley, 4-2 over Evansville).
• Last week, BG battled Detroit Mercy to a scoreless draw on Tuesday (Oct. 3), before falling by a 1-0 count at Maryland on Saturday night (Oct. 7).
• Sophomore Trace Terry had a pair of goals, including the game winner with under eight minutes to go, in the win over Bradley. After Terry broke a 1-1 tie in the 83rd minute, freshman Jake Lane put the Falcons up by two just 1:36 later.
• Then, Terry had a five-point night the following Saturday against UE. He assisted on Eli Shope's goal that opened the scoring, before netting the game's next two goals himself. Shope had a goal and an assist, with Andrew Shaffer also finding the back of the net for the Orange and Brown.
• Brendan Graves had nine saves vs. the Purple Aces, stopping a penalty kick in the first half. Graves had two more stops three nights later, in the draw in Detroit, and made five more saves at Maryland.
• BGSU opened the 2023 campaign in thrilling fashion, posting a 3-2, come-from-behind win over Cleveland State (Aug. 24). Shaffer scored a pair of goals less than nine minutes apart to erase a second-half deficit.
• After a loss at Michigan State (Aug. 28), BGSU began a four-game unbeaten streak, battling Duquesne to a 2-2 draw on the road (Aug. 31). Kyle Cusimano and Rodrigo Montez Silva each found the back of the net and Graves made a career-high 10 saves vs. the Dukes.
• On Labor Day (Sept. 4), Cusimano opened the scoring with a diving header, and Shope scored the game-winning goal midway through the second half as the Falcons topped Michigan, 2-1, at Cochrane Stadium.
• The Falcons then played DePaul to a scoreless draw (Sept. 8) before picking up a 2-1, come-from-behind win over Northern Kentucky four days later (Sept. 12). Taylor Dyson converted a penalty kick late in the first half, and Jake Bergin scored the winning goal midway through the second.
• Nathan Masters was involved in the scoring of both BGSU goals vs. NKU. He was fouled in the box in the first half, leading to Dyson's PK, and he worked a nifty give-and-go with Bergin for what proved to be the GWG in the 71st minute.
• The Falcons suffered a 1-0 loss at Western Michigan (Sept. 16) in the first-ever MVC match for both teams. Graves tied his season and career high with 10 saves, including nine in the first half alone, vs. the Broncos. Then, BGSU lost, 3-0, at Wright State as the Raiders broke a scoreless tie late in the match.
• Bowling Green returned 11 letterwinners, including seven starters, from the 2022 team that went 6-5-5 overall and finished third in the Mid-American Conference with a 4-2-2 league ledger. Nichols and his staff have a whopping 14 newcomers on the 2023 roster.
• After 30 seasons of men's soccer in the MAC, BGSU entered the Missouri Valley Conference in 2023. BGSU and fellow MAC institutions Northern Illinois and Western Michigan joined the MVC, which also includes Belmont, Bradley, Drake, Evansville, UIC and Missouri State.
• The Falcons were picked to finish third in the MVC race in the 2023 season. Missouri State, the defending MVC regular-season and tournament champion, was picked to win the league title in 2023, with WMU tabbed for second.
• A pair of Falcons – Graves and Alberto Anaya – were named to the Preseason All-MVC Team.
INDIVIDUALLY...
• Entering the Belmont match, the Falcons have scored 16 goals while allowing 17 this fall. A pair of sophomores lead the way offensively, as Trace Terry and Andrew Shaffer are BGSU's top-two scorers. Terry, after scoring nine points in a two-match span, has 12 points on a team-high four goals and four assists. He is tied for the team lead in the latter category. Terry has tripled his point total for all of last season.
• Shaffer has matched his 2022 totals with three goals and two assists for eight points. Eli Shope also has three goals, and ranks third on the team with seven points, while Kyle Cusimano and Alberto Anaya each have four points. Anaya has four assists to tie Terry for the team lead in that category.
• Four Falcons – Rodrigo Montez Silva, Taylor Dyson, Jake Bergin and Jake Lane – each have found the back of the net once this year.
• Anaya is the Falcons' top returning scorer from a year ago. He had 10 points on three goals and four assists in 2022, despite missing four of BG's 16 matches due to injury. Shaffer had eight points and Josh Erlandson seven last season, with each player scoring three goals.
• Brendan Graves has played all 12 matches in goal this season, and has 63 saves, two shutouts and a goals-against average of 1.42.
• Graves has played every second of the Falcons' last 34 matches – a total of 3,080 minutes. No other BGSU player has been between the posts since Oct. 22, 2021.
• A total of 18 different Falcons have started at least one match this season. Only four players – Graves, Terry, Kyle Blasingame and Mads Christensen – have been in the Starting XI for all 12 contests.
• Graves, as mentioned, has played every second so far this season. Blasingame leads the field players in minutes played, having been on the pitch for 1,022 of the 1,080 total minutes. Christensen (925), Shope (895) and Nathan Masters (893) round out the team's top five in that category.
A FEW MORE NOTES & NUMBERS
• Since the start of the 2009 season, BGSU is 86-9-7 when scoring two or more goals in a match. In fact, even when scoring just one goal, the Falcons are unbeaten in the last 14 matches (11-0-3) dating to late in the 2021 season.
• The Falcons are 62-29-22 in home matches since Eric Nichols took the helm prior to the 2009 season. BG is 58-21-20 at Cochrane since the start of 2011.
• BGSU is 40-11-14 at home since the start of the 2015 season and 34-9-14 since the beginning of 2016. The Falcons are 5-0-1 at home so far in 2023.
• Entering the Belmont match, the Falcons have an overall record of 47-29-15 over the last 91 games, dating to midway through the 2018 season. BGSU has 22 multiple-goal victories and 11 multi-goal losses in that time.
THE OPPONENT
• Belmont is 6-4-2 overall, and the Bruins are 2-2-0 in MVC play. BU dropped a 4-2 thriller at Lipscomb on Tuesday (Oct. 10), snapping a three-game winning streak. A total of six different players have at least two goals this season, including Jansen Wilson and Brock Kiper with four apiece. Wilson also has team-best totals of five assists and 13 points, while Kiper and Dylan Steely each have nine points this year. In goal, Grant Calvert has started all 12 matches and has 51 saves, one shutout and a GAA of just 1.30. Head coach David Costa welcomed back 14 letterwinners from a 2022 team that went 7-4-7 overall and 2-2-4 in the MVC.
THE SERIES
• The Falcons trail Belmont, 1-0-0, in the all-time series. The lone prior meeting was a 3-2 Bruin victory 12 years ago (Sept. 16, 2011) in Nashville.
UP NEXT
• Following the Belmont match, the Falcons will return home to face UIC on Wednesday night (Oct. 18), with first touch set for 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium.
• Then, BGSU will return to the road to meet Drake next weekend (Oct. 22), before ending the month of October with a home match vs. nationally-ranked Missouri State (Oct. 27).
FOR MORE INFORMATION...
• For more information on the BGSU men's soccer program, follow the Falcons on Twitter/X (@BGSU_Athletics and @BGSUMSoccer), Instagram (bgfalcons and bgsumsoccer) and Facebook (BGMensSoccer) as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.
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