BGSU Heads to Iowa for Sunday's MVC Matchup with Drake

Sunday, October 22

Des Moines, Iowa

2 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Drake

Photo by: Riley Rumbley/Maryland Terrapins

October 20, 2023 | Men's Soccer

BGSU Notes (PDF)Drake Men's Soccer 2023 Record Book (PDF)Support BGSU Men's Soccer

Falcons face Bulldogs at the brand-new Mediacom Stadium

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BGSU at DRAKE
Sunday, Oct. 22 | 2:00 p.m. ET
Mediacom Stadium | Des Moines, Iowa
Video/Web Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoDrakeBulldogs.com

• The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team, coming off of yet another impressive performance at home, looks to continue that success on the road. The Falcons of head coach Eric Nichols head to Des Moines, Iowa, for a Sunday (Oct. 22) meeting with Drake University. The Missouri Valley Conference contest is set to begin at 1:00 p.m. locally (2:00 p.m. ET) at the brand-new Mediacom Stadium.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Sunday's Drake match will be streamed on 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.

FASCINATING FALCON FACTS
• The Falcons have an overall record of 6-5-3, and BGSU is 3-2-0 in Missouri Valley Conference action. BGSU, as mentioned, is coming off of a 3-1 win over UIC on Wednesday night, a victory that snapped a three-match winless streak.

• After scoring nine goals over the first eight matches of the season, the Falcons then scored a combined seven goals over the final two games of September, both wins (3-1 over Bradley, 4-2 against Evansville).

• BG opened October by battling Detroit Mercy to a scoreless draw (Oct. 3) before falling by a single goal at both Maryland (1-0, Oct. 7) and Belmont (2-1, Oct. 14).

• 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.

• On Wednesday, Alberto Anaya had a goal and an assist vs. UIC, with both Shope and fellow fifth-year Falcon Nathan Masters also finding the back of the net.

• 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), before topping Michigan by a 2-1 count on Labor Day (Sept. 4) 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).

• BG suffered a 1-0 loss at Western Michigan (Sept. 16) in the first-ever MVC match for both teams. Brendan Graves tied his season and career high with 10 saves, including nine in the first half alone, vs. the Broncos.

• 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 – Anaya and Graves – were named to the Preseason All-MVC Team. Anaya scored the Falcons' goal on Saturday at Belmont, on a gorgeous first-half free kick, before finding the net for the second-straight match, vs. UIC.

INDIVIDUALLY...
• Entering the Drake match, the Falcons have scored 20 goals while allowing 20 this fall. Sophomore Trace Terry leads the way offensively with 13 points, while junior Alberto Anaya and fifth-year Falcon Eli Shope each have nine points on the year. Terry, who scored nine points in a two-match span to end September, is tied for the team lead in both goals (four) and assists (five). He has more than tripled his point total for all of last season.

• Shope is tied for the team lead with four goals, while Anaya shares the team assists lead with Terry, with five. Sophomore Andrew Shaffer has matched his 2022 totals with three goals and two assists for eight points.

• Kyle Cusimano has a pair of goals for four points, while five Falcons – Rodrigo Montez Silva, Taylor Dyson, Jake Bergin, Jake Lane and Nathan Masters – 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 14 matches in goal this season, and has 71 saves, two shutouts and a goals-against average of 1.43.

• Graves has played every second of the Falcons' last 36 matches – a total of 3,260 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 14 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 1,179 of the 1,260 total minutes. Christensen (1,105), Shope (1,073) and Terry (1,031) round out the team's top five in that category.

THE OPPONENT
• Drake is 3-8-2 overall, and the Bulldogs are 1-4-1 in MVC play after a narrow 2-1 loss to Bradley on Wednesday night (Oct. 18). That marked the team's first home setback of the season, as Drake is 3-1-2 at home and 0-7-0 on the road to date. Individually, AJ Franklin has team-leading totals of six goals and 13 points, while three of his teammates have scored at least two goals apiece. Three goalkeepers each have made at least four starts. Quinn Millerd leads the Bulldog 'keepers in minutes played (468:28) and GAA (1.54). He has started four of the team's six MVC matches to date. Head coach Pat Flinn welcomed 11 newcomers to the program this season, after the 2022 club went 7-4-4 overall and 5-2-1 in the MVC.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons and Drake are meeting for the first time in men's soccer.

UP NEXT
• Following the Drake match, the Falcons return home to face nationally-ranked Missouri State next Friday (Oct. 27), with first touch set for 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium. The Bears are ranked 10th in the country in this week's United Soccer Coaches poll.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will wrap up the regular-season schedule at Northern Illinois on Wednesday, Nov. 1.

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.