Bennett Paints a Masterpiece as BGSU Bests Bulldogs, 3-1

Sunday, October 22

Des Moines, Iowa

2 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

7-5-3, 4-2-0

Drake

3-9-2, 1-5-1

Team	1	2	Final F
Bowling Green	1	2	3
Drake	0	1	1

Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics

October 22, 2023 | Men's Soccer

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Freshman has a second-half brace to help Falcons to first MVC road win

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

DES MOINES, Iowa – Freshman Bennett Painter scored a pair of second-half goals as the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team picked up a 3-1 win over Drake University on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 22). The Missouri Valley Conference matchup was held at Mediacom Stadium.

Painter, who did not play in the first half of Sunday's match, started the second half and scored his first collegiate goal just 12 seconds into the period. He added his second career goal less than 16 minutes later.

Alberto Anaya also scored for the Falcons (7-5-3, 4-2-0 MVC), who recorded their first road win of the season and the program's first-ever MVC road victory.

With the win, the Falcons have moved into third place in the nine-team conference, and BGSU has clinched a berth in the MVC Tournament.

The Orange and Brown led by three goals after the Painter brace, before the Bulldogs (3-9-2, 1-5-1 MVC) got on the board in the 77th minute on an Erich Legut goal.

Anaya's goal came on a penalty kick after Nathan Masters was taken down in the 18-yard box in the ninth minute of the match. Mads Christensen and Jake Bergin picked up assists on Painter's first and second goals, respectively, and Brendan Graves made one save in net for the Falcons.

NOTE OF THE DAY
• The Falcons, as mentioned, have clinched a berth in the MVC Tournament. The top-six teams in the final standings will qualify for the tourney, which begins with quarterfinal-round matches at campus sites on Sunday, Nov. 5.
• BGSU began the week in fifth place in the nine-team league, but the Falcons now sit in third place with two regular-season games to go.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Falcons got on the board at the 8:45 mark. Alberto Anaya slid a pass to Nathan Masters. Masters entered the penalty area on the left side, cut the ball back to his right and went to the ground as he attempted to race past his defender. A penalty kick was awarded, and Anaya deposited that kick past DU goalkeeper Kevin Qi to give BGSU the lead.
• Five minutes later, Anaya was fouled in the center of the field, just a few yards outside the penalty area. The junior took the ensuing free kick, and hit a hard, curving shot that went just wide of the upper left corner of the net.
• In the 16th minute, Anaya got the ball as BG was on a counterattack. He slid a pass to Masters, who hit a hard shot from the left side of the box. That effort, however, also just missed finding the upper-left portion of the goal.
• Drake had a good chance in the 32nd minute, but a shot by J.P. Pascarella was blocked by a BGSU defender, and the Falcons blocked another shot after the ensuing corner kick.
• Late in the first half, the Bulldogs came up with the ball as a BG player was knocked to the turf in the Falcons' defensive end. A pass found Eloge Iradukunda, who fired a shot that glanced off of the top of the crossbar in the waning seconds of the period.
• The Falcons doubled the lead just 12 seconds into the second half. Mads Christensen played a ball ahead, and Bennett Painter ran onto it and, in traffic, hit a shot that caromed off the inside of the left goalpost and into the net. The goal was the first of Painter's Falcon career.
• AJ Franklin had a solid chance for the hosts in the 49th minute, but his shot from the top of the box sailed high.
• Several minutes later, Painter won a free kick in the DU end. Anaya's free kick was deflected to Painter, who laid the ball off for Jake Bergin, but Bergin's hard, low shot went wide left.
• In the 55th minute, the Bulldogs looked to put Iradukunda down the left side of the field, but Christensen deftly took the ball off of the DU striker's boot in the penalty area, then cleared it away.
• Painter and the Falcons made it a 3-0 game in the 59th minute. Bergin stole the ball on the left side of the pitch, just over midfield. He slid a pass to Painter in the center of the field. Painter uncorked a blast from nearly 30 yards out, and Qi had no chance as the rocket found the upper-left-hand corner of the goal.
• With nearly 70 minutes gone, a through ball from Anthony Hernandez found Painter. The freshman, running stride for stride with a defender, got a shot off, but his bid for a hat trick was just off the mark.
• The Bulldogs got on the board in the 77th minute. Dalton Visconti slid a pass from the left side, and it was dummied nicely by a teammate near the top of the 18. The ball continued on to Erich Legut, who ran onto it and scored from the right side.
• Drake threatened in the 84th minute, but a shot by Kai Knuchel sailed high.
• In the 87th minute, Anaya's free kick from the right side was deflected to Trace Terry. Terry chested the ball down and uncorked a blast, but the shot went wide left.

STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• For the Falcons, Sunday's win was the first MVC road victory in program history. The 2023 season marks BG's first in the MVC after 30 years in the MAC.
• The victory was BG's first road win of the year. BG's last victory away from Cochrane Stadium was another 3-1 triumph, at Northern Illinois nearly 12 months ago (Oct. 25, 2022).
• That NIU game also marked the last time BGSU scored three goals in a road game.
• Drake outshot the Falcons, 12-9, but BG put three shots on goal (scoring on all three of them) to the Bulldogs' two.
• Brendan Graves made one save en route to the win, while Kevin Qi was not credited with a save.
• Bennett Painter's first collegiate goal – again, just 12 seconds into the second half – proved to be his first game-winning goal as a Falcon.
• Obviously, Sunday marked the first two-goal game of Painter's young BG career.
• Alberto Anaya scored a goal for the third consecutive game.
• Jake Bergin picked up the second assist of his BGSU career. His first came in Wednesday's (Oct. 18) win over UIC.
• Mads Christensen had the first point of his BG career with the assist on Painter's first goal of the day.
• The Falcons were shut out in their first-ever MVC match, a 1-0 setback to Western Michigan on Sept. 16. In the five conference games since then, BGSU is averaging 2.8 goals per game, and BG has scored at least three goals in four of those five games.

AROUND THE MVC – SUNDAY'S RESULTS
Bowling Green 3, at Drake 1
at Northern Illinois 1, Belmont 0
UIC 1, at Bradley 1
Western Michigan 2, at Missouri State 1

UPDATED MVC STANDINGS
School (Overall)    MAC Pts.
1. Western Mich. (11-1-3) 5-0-1 16
Missouri St. (8-2-3) 4-1-1 13
3. Bowling Green (7-5-3) 4-2-0 12
4. UIC (8-4-3) 3-2-2 11
5. Belmont (8-5-2) 3-3-0   9
6. Northern Ill. (5-7-1) 2-3-1   7
7. Evansville (3-8-3) 1-4-1   4
Bradley (5-4-6) 1-4-1   4
9. Drake (3-9-2) 1-5-1   4

UP NEXT
• The Falcons will close the home portion of the regular-season schedule by hosting nationally-ranked Missouri State on Friday (Oct. 27). That contest will begin at 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium, and admission is free.

• Then, BGSU will wrap up the regular-season slate with a match at Northern Illinois on Wednesday, Nov. 1.

• The Falcons have clinched a berth in the MVC Tournament, which begins on Sunday, Nov. 5

REMAINING REGULAR-SEASON SCHEDULE
Fri., Oct. 27 – MISSOURI STATE, 7:00
Wed., Nov. 1 – at Northern Illinois, 8:00
All times p.m. and Eastern (ET)

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.