Falcons Face #18 Missouri State to Close Home Schedule

Friday, October 27

Bowling Green, Ohio

7 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Missouri State

Kyle Cusimano Brendan Graves at Drake - Oct 22 2023

Photo by: Drue Wolfe, Drake Athletics

October 25, 2023 | Men's Soccer

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Trunk or Treat at 6 pm, First Touch at 7 pm

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BGSU vs. #18 MISSOURI STATE
Friday, Oct. 27 | 7:00 p.m.
Cochrane Stadium | Bowling Green, Ohio
Video/Web Stream: WBGU-TV (YouTube)
Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com

• The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team closes out the home portion of the regular-season schedule on Friday (Oct. 27), putting an unbeaten home record on the line against a nationally-ranked opponent. The Falcons of head coach Eric Nichols meet #18 Missouri State University, with first touch set for 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium.

• While the Falcons are unbeaten at home, MSU is undefeated on the road in 2023.

TRUNK OR TREAT
• As if free admission to a match featuring the Falcons and a top-20 opponent wasn't enough, fans have yet another great reason to come to Cochrane on Friday evening. BGSU Athletics, in conjunction with the BGSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), will be holding a Trunk or Treat event at 6:00 p.m. in the Slater Family Ice Arena parking lot, next door to Cochrane Stadium.

• Fans of all ages are invited, and Halloween costumes are encouraged. Fans are also invited to participate in a costume parade on the field at halftime of Friday night's game.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Thursday's MSU match will be streamed on YouTube, free of charge, and produced by WBGU-TV. 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.

A BRACE FOR BENNETT
• Freshman Bennett Painter scored the first – then the second – goal of his collegiate career on Sunday (Oct. 22), as the Falcons picked up a 3-1 win at Drake. Painter, who did not play in the first half of the match, started the second half and found the back of the net just 12 seconds into the period. He added his second career goal less than 16 minutes later.

• The win was BGSU's first road victory of the season, and was the first MVC road win in program history.

HOME COOKIN'
• The Falcons' last home game resulted in arguably the team's top performance of the 2023 season to date, a 3-1 win over UIC (Oct. 18). BGSU fired a season-high 27 shots against the Flames, who were 31st in the nation in the RPI heading into the contest. (Note: Friday's opponent, Missouri State, is currently 25th in the RPI.)

• BGSU is unbeaten at home (6-0-1) in 2023, and the Falcons have won four-straight games at Cochrane, scoring two or more goals in each of those four wins.

• BG has scored three or more goals in each of the last three home contests, all MVC wins (3-1 over Bradley, 4-2 against Evansville and 3-1 vs. UIC).

• The Falcons are unbeaten in the last 10 matches at home, having gone 8-0-2 since a 1-0 setback to Western Michigan over a year ago (Sept. 27, 2002).

FASCINATING FALCON FACTS
• The Falcons have an overall record of 7-5-3, and BGSU is 4-2-0 in Missouri Valley Conference action, good for third place in the nine-team league. BGSU, as mentioned, is coming off of back-to-back 3-1 wins, with a home victory over UIC (Oct. 18) and a road win vs. Drake (Oct. 22).

• The Falcons have clinched a berth in the MVC Tournament. All four of BGSU's conference wins to date have been by two goals.

• 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). But, the Falcons have rallied with six goals in the last two games, both wins.

• Entering the Missouri State matchup, the Falcons have scored 23 goals while allowing 21 this fall. Sophomore Trace Terry leads the way offensively with 13 points, while junior Alberto Anaya has 11 points and fifth-year Falcon Eli Shope nine. 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. Anaya has found the back of the net in each of the last three games, vs. Belmont, UIC and Drake.

• Sophomore Andrew Shaffer is fourth on the Falcons in scoring, and has matched his 2022 totals with three goals and two assists for eight points.

• Kyle Cusimano and Bennett Painter each have two goals and four points, while Jake Bergin also has four points on a goal and a pair of assists. Four other Falcons – Rodrigo Montez Silva, Taylor Dyson, 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 15 matches in goal this season, and has 72 saves, two shutouts and a goals-against average of 1.40.

• Graves has played every second of the Falcons' last 37 matches – a total of 3,350 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 15 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 1,239 of the 1,350 total minutes. Christensen (1,195), Terry (1,111) and Shope (1,099) round out the team's top five in that category.

• 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.

THE OPPONENT
• Missouri State is 8-2-3 overall, and the Bears are 4-1-1 in MVC play. MSU is 18th in the nation in the United Soccer Coaches poll and 21st in the two other national polls. The Bears are coming off of a 2-1 loss to Western Michigan on Sunday. Despite that setback, MSU has an eye-popping record of 37-2-3 (.917) in MVC matches since the start of the 2019 season. The Bears are 3-2-1 at home and 5-0-2 on the road this season to date. Individually, Gijs Hovius leads a balanced scoring attack with four goals and 10 points, while Jesus Barea and Jon Koka have eight points apiece, Pablo Guillen seven and Jack Denton six. In goal, Harry Townsend has played every second of every match, and has 26 saves, seven shutouts and a goals-against average of just 0.54. He is third in the nation in GAA and is the NCAA Division-I active career leader in that category. Head coach Michael Seabolt and the Bears went 12-2-4 overall and 6-0-2 in league play in 2022, winning a fourth-straight MVC regular-season title and a third consecutive MVC Tournament crown.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons trail Missouri State, 1-0-0, in the all-time series. The only prior meeting came in the 2000 season opener, when then-Southwest Missouri State picked up a 2-1 win at a tournament hosted by Creighton (Sept. 2, 2000).

UP NEXT
• Following the Missouri State match, the Falcons will wrap up the regular-season schedule at Northern Illinois on Wednesday (Nov. 1). First touch is set for 7:00 p.m. locally (8:00 p.m. ET) at the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex.

• BGSU has clinched a berth in the six-team MVC Tournament, which begins with quarterfinal-round matches at campus sites on Sunday, Nov. 5. The regular-season champion will host the semifinals (Wed., Nov. 8) as well as the final (Sat., Nov. 11).

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.