Falcons Wrap Up Regular-Season Play Wednesday Night in DeKalb

Wednesday, November 1

DeKalb, Ill.

8 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Northern Illinois

Brendan Graves v Missouri State - Oct 27 2023

October 30, 2023 | Men's Soccer

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

BGSU looking to secure MVC Tournament home game

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BGSU at NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Wednesday, Nov. 1 | 8:00 p.m. ET
NIU Soccer & Track and Field Complex | DeKalb, Ill.
Video/Web Stream: NIU All-Access
Live Stats: NIUHuskies.com

• The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team enters the final day of the regular season looking to secure a home game in the upcoming Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. The Falcons of head coach Eric Nichols close the regular-season slate with a Wednesday (Nov. 1) matchup at Northern Illinois University, with first touch at 7:00 p.m. locally (8:00 p.m. ET) at the NIU Soccer & Track and Field Complex.

• For the Falcons, the NIU contest will be the 1,000th match in program history. BGSU currently has an all-time varsity record of 488-409-102 (.540).

HOW TO FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Wednesday's NIU match will be streamed via NIU All-Access. 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.

WHAT'S AT STAKE – MVC TOURNAMENT SCENARIOS
• With one match left in the regular season, BGSU has clinched a top-six seed and a berth in the quarterfinal round of the MVC Tournament. The Falcons have a chance to finish as high as third or as low as fifth.

• With a win or a tie at NIU, BGSU would earn the right to host a quarterfinal-round match on Sunday (Nov. 5).

• Evan with a loss at NIU, the Falcons still have a chance for the fourth seed and a home game in the quarterfinals. BGSU would need Belmont to lose or draw against Evansville.

• Western Michigan and Missouri State have clinched the first and second seeds, respectively. Both the Broncos and Bears have earned byes into the semifinals, which will be held on Nov. 8 in Kalamazoo. UIC currently sits in third place, two points ahead of fourth-place BGSU, but the Flames have completed the conference regular-season schedule. BGSU's scenarios are as follows...

>>> IF BGSU BEATS NIU...
• The Falcons would finish in third place, no matter what happens in Wednesday's other matches. BGSU would host the sixth-seeded team (which in this scenario could be any one of four teams) in the league tourney quarterfinals.

>>> IF BGSU TIES NIU...
• The Falcons would finish in fourth place and would host either Belmont or Evansville in the quarterfinals.

>>> IF BGSU LOSES AT NIU...
• The Falcons would finish fourth and host a quarterfinal match if Evansville beats or ties Belmont on Wednesday. Belmont holds the tiebreaker over the Falcons due to a win in the teams' head-to-head matchup, so a Belmont win and a BG loss on Wednesday would send the Falcons to Nashville for the quarterfinal round.

• With a BG loss and a Belmont loss or tie, however, the Falcons would host a quarterfinal-round match against Belmont, UE or NIU.
MVC STANDINGS & REMAINING SCHEDULE
Team (Overall) MVC   Pts.  Seed Range Wednesday
1. Western Mich. (12-1-3) 6-0-1   19 1      @Bradley
2. Missouri State (9-2-3) 5-1-1   16 2 v Drake
3. UIC (9-4-3) 4-2-2   14 3-4 None
4. Bowling Green (7-6-3) 4-3-0   12 3-5 @NIU
5. Belmont (8-6-2) 3-4-0   9 4-out v Evansville
6. Northern Ill. (5-8-1) 2-4-1   7 5-out v BGSU
   Evansville (4-8-3) 2-4-1   7 5-out @Belmont
8. Drake (3-9-3) 1-5-1   4 6-out @Missouri St.
   Bradley (5-5-6) 1-5-1   4 out v WMU
teams earn 3 pts for a win, 1 for a tie – complete list of MVC results on page 11 of the PDF

ANAYA ON FIYA
• Junior Alberto Anaya has scored a goal in each of the last four matches. That marks the longest streak by a Falcon in over 18 years, since Omari Aldridge found the net in five-straight contests from Sept. 18 to Oct. 2, 2005.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons have an overall record of 7-6-3, and BGSU is 4-3-0 in Missouri Valley Conference action, good for fourth place in the nine-team league. BGSU, as mentioned earlier, has clinched a berth in the MVC Tournament, and can finish as high as third and no lower than fifth in the final standings.

• The Falcons are coming off of a 5-2 home loss to nationally-ranked Missouri State on Friday night (Oct. 27). The match was tied, 2-2, before the Falcons were shown a red card in the 56th minute. BGSU had outshot MSU, 7-6, to that point, but the Bears regained momentum, scoring three times in the final 25-plus minutes.

• The loss snapped a two-game win streak, as BG had posted 3-1 victories at home vs. UIC (Oct. 18) and on the road against Drake (Oct. 22). All four of BGSU's conference wins to date have been by two goals.

• Entering the NIU matchup, the Falcons have scored 25 goals while allowing 26 this fall. Junior Alberto Anaya and sophomore Trace Terry lead the way offensively, as both players have 14 points on four goals and six assists. Anaya has tied his career best, having also scored 14 points as a freshman in 2021. Terry has more than tripled his point total for all of last season.

• Fifth-year Falcon Eli Shope is third on the team in scoring, with nine points, and has four goals to tie Anaya and Terry for the team lead in that category. Sophomore Andrew Shaffer has eight points, including three goals, while freshman Bennett Painter has three goals and seven points, with all seven points coming in the last two matches.

• Kyle Cusimano and Jake Bergin each have four points on the year, with Nathan Masters and Rodrigo Montez Silva having scored three points each.

• 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 16 matches in goal this season, and has 77 saves, two shutouts and a goals-against average of 1.63.

• Graves has played every second of the Falcons' last 38 matches – a total of 3,440 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 16 contests.

• Graves, as mentioned, has played all 1,440 minutes. Blasingame leads the field players, having been on the pitch for 1,317 minutes, while Christensen (1,285), Terry (1,187) and Masters (1,136) 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
• Northern Illinois is 5-8-1 overall, and the Huskies are 2-4-1 in MVC play. NIU is currently in a tie for sixth place in the league standings, and the Huskies are looking to get a result on Wednesday to secure a spot in the MVC Tournament. Northern has gone 2-2-1 in the last five conference contests. The Huskies are 3-2-0 at home, 1-6-1 on the road and 1-0-0 at neutral sites this season to date. Individually, Taisei Arima has nine points to lead a balanced scoring attack, while Angel Rodriguez has eight points on the year. Arima and Rodriguez are two of four players with three goals apiece to tie for the team lead. In goal, Jacob Rojek has started 11 of the 14 matches, and has 55 saves, three shutouts and a goals-against average of 1.73. Head coach Ryan Swan welcomed back 13 players who saw action for a 2022 team that finished 5-8-4 overall and 2-5-1 in the final season of Mid-American Conference play.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Northern Illinois, 19-18-2, in the all-time series, and BGSU has won the last two meetings. Last season, the Falcons picked up a 3-1 victory in DeKalb (Oct. 25, 2022) and a 6-0 win at Cochrane (Nov. 6, 2022). BGSU is 12-7-0 at home, 6-10-2 on the road and 1-1-0 at neutral sites against the Huskies over the years.

UP NEXT
• Following the NIU match, the Falcons will prepare for an MVC Tournament quarterfinal-round game on Sunday (Nov. 5), with opponent and site to be determined.

• The quarterfinal-round survivor will advance to the semifinals, which will be held in Kalamazoo, Mich., on Wednesday, Nov. 8.

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.