Falcons Head to Maryland for Final Non-Conference Contest

Saturday, October 7

College Park, Md.

7 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Maryland

Goal Celebration v Evansville - Sept 30 2023

Photo by: Hailey Pettit-Mastroianni, BGSU Athletics

October 05, 2023 | Men's Soccer

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BGSU battles Terrapins under the lights on Saturday

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BGSU at MARYLAND
Saturday, Oct. 7 | 7:00 p.m.
Ludwig Field | College Park, Md.
Video/Web Stream: B1G+
Live Stats: UMTerps.com

• The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team returns to the road to face a Big Ten Conference foe this weekend. The Falcons of head coach Eric Nichols will meet the University of Maryland on Saturday evening (Oct. 7), with first touch set for 7:00 p.m. at Ludwig Field.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Saturday's Maryland matchup will be streamed via Big Ten Network+. 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 earned his second shutout of the season and the 11th clean sheet of his career as the Falcons battled Detroit Mercy to a scoreless draw on Tuesday night (Oct. 3) in the Motor City.

• Tuesday's match snapped a streak of four consecutive matches in which Graves made at least six saves. Earlier this season, he had a career-high 10 saves at Duquesne (Aug. 31), then tied that mark in the MVC opener at Western Michigan (Sept. 16). Last Saturday (Sept. 30), he had nine saves, including a diving stop of a penalty kick, in the Falcons' win over Evansville.

• Entering the Maryland match, Graves has 58 saves on the season, and the Perrysburg native has goals-against average figures of 1.45 this year and 1.12 in his Falcon career. As of Thursday morning (Oct. 5), he is ranked second in the nation in total saves, tied for fifth in minutes played among goalkeepers, and ninth in saves per game (5.27).

FASCINATING FALCON FACTS
• The Falcons have an overall record of 5-3-3, 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 scored a combined seven goals over the next two matches, both wins (3-1 over Bradley, 4-2 over Evansville). Most recently, BG battled Detroit Mercy to a scoreless draw on Tuesday (Oct. 3).

• Sophomore Trace Terry had a pair of goals, including the game winner with under eight minutes to go, in the win over Bradley on Sept. 23. 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 in Saturday's (Sept. 30) win over 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.

• 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 Maryland match, the Falcons have scored 16 goals while allowing 16 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, now 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 11 matches in goal this season, and has 58 saves, two shutouts and a goals-against average of 1.45.

• Graves has played every second of the Falcons' last 33 matches – a total of 2,990 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 11 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 932 of the 990 total minutes. Christensen (835), Nathan Masters (808) and Shope (805) each have played over 800 minutes so far this year.

THE OPPONENT
• Maryland is 1-6-2 overall, and the Terrapins are 0-4-1 in Big Ten Conference play. Maryland is coming off of a narrow 2-1 loss to Rutgers on Tuesday, a match in which the Terps had a 20-7 shots advantage. Maryland has a win over UNC Greensboro and draws vs. both Wake Forest and Michigan, and five of the team's six losses have been by a single goal. Individually, six different players have scored a goal apiece, and one of those six, Kimani Stewart-Baynes, has team-high totals of three assists and five points. In goal, Mikah Segar and Jamie Lowell each have seen action in five games. Segar has a 1.19 GAA, while Lowell sports a GAA of 1.25. Legendary head coach Sasho Cirovski welcomed back just four starters from the 2022 team that won the Big Ten championship, going 11-4-5 overall and 4-0-4 in conference play.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons and Maryland are meeting for the first time. BGSU has an overall record of 59-70-14 against the current membership of the Big Ten.

UP NEXT
• The Maryland match will wrap up the non-conference schedule for the Falcons, who will return to MVC play at Belmont next Saturday (Oct. 14). That match begins at 6:00 p.m. local time (7:00 p.m. ET) and will be streamed via ESPN+.

• Then, UIC will come to Cochrane Stadium on Wednesday, Oct. 18. The Flames are currently ranked 25th in the nation in the United Soccer Coaches poll.

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.