Falcons Fall to Nationally-Ranked Spartans, 3-1

Sunday, August 20

East Lansing, Mich.

1 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

0-1-0, 0-0-0

Michigan State

2-0-0, 0-0-0

Bowling Green

Michigan St.

Freshman Lizzie Bultynck scored a goal in her first collegiate match

Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics

August 20, 2023 | Women's Soccer

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Bultynck scores in her first collegiate match

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

EAST LANSING, Mich. – A pair of goals just over a minute apart gave nationally-ranked Michigan State University an early lead, and the Spartans went on to a 3-1 win over the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team on Sunday afternoon (Aug. 20). The match, the Falcons' 2023 regular-season opener, was held at DeMartin Stadium.

Justina Gaynor and Kelly Severini scored first-half goals, while Zivana Labovic netted a second-half tally for the Spartans (2-0-0), who are 17th in the nation in the United Soccer Coaches top-25 poll and 19th in the Top Drawer Soccer rankings. The two first-half markers came roughly 76 seconds apart.

For the Falcons, freshman Lizzie Bultynck scored her first collegiate goal in her first match as a Falcon.

Madison Vukas made her first collegiate start in goal, splitting time with Lili Berg between the posts. Vukas was credited with one save (but appeared to have more) in the first half, while Berg made six second-half stops.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• 16' | After a foul was whistled on the Falcons just outside the 18-yard box, a Spartan free kick was blocked by the BG wall. But, the rebound came directly to an open Justina Gaynor, who fired a shot from approximately 12 yards out into the net. That goal came at the 15:42 mark.
• 18' | The hosts quickly doubled the lead. MSU's Emerson Sargeant brought the ball into the left side of the box and hit a low cross. Kelly Severini met the ball with a one-time finish to give the hosts a two-goal advantage roughly 1:16 after the previous goal.
• 37' | Madison Vukas went to the ground to make a nice save on MJ Andrus, who had hit a one-timer off of a low cross.
• 58' | The Spartans added to the lead after a foul on the Falcons on the left side of the field. Sargeant played a free kick into the box, where Zivana Labovic headed it home.
• 64' | Lili Berg made a nifty leaping save of a curving MSU free kick, lunging to tip the shot over the crossbar.
• 66' | BGSU had a flurry of shots after an MSU foul, with the MSU goalkeeper able to parry Ellie Pool's effort from the center of the box. A pair of other BGSU shots were blocked during that sequence.
• 76' | Berg made another impressive leaping save of a hard shot by Ranya Sanhaji, tipping that ball over the bar.
• 79' | Lizzie Bultynck alertly jumped in front of an MSU pass to steal the ball and play it to fellow freshman Audrey Oliver. Oliver whirled and fired a shot that went over the bar. Moments later, a pass found Oliver in the box, but the MSU 'keeper was able to dive on the ball before Oliver could get a shot off.
• 81' | The Falcons got on the scoreboard. After Jayna Searles was fouled by a Spartan defender, Isabelle Gillmore played a free kick into the box, where a host of players from both teams converged near the far post. The ball deflected back toward the right side of the six-yard box, and Bultynck was there to knock it into the vacated goal.
• 86' | Berg made yet another nifty stop, blocking a low shot by Lubovic in traffic for her sixth save of the second half.

STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• Madison Vukas made her BGSU debut as well as her first collegiate start. Vukas, a transfer from Pittsburgh, came off the bench to play in a pair of matches for the Panthers in 2021.
• In addition to Vukas, Emilie Gardner made her first collegiate start on Sunday.
• No fewer than six players had made their collegiate debuts before the halftime whistle. Making their respective BGSU debuts, in order, were Christine Erdman, Lizzie Bultynck, Audrey Oliver, Emma Stransky, Emme Butera and Sammie King.
• BGSU played the final nine minutes of the first half with six freshmen on the pitch.
• MSU had advantages of 18-4 in total shot attempts, 10-3 in shots on goal and 7-1 in corner kicks.
• Despite the loss on Sunday, BGSU has an overall record of 67-32-16 since the start of the 2017 season. And, since the beginning of the 2018 campaign, the Falcons are 54-25-15.

UP NEXT
• BGSU returns to the road, heading to the Queen City for a Thursday (Aug. 24) match at Cincinnati. That contest is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m.
• Then, the Orange and Brown will open the home portion of the 2023 schedule next Sunday (Aug. 27), taking on Loyola Chicago. That match begins at 1:00 p.m., and admission is free.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• For more information on the women's soccer program, follow the Falcons on Twitter/X (@BGSU_Athletics and @BGSU_WSoccer), Instagram (bgsu_wsoccer) and Facebook (bgsuwsoc) as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.