BGSU Battles Broncos to Begin Home Portion of MAC Slate

Sunday, September 24

Bowling Green, Ohio

1 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Western Michigan

Bethea Clark Ortman Czerwien Berg E.Gardner Dean Cox Richardson Pool

Sunday will be Senior Day at Cochrane Stadium

Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics

September 23, 2023 | Women's Soccer

BGSU Notes (PDF)WMU Notes (PDF)2023 Record Book (PDF)Support BGSU Women's Soccer

Sunday is Senior Day & Alumnae Day at Cochrane

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BGSU vs. WESTERN MICHIGAN
Sunday, Sept. 24 | 1:00 p.m.
Cochrane Stadium | Bowling Green, Ohio
Video/Web Stream: WBGU-TV (YouTube)
Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com

• The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, after a win on the road in the Mid-American Conference opener, now begins the home portion of the league schedule. Head coach Jimmy Walker and the Falcons welcome Western Michigan University to Cochrane Stadium for a Sunday (Sept. 24) matchup. First touch is set for 1:00 p.m., and it will be both Senior Day and Alumnae Day at Cochrane.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Sunday's WMU matchup will be streamed on YouTube, and produced by WBGU-TV. Live stats, as well as periodic Twitter updates (@BGSU_Wsoccer), as always, will also be available.

• Links to live audio/video/stats for all 2023 matches can be found on the web at BGSUFalcons.com (on the women's soccer schedule page and in the right column on the main page) on match day.

SENIOR DAY
• Sunday, as mentioned, will be Senior Day at Cochrane Stadium, and a total of 10 team members will be recognized prior to the match. That group includes Lili Berg, Lacee Bethea, Rylee Clark, Katie Cox, Lexi Czerwien, Maya Dean, Emilie Gardner, Makenzie Ortman, Ellie Pool and Emma Richardson.

• On the pitch, BGSU has won seven consecutive 'Senior Day' games since dropping a narrow 2-1 decision to Sunday's opponent, WMU, on Oct. 25, 2015.
RECENT SENIOR DAY/NIGHT MATCHES
Season   Date Opponent Result
2022   Sept. 4, 2022 Detroit Mercy W, 1-0
2021 Oct. 10, 2021 Miami W, 3-1
2020(-21) March 21, 2021 Kent State W, 5-0
2019 Sept. 29, 2019 Buffalo W, 2-1
2018 Sept. 16, 2018 Youngstown State W, 6-0
2017 Sept. 10, 2017 Wright State W, 2-0
2016 Oct. 23, 2016 Northern Illinois W, 2-0

#MACTION
• Thursday (Sept. 21) marked the start of the Mid-American Conference schedule, and BGSU picked up a 2-0 win at Toledo. The Falcons have enjoyed more than their fair share of success in conference play over the last few years. BGSU finished third in the 12-team league in 2022, but earned regular-season and tournament titles in each of the previous four seasons.

• Since the start of the 2018 season, the Falcons now have a record of 40-7-4 in MAC regular-season matches, good for a winning percentage of .824. BGSU has six more wins than any other team during that span, and all but two other programs have more than double the amount of losses as the Falcons in that time...
MAC RECORDS SINCE 2018 (entering Sunday's matches)
School Record   Pct. MAC Championships *
Bowling Green    40- 7- 4 .824   8 (4 Regular-Season, 4 MAC Tournament)
Ball State 34-12- 8 .704   1 (1 Regular-Season)
Buffalo 30-13-10 .660   2 (1 Regular-Season, 1 MAC Tournament)
Western Michigan 29-21- 5 .573   0
Kent State 24-17-11 .567   0
Ohio 27-21- 7 .555   0
Central Michigan 21-26- 7 .454   0
Eastern Michigan 20-30- 4 .407   0
Miami 17-30- 6 .377   0
Toledo 15-29- 8 .365   0
Akron 16-31- 7 .361   0
Northern Illinois 7-43- 5 .173   0
* Includes division titles (MAC split into East & West divisions for the 2020[-21] season)

FUN FALCON FACTS
• The Falcons are 3-4-0 on the young season, with three of the four losses coming at the hands of nationally-ranked teams. BGSU is coming off of a 2-0 victory at Toledo in Thursday's (Sept. 21) MAC opener.

• Ellie Pool, a transfer from UT, scored with just over two minutes gone against her former team, and Brynn Gardner converted a second-half penalty kick for the Orange and Brown. Madison Vukas and Lili Berg combined for three saves to share the shutout in goal.

• After dropping road decisions against #17 Michigan State and Cincinnati to begin the season BG bounced back to end the month of August with wins over Loyola Chicago and Detroit Mercy. The Falcons got first-half goals from Gardner and Katie Cox against the Ramblers, while Pool scored early in the second half to lift BGSU to a 2-1 win over the Titans. Lacee Bethea also found the back of the net for the Falcons at UDM.

• The Falcons suffered a pair of losses against nationally-ranked teams to end the non-conference slate, dropping a 5-1 decision at #21 Pittsburgh and a 3-0 match against #11 Notre Dame at Cochrane.

• Pool leads the Falcons with five points on the season, while Brynn Gardner has four points, including two goals to tie Pool for the team lead in that category. Three Falcons – Bethea, Cox and freshman Emma Stransky – have three points apiece. Maya Dean leads the club with two assists.

• Isabelle Gilmore is the lone player to have been on the pitch for all 630 minutes, while Emilie Gardner has played over 500 minutes on the year.

• Goalkeepers Madison Vukas and Lili Berg have split time in each of BGSU's first seven matches. Each has played 315 minutes, and Vukas has a goals-against average of 1.43 while Berg sports a 2.29 GAA. Berg has made 19 saves and Vukas 17, and they have shared a pair of shutouts.

• A total of 23 different players have seen action in at least one match this season to date. That lengthy list includes eight of the team's nine true freshmen. Five Falcons – Cox, Dean, Gilmore, Pool and Emilie Gardner – each have started all seven games to date, while Brynn Gardner and Makenzie Ortman each have made six starts.

• The Falcons returned 16 letterwinners, including eight starters, from last season's club. The 2022 team went 9-5-5 overall and 6-2-3 in MAC play, placing third in the 12-team league. BG battled Ball State to a 1-1 draw in the semifinals of the league tourney, before the Cardinals advanced via PKs.

THE OPPONENT
• Western Michigan is 5-3-0 on the year, and the Broncos are 1-0-0 in MAC play after a 3-0 win over Northern Illinois on Thursday night. WMU also has wins over Northern Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky, Butler and Oakland, with the losses coming to Wisconsin, Michigan and Marquette. The Broncos are tied for the MAC lead in scoring, with 1.75 goals per game. (WMU is tied for first with Toledo, who ranked all alone in first in the MAC in that category before being shut out by BGSU on Thursday.) Individually, Jen Blitchok leads the team in both goals and points, with her 11 points including five goals. In goal, Lauren Boafo has played all 720 minutes, and has 16 saves, four shutouts and a GAA of just 1.00. Head coach Lewis Robinson welcomed back a total of 21 players from the 2022 team that went 5-9-5 overall and 5-4-2 in the MAC. Western was picked to finish second in the MAC in 2023, according to the preseason coaches poll.

THE SERIES
• BGSU trails Western Michigan, 17-11-2, in the all-time series, but the Falcons are undefeated in the last five meetings after the Broncos had won the prior nine matchups. Last season saw the clubs battle to a 2-2 draw in Kalamazoo during the regular season (Sept. 25, 2022), before the Falcons picked up a 2-0 victory at Cochrane, in the quarterfinal round of the MAC Tournament (Oct. 30, 2022). The Falcons are 6-6-1 at home, 3-11-1 on the road and 2-0-0 at neutral sites vs. WMU through the years.

UP NEXT
• BGSU remains at home to face Akron in Thursday-night action (Sept. 28), with first touch set for 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane. Then, the Orange and Brown will hit the road for matches at Ohio (Oct. 1) and Miami (Oct. 5).

FOR MORE INFO ON 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.