#Break1500: Falcons Look to Set Attendance Record as Notre Dame Comes to Cochrane Sunday

BGSU vs. #8/9/11 NOTRE DAME
Sunday, Sept. 10 | 1:00 p.m.
Cochrane Stadium | Bowling Green, Ohio
Video/Web Stream: BCSN/ESPN+
Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.comLive com

• The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, for the third time in six matches, will face a nationally-ranked opponent. Head coach Jimmy Walker and the Falcons meet the University of Notre Dame on Sunday (Sept. 10), with first touch set for 1:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium. Admission is free to all BGSU home regular-season matches.

• The Fighting Irish will be the highest-ranked opponent ever to come to Cochrane Stadium.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Sunday's Notre Dame match will be televised on BCSN in the Toledo area, and also will be streamed via the BCSN Now app as well as ESPN+. 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.

#Break1500: LOOKING TO SET A RECORD
• The Falcons are looking to break the single-game home attendance record. The largest crowd ever to see BGSU play at Cochrane Stadium was 1,487, when the Orange and Brown battled Ball State to a 1-1 draw in the 2018 MAC Tournament Championship (Nov. 4, 2018). BG advanced past the Cardinals via penalty kicks.

• The top-three home attendance figures in program history all came in MAC Tournament matches. The highest regular-season home crowd in BGSU annals is 803, against Chicago State on Aug. 21, 2015.

• The list of top home crowds in program history can be found in the PDF version of these very notes.

FALCONS VS. NATIONALLY-RANKED TEAMS
• For the Falcons, Notre Dame is the third nationally-ranked opponent in six matches this season. BGSU also has faced Michigan State and Pittsburgh, both on the road, in 2023.

• Overall, BGSU is 0-15-2 against top-25 teams in program history. Both of the draws came in the 2021 calendar year, with Jimmy Walker at the helm. The Falcons played to a scoreless tie vs. #24 Ole Miss in the NCAA Championships in Wilmington, N.C., before the Rebels advanced via PKs (April 27, 2021).

• Then, less than five months later, the Falcons played #17 Xavier to a 1-1 draw at Cochrane Stadium (Sept. 16, 2021).

• Notre Dame, as mentioned, will be the highest-ranked opponent ever to come to Cochrane Stadium. And, the Irish will be just the third top-25 opponent to play at BG. Each of the first two matches required overtime. The list...
THE FALCONS AT HOME VS. TOP-25 TEAMS
Opponent (NSCAA/USC Ranking) Date Result
Ohio State (#19) Oct. 31, 2003 L, 2-3 (OT)
Xavier (#17) Sept. 16, 2021 T 1-1 (2-OT)
Notre Dame (#11) ^ Sept. 10, 2023 1:00 p.m.
^ Ranked #8 by Top Drawer Soccer & #9 by College Soccer News

FUN FALCON FACTS
• The Falcons are 2-3-0 on the young season. After dropping road decisions against #17/19 Michigan State (3-1) and Cincinnati (1-0), BGSU bounced back to end the month of August with a pair of wins.

• The Falcons got first-half goals from Brynn Gardner and Katie Cox against Loyola Chicago, en route to a 2-0 victory in the home opener (Aug. 27). Then, four days later (Aug. 31), Ellie Pool scored early in the second half to lift BGSU to a 2-1 win at Detroit Mercy. Lacee Bethea also found the back of the net for the Orange and Brown.

• Most recently, the Falcons suffered a 5-1 loss on the road vs. #13/14/21 Pittsburgh. Freshman Emma Stransky scored her first collegiate goal in that contest, with assists from Cox and Maya Dean.

• Another freshman, Lizzie Bultynck, had come off the bench to score her first collegiate goal in her BGSU debut, at MSU.

• Bethea, Cox, Pool and Stransky each have three points on the young season, and six different players have scored one goal apiece for the Falcons this year to date. Isabelle Gilmore is the lone player to have been on the pitch for all 450 minutes.

• Goalkeepers Madison Vukas and Lili Berg have split time in each of BGSU's first five matches. Each has played 225 minutes, and Vukas has a goals-against average of 1.20 while Berg sports a 2.80 GAA. They shared the shutout vs. Loyola.

• 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. Seven Falcons – Bethea, Cox, Dean, Gilmore, Pool, Jaden Frigerio and Emilie Gardner – each have started all five games to date.

• 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 the Mid-American Conference, 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 Falcons lost seven letterwinners from last year's squad, including the 2022 MAC Offensive Player of the Year, Kennedy White, and defender Mackenzie Reuber, who joined White on the All-MAC First Team. Jasmijn Dijsselhof also departed, and both Reuber and Dijsselhof signed professional contracts.

• Four of BGSU's top-five scorers returned, including Brynn Gardner and Maya Dean. Gardner had 19 points to rank second on the team. She scored six goals and had a team-leading seven assists en route to MAC All-Freshman-Team accolades.

• Dean recorded 16 points on five goals and six assists, and was named to the All-MAC First Team along with earning United Soccer Coaches All-Region honors. Lacee Bethea and Alaina Uncapher each had six points in 2022.

• In goal, Berg started all 19 contests a year ago. She had 74 saves, seven shutouts and a goals-against average of just 0.87. Berg started all 48 of BGSU's matches during her first three seasons with the program, before coming off the bench in the 2023 opener at MSU.

THE OPPONENT
• Notre Dame is 3-1-2 on the season. As mentioned earlier, the Fighting Irish are ranked between eighth and 11th in each of the three national polls. ND has beaten Ball State, Butler and Michigan State while earning draws against Milwaukee and #10 Arkansas. The Irish lost, 1-0, to Michigan on Thursday (Sept. 7) despite holding a 27-8 shots advantage. Eva Gaetino – a 2022 First-Team All American – and Ellie Ospeck each have six points. Two of Gaetino's team-high three goals have been game-winning goals. Ashley Naylor has played every second in goal and has eight saves, one shutout and a GAA of just 1.17. Head coach Nate Norman guided the Fighting Irish to a 17-3-3 overall record and a 7-2-1 mark in the ACC a year ago. Notre Dame advanced to the quarterfinal round of the 2022 NCAA Championships.

THE SERIES
• BGSU trails Notre Dame, 1-0-0, in the all-time series. The only prior meeting came in the 2021 season opener (Aug. 19, 2021), as the Irish picked up a 3-1 win in South Bend. Ten members of the current BGSU team saw action in that match, including Lili Berg, who made four saves in goal.

UP NEXT
• Following the Notre Dame contest, the Falcons will prepare for the Mid-American Conference opener at Toledo. BGSU will meet the Rockets on Thursday, Sept. 21, in a 7:00 p.m. start in the Glass City.

• Then, the Falcons open the home portion of the league schedule, facing Western Michigan three days later (Sept. 24).

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.

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