Falcons Face Findlay, Duquesne in Second Week of Regular-Season Action

Thursday, August 22

Bowling Green, Ohio

7 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Findlay

Emily Hollar v Detroit Mercy - Aug 15 2024

Photo by: Avery Zuercher, BGSU Athletics

Falcons Face Findlay, Duquesne in Second Week of Regular-Season Action

August 21, 2024 | Women's Soccer

BGSU Notes UF Women's Soccer DU Women's Soccer 2024 Media Guide / Record Book Support BGSU Women's Soccer

BGSU concludes a two-game season-opening homestand on Thursday evening

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BGSU vs. FINDLAY
Thursday, Aug. 22 | 7:00 p.m.
Cochrane Stadium | Bowling Green, Ohio
Video/Web Stream: WBGU-TV/YouTube
Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com

BGSU at DUQUESNE
Sunday, Aug. 25 | ~~3:00 p.m.~~ 4:00 p.m.
Rooney Field | Pittsburgh, Pa.
Video/Web Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoDuquesne.com

• The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, after a win in the season opener, is back at it with a pair of matches this week. Head coach Chris Fox and the Falcons wrap up a two-match homestand with a Thursday (Aug. 22) matchup with the University of Findlay. First touch is set for 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium, and admission is free.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will hit the road for the first time this season, traveling to Pittsburgh for a Sunday (Aug. 25) contest vs. Duquesne University. The Falcons and Dukes will meet in a 4:00 p.m. start at Rooney Field.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Thursday's Findlay match will be streamed on YouTube, and produced by WBGU-TV, while Sunday's Duquesne contest is scheduled to be streamed via ESPN+. Live stats and periodic Twitter updates (@BGSU_Wsoccer) will also be available during both matches.

• Links to live audio/video/stats for all 2024 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.

GREAT START!
• The Falcons opened the 2024 season with a 3-1 win over Detroit Mercy at Cochrane Stadium last Thursday night (Aug. 15). BGSU is off to a 1-0 start to the season for the first time since the 2020(-21) campaign.

• The Falcons are now 11-15-2 all-time in regular-season openers.

A REALLY GREAT START!
• Freshman Lauren Mahoney definitely had a successful start to her collegiate career. Mahoney became the first player in program history to score two goals in her Falcon debut.

• Mahoney certainly didn't take long to make her presence felt, slicing past a defender to tap home a low left-side cross by Alaina Uncapher. That goal, which tied the score at 1-1 with just over four minutes remaining in the first half, came less than three minutes (2:27, to be exact) after Mahoney had checked into the match for the first time.

• Then, just over two minutes into the second half, Mahoney scored what would prove to be the winner. After a Brynn Gardner cross was blocked by a defender, the ball came directly to Mahoney on the right side of the penalty area. She took several touches and neatly tucked the ball into the lower right corner, between the diving UDM goalkeeper and the post.

• The two goals came just over six minutes of game time apart.

BRYNN DOES WHAT BRYNN DOES
• Junior Brynn Gardner had a three-point night in the Falcons' win over UDM. She assisted on Lauren Mahoney's second goal, then scored a goal of her own to give BG a two-goal cushion with just under five minutes remaining in the match.

• Gardner now has 38 career points in 37 career games as a Falcon, and has moved into 16th place on the BGSU career scoring list.

A FEW MORE NOTES FROM THE DETROIT MERCY MATCH
• Two first-year Falcons were in the starting lineup, including freshman Lilly Boebel and sophomore Michelle Hochstadt, a transfer from Morehead State.

• In addition to that duo, sophomore Emme Butera made the first start of her collegiate career. Butera played in every match last season for the Falcons, but came off the bench in all 18 games.

• Of BGSU's seven substitutions, only one – sophomore Lexi White – saw action for the Falcons last season. Four of the subs were freshmen, including Lauren Mahoney, Regan Reilly, Alexis Tsaprailis and Haley Wolf, while both Emily Hollar and Alaina Uncapher played on Thursday night after missing the entire 2023 campaign.

• Two of BGSU's three goals, as well as three of the Falcons' four assists, were recorded by players who did not see action for BG in 2023. Mahoney scored two goals in her Falcon debut, with fellow frosh Boebel and Tsaprailis each recording an assist.

• Chris Fox is the sixth full-time coach in the history of BGSU women's soccer. Five of those six coaches, including Fox, have picked up a win in their Falcon debut.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons returned 17 letterwinners, including seven starters, from last season's club. The 2023 team went 10-6-2 on the season, and BGSU finished the MAC regular-season schedule with a record of 8-1-2, good for second place in the 12-team league (and just one point shy of first-place Western Michigan).

• Chris Fox is in his first season at the BGSU helm after two highly-successful seasons at the helm of Morehead State. Kerry Edwards and Kate Larbes round out the coaching staff.

• The Falcons lost seven letterwinners from last year's squad, but the returning players combined to score 19 of the team's 26 goals last season.

• Brynn Gardner is back after leading the 2023 team with 16 points, while Ellie Pool was second with 13 points. Emma Stransky had nine points in her freshman campaign to rank among the top-five scorers on the '23 squad.

• Brynn Gardner scored a team-high six goals, with Pool having found the back of the net four times and Stransky three. Pool led the team with five assists, while Brynn Gardner had four and Stransky and Emilie Gardner three apiece.

• Madison Vukas played in all 18 matches in goal a year ago, as she split time with the graduated Lili Berg – each 'keeper played 45 minutes in each game. Vukas ended the season with a goals-against average of 1.11.

• In MAC matches, Brynn Gardner finished with 14 points, while Pool had 10 and Lexi Czerwien five.

• Vukas had a GAA of just 0.55 in MAC games, and led the entire conference in saves percentage in MAC matches (.889). She and Berg combined to post seven shutouts last fall, with six coming against league foes.

• A total of 24 different players saw action in at least one match last season, with 18 players starting at least once.

#MACTION
• BGSU, as mentioned, finished with a record of 8-1-2 in MAC play in 2023, good for second place in the league. The Falcons have most definitely enjoyed more than their fair share of success in conference action over the last few years. BG won four-straight regular-season and tournament titles from 2018-21, before finishing third in the MAC in 2022 and second in '23.

• Since the start of the 2018 season, the Falcons have a record of 47-8-6 in MAC regular-season matches, good for a winning percentage of .820. BGSU has eight more wins than any other team during that span, and 10 of the other 11 programs have at least twice the amount of losses as the Falcons in that time...
MAC REGULAR-SEASON RECORDS SINCE 2018 (through the 2023 season)
School    Record Pct.   MAC Championships *
Bowling Green  47- 8- 6 .820   8 (4 Regular-Season, 4 MAC Tourn.)
Ball State 39-14-11 .695   1 (1 Regular-Season)
Buffalo 33-17-13 .627   2 (1 Regular-Season, 1 MAC Tourn.)
Western Mich.  36-21- 8 .615   1 (1 Regular-Season)
Kent State   30-21-11 .573   1 (1 MAC Tourn.)
Ohio 31-24-10 .554   0
Central Mich. 22-32-10 .422   0
Miami 22-35- 6 .397   0
Toledo 19-34- 9 .379   0
Eastern Mich. 20-38- 6 .359   0
Akron 17-39- 8 .328   0
Northern Ill. 13-46- 6 .246   0
* Includes division titles (MAC split into East & West divisions for the 2020[-21] season)

SUCCESSFUL AT HOME
• Heading into Thursday's Findlay match, BGSU has a record of 45-11-9 at home since the start of the 2017 season. The Falcons are 35-6-6 against MAC teams at Cochrane Stadium in that time, having outscored the opposition, 90-32, in those 47 matches.

SUCCESSFUL ON THE ROAD
• The Falcons have a record of 28-6-3 on the road against MAC opponents since the start of the 2017 season. BG is 25-3-2 in league road contests since the beginning of 2018, having outscored the opponents by a 76-18 count. In those 30 matches, BGSU has scored at least two goals 24 times, and at least three goals on 14 occasions.

• BGSU is 22-2-2 in the last 26 MAC road contests, dating to late in the 2018 season.

• Overall, the Falcons are 17-11-3 in true road games over the last four years. No fewer than eight of those 11 road losses have come against opponents from Power 5 conferences, with a ninth coming to a team (Xavier in 2022) that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championships that season.

96 PERCENT OF THE TIME, SCORING TWO GOALS WORKS EVERY TIME
(or, THE MORE GOALS, THE MORE BETTER)
• It would stand to reason that scoring goals increases a team's chances of winning. For the Falcons, that is most certainly the case.

• Since the start of 2017, BGSU is 66-1-3 when scoring at least two goals in a match. In that time, the Falcons are 12-36-15 when being held under two goals.

• The Falcons are undefeated in the last 37 home matches (36-0-1) when scoring at least twice. The last time BG scored two or more goals at Cochrane Stadium and lost was on Oct. 20, 2016 (4-3 loss to Western Michigan).

THE OPPONENTS
• Findlay, led by first-year head coach Sierra Tom, has been picked to finish fourth in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference in 2024. Last season, the Oilers went 11-5-4 overall and 10-2-2 in the G-MAC.

• Megan Hollar, the younger sister of BGSU's Emily Hollar, is a freshman on the 2024 Findlay roster.

• Duquesne is 1-1 on the young season. After downing Mercyhurst, 6-2, the Dukes dropped a narrow 2-1 decision to nationally-ranked Pittsburgh. Margey Brown had nine points, including four goals, in the two matches, and was named Atlantic 10 Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. Maddy Neundorfer has played both matches in goal and has eight saves.

• Head coach Al Alvine welcomed back nine starters from last year's team that finished 8-8-4 overall anf 4-2-4 in A-10 play.

THE SERIES
• BGSU leads Findlay, 1-0-0, in the all-time series. The only prior meeting saw the Falcons pick up a 4-0 win at Cochrane Stadium nine years ago (Sept. 8, 2015). Erica Hubert scored the first two goals of the match, while Mikaela Couch had a goal and two assists.

• The Falcons lead Duquesne, 1-0-0, in that series. The only previous match came at Cochrane, nearly 20 years ago to the day (Aug. 27, 2004), and saw Kristy Coppes score a school-record six goals as the Falcons posted a 7-3 victory. The head coach of that Duquesne club was Jimmy Walker, who went on to coach at BGSU, as both an assistant coach (2011) and head coach (2020-23).

UP NEXT
• The Duquesne match is the first of three road contests on as many Sundays. BGSU will head to the Windy City to face Loyola Chicago on Sept. 1, before traveling to meet Cleveland State seven days later (Sept. 8).

FOR MORE INFORMATION...
• 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.