Falcons Finish the Job on Saturday, Downing IU Indy to Move to 3-0

Saturday, August 31

Indianapolis, Ind.

9:30 a.m.

Bowling Green State University

3-0-0, 0-0-0

IU Indianapolis

2-1-0, 0-0-0

Bowling Green

IU Indy

Kyle Cusimano v Wright State - Aug 23 2024

Kyle Cusimano had a goal & an assist in the win at IU Indy

Photo by: Lauren Laudato, BGSU Athletics

Falcons Finish the Job on Saturday, Downing IU Indy to Move to 3-0

August 31, 2024 | Men's Soccer

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BGSU scores twice on Friday night, twice on Saturday morning in 4-1 road win

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team scored two goals at Michael A. Carroll Stadium on Friday night (Aug. 30), then returned to the field to net two more goals on Saturday morning (Aug. 31). It all added up to a 4-1 win over Indiana University Indianapolis.

With the win in a battle of unbeatens, the Falcons are off to a 3-0-0 start for the first time in seven years. The Jaguars (2-1-0) lost for the first time in 2024.

Junior Trace Terry gave the Falcons the lead on Friday night, and after the Jags equalized on a penalty kick, senior Alberto Anaya restored BG's advantage less than two minutes later.

Early in the second half, the teams waited through a pair of weather delays. After the second such delay, the match was postponed until Saturday morning.

Just seconds after the contest resumed on Saturday, junior Andrew Shaffer gave the Orange and Brown a two-goal lead. Fifth-year Falcon Kyle Cusimano, who assisted on that 59th-minute goal, recorded a goal of his own in the 88th minute to cap the scoring.

NOTE OF THE NIGHT/MORNING
• The Falcons are off to a 3-0-0 start for the first time in seven years, since the 2017 team won five-straight matches to begin the season.
• In the interim, two BG teams have been undefeated after four matches, as both the 2019 and 2021 clubs started the season with a 3-0-1 record.

BONUS NOTE OF THE NIGHT/MORNING
• The month of August isn't over yet, and the Falcons have already doubled the road win total for all of last season.
• BGSU went 1-6-2 away from home in 2023. The 2024 Falcons are now 2-0-0 on the road after wins at Michigan State (1-0, Aug. 26) and IU Indy.

HOW IT HAPPENED – HIGHLIGHTS
• 1' | Cameron Radeke fired a shot in the first minute after a ball put him past the BG defense. Brendan Graves came off of his line to cut down the angle, and Radeke popped the ball not only over the Falcon goalkeeper, but also over the crossbar.
• 8' | Sophomore Jake Lane took the ball into the penalty area, drew several defenders toward him and slid a pass into the path of senior Alberto Anaya. Anaya ran onto the ball and blasted a shot, but it went just side of the right post. But, BG would get on the scoreboard four minutes later.
• 12' | Lane put a right-side cross into the box, and fellow sophomore Bennett Painter met the ball at the far post. Painter's shot was saved by IU Indy 'keeper Mason Taylor, but junior Trace Terry was there to deposit the rebound into the back of the net.
• 14' | Fifth-year Falcon Kyle Cusimano hit a hard shot from the left side of the penalty area, but the ball was parried by Taylor.
• 28' | The Jaguars tied the game on a penalty kick after a foul on the Falcons in the box. Gils Velings converted the PK to make it a 1-1 game.
• 30' | It didn't take the Falcons long to answer. Painter was fouled just outside the box, and Anaya took the ensuing free kick. The BGSU senior hit a shot, from the left side of the field, and put the ball into the lower right corner of the net.
• 33' | Painter, on the left side of the field, played a pass into the path of the onrushing Andrew Shaffer. Shaffer hit a hard shot, but Taylor was able to make a kick save.
• 43' | BG stole a goal kick, and Bodurov hit a lont shot that was saved by Taylor with 1:45 left in the half. Then, less than a minute later, BG stole another kick by Taylor, and Anaya slid a pass to senior Taylor Dyson as the clock ticked down under a minute to go, but Dyson's hard shot from outside the box was blocked.
• 49' | With 41:39 remaining in the second half, the teams entered a weather delay, as lightning was spotted in the area at approximately 8:21 p.m. The match resumed after a delay of roughly 45 minutes.
• 52' | BGSU won back-to-back corner kicks, and off of the second one, Shaffer uncorked a shot that went just wide of the far post.
• 59' | At approximately 9:17 p.m., as Cusimano was about to take a throw-in near the IU Indy bench, the teams were called off the field for another weather delay. The delay lasted nearly an hour and a half, with sheets of rain coming down for the second half of that delay. With the lightning continuing as the time approached 11:00 p.m., the game was postponed until the following morning.
• 59' | Mere seconds after play resumed on Saturday, Cusimano's throw-in went to Shaffer, who promptly scored to give the Falcons a 3-1 lead.
• 61' | Radeke fired a shot on goal just after the hour mark, but Graves made the save. BGSU had an 11-3 lead in shot attempts before that Radeke shot, but the Jags then fired the next six shots of the game.
• 78' | Graves made another stop with just over 12 minutes to go, this time on Ethan Vermillion.
• 88' | BGSU had no fewer than three corner kicks in a 50-second span late in the match. Off of the third kick in that sequence, Cusimano scored to give the Falcons a three-goal lead and remove any possible lingering doubt about the outcome.

STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• The Falcons, as mentioned, are off to a 3-0-0 start for the first time in seven years, since the 2017 team won five-straight matches to begin the season.
• Friday/Saturday's game was the Falcons' first win by three or more goals since a 6-0 victory vs. Northern Illinois on the final night of the 2022 season (Nov. 6, 2022).
• It was BGSU's first three-goal win on the road since a 3-0 victory at Chicago State earlier in that 2022 season (Oct. 13).
• Senior Alberto Anaya's goal at IU Indy was the 13th of his career, tops among active Falcons.
• It was also the seventh game-winning goal as a Falcon, moving him into a tie for eighth place on that BGSU career list (BGSU's GWG information is available back to 1987).
• Anaya now has 41 career points as a Falcon. That ties him with Chris Brennan (2017-20) and Chris Iantoni (1988-91) for 31st place on the BGSU career points list.
• With a goal and an assist in the win over the Jags, Kyle Cusimano surpassed the 30-point mark for his career. He now has 31 points on nine goals and 13 assists.
• Trace Terry's goal was his second of the season and the eighth of his career. He now has 22 career points.
• Terry's goal was the first goal the Falcons had scored in the first half this season to date. Anaya followed that up with another goal before halftime in Indianapolis.
• Terry's goal was also the first allowed by the Jaguars this season. Like BGSU, IU Indy had entered the match with a 2-0-0 record. The Jags had posted two shutout wins prior to Friday/Saturday's match.
• Bennett Painter's assist on Terry's goal was his first of the season and the third of his career. Painter now has 13 career points in 16 matches.
• Andrew Shaffer scored his first goal of 2024 and his seventh as a Falcon. Shaffer now has 19 career points.
• Taylor Dyson picked up his second assist of the season on the Cusimano goal.
• Sophomore Mads Christensen made his season debut in the win. Christensen, who started all 18 matches last season, was injured in BGSU's first scrimmage of 2024, against Robert Morris. He missed the Falcons' remaining two scrimmages as well as the first two regular-season matches, before coming off the bench to play 62 minutes against the Jags.
• Another second-year Falcon, Aiden Ptacek, made his BGSU debut on Saturday morning. Ptacek, who did not see action in 2023, checked in for the final few minutes of the win in Indy.
• BGSU had advantages of 14-9 in total shot attempts, 8-3 in shots on goal and 7-5 in corner kicks.
• Brendan Graves made two saves in goal in the win. Mason Taylor had four stops in the first half for the Jags, while Cameron Maung-Maung played the second half and was not credited with a save.
• Graves has allowed only three goals in three matches this season. Two of those three goals have come on penalty kicks.
• BGSU now leads IU Indy (formerly IUPUI), 7-1-3, in the all-time series, and the Falcons now have a 10-match unbeaten streak vs. the Jags. BG's only series loss came in the schools' first-ever meeting, almost exactly 20 years ago (Sept. 4, 2004).
• The Falcons are now 3-0-2 in road matches vs. the Jags, with wins in the last three matches in Indianapolis.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons will conclude a three-match road swing on Monday afternoon (Sept. 2), heading to Ann Arbor to face the University of Michigan. First touch is set for 2:00 p.m at U-M Soccer Field.

• Then, BGSU will return home for the next two matches, beginning with a contest vs. Butler on Saturday, Sept. 7. That match is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium, and admission is free.

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.