Falcons Host Huskies in Friday's MVC Opener

Friday, September 13

Bowling Green, Ohio

7 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Northern Illinois

Photo by: Drake Harlett, BGSU Athletics

September 12, 2024 | Men's Soccer

BGSU Notes NIU Men's Soccer 2024 Record Book Support Falcon Men's Soccer

BGSU meets NIU on Alumni Weekend

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BGSU vs. NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Friday, Sept. 13 | 7:00 p.m.
Cochrane Stadium | Bowling Green, Ohio
Video/Web Stream: WBGU-TV/YouTube
Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com

• The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team begins league play with a matchup at Cochrane Stadium this weekend. Head coach Eric Nichols and the Falcons will meet Northern Illinois University in the Missouri Valley Conference opener on Friday evening (Sept. 13). First touch is set for 7:00 p.m., and admission is free.

WELCOME BACK!
• The NIU match is part of Alumni Weekend for the BGSU men's soccer program, with a number of former Falcon greats back in town to catch the current team in action. The match kicks off a busy weekend of events, including a golf outing and an alumni reception.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Friday's NIU match will be streamed on YouTube, free of charge, and produced by WBGU-TV. Live stats and Twitter/X updates (@BGSUMSoccer), as always, will also be available.

• Links to any available live audio/video/stats for all 2024 matches can be found on the web at BGSUFalcons.com on game day.

THE MVC AT COCHRANE
• The 2024 season marks BGSU's second year in the MVC. In BGSU's first year in the conference, the Falcons averaged 3.0 goals per game in home regular-season contests.

• The lone MVC-related match in which the Falcons did not score at least two goals was a league tournament quarterfinal vs. Friday's opponent, Northern Illinois. BGSU's complete history of MVC-related home matches follows...
EVERY HOME MVC MATCH IN BGSU HISTORY
Date Opponent Result
Sept. 23, 2023 Bradley W 3-1
Sept. 30, 2023 Evansville W 4-2
Oct. 18, 2023 UIC W 3-1
Oct. 27, 2023 #18 Missouri State L 2-5
Nov. 5, 2023 Northern Illinois * L 1-2
* MVC Tournament Quarterfinal

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• Bowling Green is 4-1-0 on the season, heading into the NIU match. The Falcons posted a 3-2, come-from-behind win over Wright State at Cochrane Stadium in the season opener (Aug. 23), before going on the road and defeating both Michigan State (1-0, Aug. 26) and IU Indy (4-1, Aug. 30-31). The 3-0-0 start was the Falcons' first in seven years. BGSU fell to Michigan, 2-0, in Ann Arbor on Labor Day (Sept. 2), but the Falcons bounced back with a 3-2 win over previously unbeaten Butler on Saturday night (Sept. 7).

• The Falcons welcomed back 17 of the 20 players who saw action last season. That group includes nine starters from a 2023 club that went 7-8-3 overall and 4-4-0 in BGSU's first year in the Missouri Valley Conference.

• Sophomore Bennett Painter and junior Trace Terry are tied for the Falcons' scoring lead, with three goals and seven points apiece. Painter scored the winning goal against both WSU and MSU, while Terry recorded the winner vs. Butler.

• Senior Alberto Anaya and junior Andrew Shaffer have five points apiece, while fifth-year Falcon Kyle Cusimano has four.

• Fifth-year Falcon Brendan Graves has played all five matches in goal and has 19 saves, a 1.40 GAA and one shutout. Two of the seven goals BGSU has allowed have come via penalty kicks.

• Graves, Cusimano and Josh Erlandson each have played all 450 minutes this season to date, while Painter and Shaffer have played 448 and 438, respectively.

• Anaya and Terry, BGSU's top-two scorers from a year ago, each were named to the Preseason All-MVC Team in 2024. Both players had 14 points on four goals and six assists last season. Anaya was named to the 2023 All-MVC First Team, with Terry earning all-conference second-team honors.

• In all, BGSU returned six of last year's top-seven scorers.

• In goal, Graves is back after starting every match a year ago. In fact, Graves has played every second of the Falcons' last 45 matches, dating to Oct. 22, 2021.

TOUGH CROWD!
• The Butler match was the Falcons' fifth game of the season. It was also the fifth time BGSU faced a team without a loss in 2024.

• BG's opener was against Wright State, who also was opening the season that evening. The Falcons then met and defeated a Michigan State team coming off a road draw against a top-25 opponent. Both IU Indy and Michigan were unbeaten at the time of their respective meetings with the Falcons over Labor Day weekend.

• After losing by three goals to the Falcons, IU Indy went on the road and played No. 6 Saint Louis to a 1-1 draw.

• And, Butler entered last weekend's match at Cochrane Stadium with a 2-0-2 record after a 1-1 draw against No. 9 Indiana, before falling to the Falcons three days later.

RHYMES WITH SAVES
• Fifth-year Falcon Brendan Graves has had many impressive matches in goal during his tenure in the Orange and Brown, but the performance at Michigan State (Aug. 26) was definitely one of his best. Graves made six saves, with arguably no routine stops among them, in the Falcons' 1-0 win.

• Graves, who has been in goal for every second of every match for more than two years now, recorded the 12th shutout of his Falcon career in the win over MSU. Eight of those 12 clean sheets have come on the road.

• Graves recorded five or more saves in nine matches last season, including in eight of BG's final 12 contests. He has had two such games this season to date, making five stops vs. Butler in addition to his six-save performance vs. the Spartans.

• Entering the NIU match, Graves has a career goals-against average of 1.28, along with 164 saves and (as mentioned) 12 complete-match shutouts. He finished the 2023 season ranked ninth in the nation in total saves (84) and 16th in saves per game (4.67).

• Graves has played every second of the Falcons' last 45 matches, a total of 4,070 minutes. No other BGSU 'keeper has been between the posts since Oct. 22, 2021.

HOME COOKIN'
• Head coach Eric Nichols and the Falcons have made Cochrane Stadium a difficult place to play for the opponents. In the last decade (plus two games) – since the start of the 2014 season – BGSU has a record of 49-15-15 (.715) in home games.

• Since Nichols took the helm prior to the 2009 season, the Falcons have a record of 65-31-22 at home.

ROAD WARRIORS
• Before the month of August had ended, the Falcons had doubled the road win total for all of last season.

• BGSU went 1-6-2 away from home in 2023, but the '24 Falcons began the road portion of the schedule with a 1-0 win over Michigan State (Aug. 26), then went to IU Indy and came away with a 4-1 victory (Aug. 30-31).

THE OPPONENT
• Northern Illinois enters Friday's match with a record of 1-4-0 on the season, and the Huskies are looking to snap a three-game losing streak. Kevin Kelly leads the team with two goals and five points this season to date. In goal, Caleb Pearson has played every second of the first five matches, and has 17 saves and a GAA of 3.20. Head coach Ryan Swan and his staff welcomed back five starters from a season ago, when the club went 7-9-1 overall and 3-4-1 in MVC play.

THE SERIES
• BGSU trails Northern Illinois, 20-19-2, in the all-time series, and the Huskies won both of last season's meetings by identical 2-1 scores. NIU captured the teams' regular-season meeting in DeKalb (Nov. 1, 2023), then won an MVC Tournament quarterfinal-round match at Cochrane Stadium four days later (Nov. 5, 2023). BGSU's last win over the Huskies was a 6-0 home decision on the final night of the 2022 regular season (Nov. 6, 2022). The Falcons are 12-8-0 at home, 6-11-2 on the road and 1-1-0 at neutral sites against the Huskies through the years.

UP NEXT
• Following the NIU matchup, the Falcons will hit the road for a pair of matches, beginning with a Tuesday (Sept. 17) contest at Northern Kentucky. Then, BGSU will head to Peoria next weekend, for a Saturday (Sept. 21) matchup with Bradley.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will end the month of September with home games vs. Eastern Illinois (Sept. 24) and Belmont (Sept. 27).

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), and on the web at BGSUFalcons.com.