BGSU Battles Unbeaten Butler at Cochrane

Saturday, September 7

Bowling Green, Ohio

7 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Butler

Photo by: Daniel Carlson, BGSU Athletics

September 05, 2024 | Men's Soccer

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

Falcons host Bulldogs Saturday evening

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BGSU vs. BUTLER
Saturday, Sept. 7 | 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 returns home for the next two matches. Head coach Eric Nichols and the Falcons will meet Butler University on Saturday evening (Sept. 7), with first touch set for 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium.

• Then, the Brown and Orange will open Missouri Valley Conference play the following weekend, facing Northern Illinois University on Friday, Sept. 13. That match will also begin at 7:00 p.m., and admission is free to all home regular-season matches at Cochrane.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Both the Butler and NIU matches 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.

TOUGH CROWD! ANOTHER UNDEFEATED OPPONENT AWAITS
• The Butler match is the Falcons' fifth game of the season. It is also the fifth time BGSU will face 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 faced 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 enters this weekend's match at Cochrane Stadium with a 2-0-2 record after a 1-1 draw against No. 9 Indiana on Wednesday night (Sept. 4)
FALCONS VS. THE (UNDEFEATED) FOES IN 2024
Opponent Opp's Record* Result
Wright State 0-0-0 W 3-2
Michigan State 0-0-1 W 1-0
IU Indianapolis 2-0-0 W 4-1
Michigan 2-0-1 L 0-2
Butler 2-0-2 Sat., 7 pm
* Opp's record entering the match against BGSU

AWARD(S) SZN
• The Falcons picked up a pair of awards earlier this week. On Tuesday morning (Sept. 3), Kyle Cusimano was named to the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week.

• Then, later that day, Brendan Graves was named the Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week.

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).

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 had two stops vs. Wright State in this year's opener, before making six saves vs. the Spartans.

• Entering the Butler match, Graves has a career goals-against average of 1.27, along with 159 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 44 matches, a total of 3,980 minutes. No other BGSU 'keeper has been between the posts since Oct. 22, 2021.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• Bowling Green is 3-1-0 on the season, heading into the Butler 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 Monday (Sept. 2).

• 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 the Falcons' first season in the Missouri Valley Conference.

• Sophomore Bennett Painter leads the Falcons in scoring in the early stages of the season, with five points on two goals and an assist. He scored the winning goal against both WSU and MSU.

• Junior Trace Terry and fifth-year Falcon Kyle Cusimano each have four points on the year, while senior Alberto Anaya and junior Andrew Shaffer have three points apiece. Terry is tied with Painter for the team lead in goals, with two.

• Fifth-year Falcon Brendan Graves has played all four matches in goal and has 14 saves, a 1.25 GAA and one shutout. Two of the five goals he has allowed have come via penalty kicks.

• Graves, Cusimano and Josh Erlandson each have played all 360 minutes this season to date, while Painter and Shaffer have played 358 and 348, respectively.

• Anaya and Terry, BGSU's top-two scorers from a year ago, each were named to the Preseason All-MVC Team.

• Anaya and Terry each had 14 points on four goals and six assists a year ago. Anaya was named to the 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 44 matches, dating to Oct. 22, 2021.

HOME COOKIN'
• After the win over Wright State on Aug. 23, BGSU has a record of 11-4-1 in home openers since Eric Nichols took the helm prior to the 2009 season. In all games at Cochrane Stadium during that time, the Falcons are 64-31-22.

• In the last decade (plus one game) – since the start of the 2014 season – BGSU is now 48-15-15 (.712) in home games.

A FEW MORE FALCON FACTS
• The Falcons had a very successful year in the classroom in 2023-24. BGSU had a team grade-point average of 3.41 during the '23-24 academic year.

• The victory over IU Indy was the Falcons' first win by three or more goals since a 6-0 win 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 in that same game was the eighth of his career. He now has 22 career points. Fellow junior Andrew Shaffer scored his seventh career goal in that match and now has 19 career points, while sophomore Bennett Painter now has 13 career points in 17 matches.

• BGSU has scored at least two goals in every home regular-season MVC match in program history. That 'history' began last Sept. 23 with a 3-1 win over Bradley, and BGSU also downed Evansville (4-2; Sept. 30) and UIC (3-1; Oct. 18). The Falcons found the back of the net twice against #18 Missouri State (Oct. 27) as well.

• Since the start of the 2009 season, BGSU is 90-10-7 when scoring two or more goals in a match.

• Entering the Butler match, the Falcons have an overall record of 52-34-15 over the last 101 games, dating to midway through the 2018 season. BGSU has 25 multiple-goal victories in that time.

CAPTAINS
• Alberto Anaya, Kyle Cusimano and Brendan Graves are the captains of the 2024 Falcons. All three are captains for the second-straight season.

THE OPPONENT
• Butler marks the fifth-straight unbeaten team the Falcons will face this season. The Bulldogs will come to Cochrane with a 2-0-2 record after Wednesday's (Sept. 4) 1-1 draw with No. 9 Indiana. BU has recorded wins over Southern Indiana and Oakland, and a draw with Western Illinois. Saturday will mark the Bulldogs' first road match of the season. Ryan Hannosh has a team-high seven points this year, with two goals and three assists, while Josemir Gomez has six points and leads the team with three goals. Caleb Norris has played every second in goal and has eight saves and a GAA of 1.00. Head coach Paul Snape's team was picked to finish fourth in the Midwest Division of the Big East Conference in the preseason coaches' poll, and Palmer Ault was named the league's 2024 Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Last year's club went 2-7-6 and 1-3-4 in Big East Conference play.

THE SERIES
• BGSU and Butler are tied, 1-1-0, in the all-time series, and Saturday's match will be the teams' first-ever meeting in Northwest Ohio. The Falcons picked up a 3-2 road win in September of 1997, with the Bulldogs posting a convincing 5-0 win over the Orange and Brown in October of 2010.

UP NEXT
• Following the Butler battle, the Falcons will host Northern Illinois in the Missouri Valley Conference opener on Friday, Sept. 13. That match is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will hit the road for the next two matches, taking on Northern Kentucky (Sept. 17) and Bradley (Sept. 21) before ending 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.