Falcons Face Drake Saturday Night in Des Moines

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18 | 8:30 P.M. ET | MEDIACOM STADIUM | DES MOINES, IOWA

BOWLING GREEN
FALCONS
(5-6-2, 1-2-0 MVC)

DRAKE
BULLDOGS
(5-0-6, 0-0-3 MVC)


WATCH: ESPN+ \| LIVE STATS: BGSU @ DU \| TWITTER/X: @BGSUMSoccer \| INSTAGRAM: bgsumsoccer

SETTING THE SCENE / FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team plays three of the final four regular-season matches on the road, beginning Saturday evening (Oct. 18). Head coach Eric Nichols and the Falcons face Drake University – one of just eight remaining undefeated teams in NCAA Division-I men's soccer – in Missouri Valley Conference action at Mediacom Stadium. First touch is set for 8:30 p.m. ET.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will return to the road next weekend, facing Western Michigan University in another Saturday (Oct. 25) matchup. That contest will begin at 12:00 p.m. at the WMU Soccer Complex.

WHERE TO WATCH
• Saturday's Drake match will be streamed via ESPN+. Next weekend's WMU contest will be streamed via YouTube.

SENIOR NIGHT SUCCESS
• The Falcons picked up a 3-1 win over Bradley last Friday (Oct. 10), on Senior Night at Cochrane Stadium. BGSU now has a record of 11-3-3 in Senior Day/Night matches during the Eric Nichols Era. The Falcons are undefeated in the last 13 such contests (10-0-3), having outscored the opponents by a 28-6 count in that 13-match span.

STATS & SOCIAL MEDIA
• Links to live stats (as well as to any available audio/video) for all 2025 matches can always be found on the web at BGSUFalcons.com – both on the men's soccer schedule page and in the right column on the main page – on match day.

THE STARTING XI
I – The Falcons are 5-6-2 on the season after a 3-1 win over Bradley on Friday night (Oct. 10). Senior Trace Terry scored two goals, while junior Bennett Painter found the back of the net as well. BGSU enters the weekend with a 1-2-0 record in MVC play.

II – Redshirt sophomore Jason Ball made his collegiate debut against Northern Kentucky (Sept. 30), and had five saves en route to his first clean sheet. Ball has started the last four contests, and has a 1.50 goals-against average and 16 saves.

III – Terry leads the Falcons with eight goals and 18 points this season, while Painter has 13 points on five goals and three assists. Sophomore Ryko Bodurov had a two-assist game vs. Bradley, and now has three helpers to tie Painter for the team lead. Junior Saul Rios scored his first collegiate goal in the Belmont match, and he and senior Andrew Shaffer (two assists) each have two points on the year.

IV – Terry has moved into a tie for ninth place on the BGSU career goals list, and he is now in sole possession of 11th in career points. The striker has 26 goals and 65 points. Eleven of his goals have been game winners, tying him for second on that Falcon chart.

V – Painter – again, just a junior – has scored 51 points in 46 career matches. He currently has 21 career goals to tie for 14th on that BG chart, and is 23rd in career points at the school.

VI – Junior goalkeeper Enzo Gil started each of BGSU's first nine matches of the season in goal, and has 50 saves, a goals-against average of 1.22 and two clean sheets. Gill, a two-time MVC Defensive Player of the Week this season, is fifth in the nation in saves per game (5.66) and 24th in both total saves and save percentage (.820).

VII – Head coach Eric Nichols and his staff – assistant coaches Gonzalo Carranza, Jack Bennett and Ryan James – have a total of 12 returning student-athletes on the 2025 roster. That group includes six starters from a year ago. A whopping 15 newcomers joined the Falcons in 2025.

VIII – BGSU finished the 2024 season with an overall record of 12-6-2, and the Falcons went 4-3-1 in their second season in the MVC, tying for third place in the then nine-team league. The Orange and Brown picked up wins over UIC and Drake to advance to the championship match of the MVC Tournament, before falling in overtime to Evansville.

IX – Four of the top-six point-scorers from the 2024 club returned. The returnees include a pair of forwards in Painter (13 goals, 30 points) and Terry (12 goals, 29 points) who combined for a whopping 25 goals and 59 points last fall. The duo combined for nine GWG. Terry was named to the All-MVC First Team, and Painter earned all-league second-team honors.

X – Terry was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-America Second Team last season, and also was chosen to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Best XI Third Team. Terry was named to the TDS Preseason Best XI Third Team in 2025.

XI – Last December, Terry was chosen by Seattle Sounders FC in the third round of the MLS SuperDraft. He is the first player in program history to return to the Falcons after being drafted, and is the fifth player in history (and the first since 1999) to come back for another season after being named an All-American.

BGSU MSOC FEATURE & LINKS
Oct. 9 - BG Falcon Media - A Falcon, a Father, a Husband: Aiden.Messinger's Journey to One Final Season
Sept. 27 - BG Falcon Media - Falcons Honor Mickey Cochrane, Recognize 1995 Championship Team During Alumni Weekend
Sept. 26 - BG Falcon Media - From Brazil to Bowling Green: Men's Soccer's New Brazilian Influence
Sept. 22 - BG Falcon Media - Turning Setbacks into Strengths: The Resilient Journey of Amer.Dedic
Sept. 16 - BG Falcon Media - When Passion Meets Opportunity: Michael.Lindh's D1 Soccer Breakthrough
Sept. 1 - BG Falcon Media - Zig Zone One on One: Trace.Terry

THE BULLDOGS / THE SERIES
• Drake has an overall record of 5-0-6 this season, and the Bulldogs are 0-0-3 in MVC play. As of Wednesday afternoon (Oct. 15), Drake was one of just eight unbeaten teams in NCAA Division-I men's soccer. DU has tied Northern Illinois, UIC and Evansville to open up conference play, with the latter two matches ending scoreless. Drake is 3-0-3 at home and 2-0-3 on the road this season. Jackson Kirsch leads the team with nine points on three goals and three assists, while Preston Kipnusu also has three goals, and has seven points on the year. in goal, Tomas Bukovic has started all 11 matches, and has 27 saves, five clean sheets and a goals-against average of just 0.65. Last season, head coach Pat Flinn's club went 9-5-3 overall and 5-1-2 in the MVC.

• The Falcons lead Drake, 2-0-1, in the all-time series, which began in 2023. The first meeting saw Bennett Painter score two goals in a 3-1 win in Des Moines (Oct. 22, 2023). In that match, Painter did not play in the first half, but started the second half and scored his first collegiate goal just 12 seconds into the period. Last season, the teams battled to a scoreless draw in the regular-season meeting at Cochrane Stadium (Oct. 12, 2024), before meeting a month later when a late Trace Terry gave the Falcons a 1-0 win in the MVC Tournament's semifinal round (Nov. 13, 2024) in Springfield, Mo. The Falcons are 0-0-1 in home games, 1-0-0 on the road and 1-0-0 in neutral-site meetings with the Bulldogs through the years.

FOR MORE INFORMATION...
• For more information on BGSU men's soccer, follow the Falcons on Twitter/X (@BGSU_Athletics and @BGSUMSoccer), Instagram (bgfalcons and bgsumsoccer) and Facebook (BGMensSoccer), and on the web at BGSUFalcons.com.

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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18 | 8:30 P.M. ET | MEDIACOM STADIUM | DES MOINES, IOWA

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