Falcons Head to Kalamazoo for Saturday Bout with Broncos

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25 | 12:00 P.M. | WMU SOCCER COMPLEX | KALAMAZOO, MICH.

BOWLING GREEN
FALCONS
(5-7-2, 1-3-0 MVC)

WESTERN MICHIGAN
BRONCOS
(4-8-2, 1-1-2 MVC)


WATCH: YouTube \| LIVE STATS: BGSU @ WMU \| TWITTER/X: @BGSUMSoccer \| INSTAGRAM: bgsumsoccer

SETTING THE SCENE / FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team returns to the road to meet a familiar foe this weekend. Head coach Eric Nichols and the Falcons head to Kalamazoo for a Saturday-afternoon (Oct. 25) matchup with Western Michigan University. The Missouri Valley Conference match is scheduled to begin at 12:00 p.m. at the WMU Soccer Complex.

• The Broncos are BGSU's second-most common opponent in program history, as Saturday will be the teams' 59th meeting.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will close the home portion of the regular-season schedule the following weekend, welcoming UIC to town for a Friday (Oct. 31) contest. That game will begin at 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium, and admission is free.

WHERE TO WATCH
• Saturday's WMU match will be streamed via YouTube. The UIC contest will also be streamed on YouTube, and will be produced by WBGU-TV.

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 5-7-2 on the season, and BGSU is 1-3-0 in MVC action. BG picked up a 3-1 win over Bradley (Oct. 10) at Cochrane Stadium, before dropping a 2-0 decision at Drake last weekend (Oct. 18). Senior Trace Terry scored two goals vs. Bradley, while junior Bennett Painter found the back of the net as well.

II – Redshirt sophomore Jason Ball made his collegiate debut against Northern Kentucky on Sept. 30, and had five saves en route to his first clean sheet. Ball has started the last five contests, and has a 1.60 goals-against average and 18 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 65 points in 65 career matches. Terry has 26 goals, and 11 of those have been game winners, tying him for second on that Falcon chart.

V – Painter – again, just a junior – has scored 51 points in 47 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 1.22 GAA and two clean sheets. Gill has been a two-time MVC Defensive Player of the Week this season.

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 BRONCOS / THE SERIES
• Western Michigan is 4-8-2 overall, and the Broncos are currently 1-1-2 in MVC play. Western is undefeated in the last three matches, with wins over Detroit Mercy and Bradley sandwiched around a scoreless draw vs. Northern Illinois. WMU is 3-2-2 at home and 1-6-0 on the road this season to date. Braxton Arpachinda leads the Broncos with nine points, on three goals and three assists, while Jonathan Stout has eight points on a team-high four goals. Alex Lindewirth has made eight starts in goal, while Timi Adams has started six matches. Lindewirth has 29 saves and a 1.53 a goals-against average, while Adams has 12 stops and a 2.46 GAA. Last season, head coach Chad Wiseman's squad went 12-3-6 overall and 3-1-4 in MVC action.

• BGSU leads Western Michigan, 29-23-6, in the all-time series, and the Falcons picked up a 3-0 victory at Cochrane Stadium last season (Nov. 1, 2024), snapping a three-match series winning streak for the Broncos. It marked the first win for the Falcons over WMU in exactly 10 years to the day. The teams' last meeting in Kalamazoo saw the Broncos come away with a 1-0 win two years ago (Sept. 16, 2023). Saturday will be the 59th meeting in the series. BGSU has played WMU more than any other opponent except Akron (67 meetings). The Falcons are 17-5-5 at home, 11-16-1 on the road and 1-2-0 in neutral-site matches vs. the Broncos 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 25 | 12:00 P.M. | WMU SOCCER COMPLEX | KALAMAZOO, MICH.

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