Falcons Face Flames Friday, as Home Schedule Concludes

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31 | 7:00 P.M. | COCHRANE STADIUM | BOWLING GREEN, OHIO

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

vs.

UIC
FLAMES
(8-2-4, 1-1-3 MVC)


WATCH: WBGU-TV (YouTube) \| LIVE STATS: BGSU v UIC \| TWITTER/X: @BGSUMSoccer \| INSTAGRAM: bgsumsoccer

SETTING THE SCENE / FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team concludes the home portion of the regular-season schedule on Friday night (Oct. 31). Head coach Eric Nichols and the Falcons face UIC in Missouri Valley Conference action at Cochrane Stadium. First touch is at 7:00 p.m., and admission is free.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will close the regular-season slate with a midweek match at Northern Illinois University. That contest is set for 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday (Nov. 5), at the NIU Track & Field and Soccer Complex.

• BGSU is looking to earn a berth in the MVC Tournament, which begins on Sunday, Nov. 9, with a pair of quarterfinal matches at campus sites.

WHERE TO WATCH
• Friday's UIC contest will be streamed on YouTube, and will be produced by WBGU-TV. Next week's Northern Illinois matchup will be streamed via NIU All-Access.

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 5-7-3 on the season, and BGSU is 1-3-1 in MVC action. BGSU is coming off of a 1-1 draw at Western Michigan Saturday (Oct. 25), as senior Trace Terry converted a penalty kick with under nine minutes to go in the second half. Redshirt sophomore Jason Ball made six saves, the highest total of his young career, against the Broncos.

II – The Falcons currently sit in seventh place in the eight-team MVC, but BGSU is just one point out of sixth and two points away from fourth. All eight league schools have two matches remaining, as every team plays on Friday and next Wednesday (Nov. 5).

III – Terry leads the Falcons with nine goals and 20 points this season, while junior Bennett Painter has 13 points on five goals and three assists. Sophomore Ryko Bodurov 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 eighth place on the BGSU career goals list, and he is now in sole possession of 10th place in career points. The striker has 67 points in 66 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 48 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 – 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 six contests, and has a 1.50 goals-against average and 24 saves.

VIII – 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.

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. That group included Painter (13 goals, 30 points) and Terry (12 goals, 29 points), who combined for a whopping 25 goals, 59 points and nine GWG last fall. 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. He 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. 27 - BG Falcon Media - Once a Falcon, Always a Falcon: Ryan.James Returns to BGSU
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 FLAMES / THE SERIES
• UIC is 8-2-4 overall, and the Flames are 1-1-3 in MVC action heading into Friday night's match. UIC, currently tied for fourth in the league, are looking to bounce back after a 2-1 home loss to Northern Illinois last weekend. The Flames are 5-1-2 at home and 3-1-2 on the road this season to date. Edouard Nys leads the team with 14 goals and 33 points, as UIC has scored a total of 34 goals in 14 matches. Nys is second in the entire nation in both goals per game (1.00) and points per game (2.36), while the Flames are sixth in the land in both categories. In net, Owen Cornell has started 12 contests and has 35 saves, three clean sheets and a 1.50 goals-against average. Last season, head coach Sean Phillips's squad went 7-10-0 overall and 3-5-0 in the MVC.

• BGSU leads UIC, 3-1-0, in the all-time series, with three of the four meetings coming within the last two years. Last season, the Flames picked up a 2-1 victory in Chicago in the regular-season meeting (Oct. 5, 2024), but the Falcons captured a 4-1 decision in the quarterfinal round of the MVC Tournament just over a month later at Cochrane Stadium (Nov. 10, 2024). Ryko Bodurov had a five-point night in the latter match, with two goals and an assist. The Falcons, who are 3-0-0 at home and 0-1-0 on the road in the series, picked up victories in 1991 and 2023 over the visiting Flames.

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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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31 | 7:00 P.M. | COCHRANE STADIUM | BOWLING GREEN, OHIO

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