BGSU, Looking to Earn MVC Tournament Berth, Faces NIU Wednesday

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5 | 7:00 P.M. | NIU TRACK & FIELD AND SOCCER COMPLEX | DEKALB, ILL.

BOWLING GREEN
FALCONS
(5-7-4, 1-3-2 MVC)

NORTHERN ILLINOIS
HUSKIES
(7-4-4, 2-1-3 MVC)


WATCH: NIU All-Access \| LIVE STATS: BGSU @ NIU \| TWITTER/X: @BGSUMSoccer \| INSTAGRAM: bgsumsoccer

SETTING THE SCENE / FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team, looking to secure a Missouri Valley Conference Tournament berth, hits the road to conclude the regular-season schedule on Wednesday night (Nov. 5). Head coach Eric Nichols and the Falcons face Northern Illinois University, with first touch scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET at the NIU Track & Field and Soccer Complex in DeKalb, Ill.

• The MVC Tournament begins on Sunday (Nov. 9) with a pair of quarterfinal matches at campus sites.

A BGSU WIN WOULD...
• ... give the Falcons a chance to make the MVC Tournament field. The Falcons need a win at NIU as well as a UIC loss to Western Michigan on Wednesday night.

• In the event of a BGSU win and a tie in the UIC-WMU match, the Falcons would have a chance to qualify for the tournament, but UIC currently holds the tiebreaker by virtue of goal differential.

WHERE TO WATCH
• Wednesday night's match at Northern Illinois 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 5-7-4 on the season, and BGSU is 1-3-2 in MVC action. BGSU has played to 1-1 draws in each of the last two matches, at Western Michigan (Oct. 25) and at home against UIC (Oct. 31). Senior Trace Terry scored BGSU's goal in each game, while redshirt sophomore Jason Ball posted career-high save totals in back-to-back contests. Ball made six saves against the Broncos and nine vs. the Flames.

II – Heading into the final day of the regular season, the Falcons sit in seventh place in the eight-team MVC. To have a chance to qualify for the six-team league tournament, BGSU needs a win at NIU and a UIC loss against Western Michigan. The Falcons could get into the tournament with a win over NIU and a draw in the UIC-WMU match, but currently, UIC would win the tiebreaker. The first tiebreaker is head-to-head results, and the Falcons and Flames played to a draw. The second tiebreaker is goal differential in conference games, and UIC currently has a goal differential of 0 while BG is at -6.

III – Terry leads the Falcons with 10 goals and 22 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.

IV – Terry has moved into a tie for seventh place on the BGSU career goals list, and he is now in sole possession of eighth place in career points. The striker has 69 points in 67 career matches. Terry has 27 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 49 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 goals-against average and two clean sheets. Gil 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. He has now started the last seven contests, and has a 1.43 GAA and 33 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.

IX – 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 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.

X – 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.

XI – 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. Terry was chosen by Seattle Sounders FC in the third round of the MLS SuperDraft last December. 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 HUSKIES / THE SERIES
• Northern Illinois is 7-4-4 overall, and the Huskies are 2-1-3 in MVC action heading into Wednesday night's match. NIU is currently tied for second place in the league, and the Huskies put together a seven-match unbeaten streak (4-0-3) which included a win over Notre Dame, before falling to Evansville, 1-0, on Friday (Oct. 31). Vance Sheffield leads a balanced scoring attack with six goals and 14 points, and four of his teammates have at least nine points on the year. Atahan Arslan has started 13 of the Huskies' 15 matches and has 35 saves, three clean sheets and a 1.19 goals-against average. Last season, head coach Ryan Swan's club went 3-12-1 overall and 1-6-1 in the MVC.

• BGSU and NIU are tied, 20-20-2, in the all-time series. Last season, the Falcons picked up a 2-1 victory at Cochrane Stadium (Sept. 13, 2024). Two years ago, the Huskies won a pair of 2-1 decisions, including in the final regular-season game in DeKalb (Nov. 1, 2023) and at Cochrane in the MVC Tournament four days later (Nov. 5, 2023). The Falcons are 13-8-0 at home, 6-11-2 on the road and 1-1-0 in neutral-site matchups with the Huskies over 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.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5 | 7:00 P.M. | NIU TRACK & FIELD AND SOCCER COMPLEX | DEKALB, ILL.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jason Ball

Ryko Bodurov

Enzo Gil

Bennett Painter

Trace Terry

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Bowling Green State University Athletics