BGSU Battles MAC-Leading UMass to 2-2 Draw

Thursday, October 1

Bowling Green, Ohio

3 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

5-1-4, 1-0-3

Massachusetts

9-1-1, 3-0-1

Team	1	2	Final F
Massachusetts	1	1	2
Bowling Green	1	1	2

Minah Syam scores against UMass | Oct. 1, 2026

Minah Syam scores her first collegiate goal late in the first half on Thursday

Photo by: Drake Harlett, BGSU Athletics

October 01, 2026 | Women's Soccer

Box Score Photo Gallery

Syam, Butera score as Falcons twice rally from a goal down

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team rallied from a goal down on two occasions Thursday afternoon (Oct. 1), battling the Mid-American Conference's first-place team to a draw. The Falcons and the University of Massachusetts played to a 2-2 deadlock at Cochrane Stadium.

(Scroll down for highlights of BGSU's two goals as well as post-match interviews)

Junior Minah Syam had a goal and an assist for the Falcons (5-1-4, 1-0-3 MAC), while senior Emme Butera found the back of the net for the second-straight match.

Amelia Deren and Monica Curry scored goals for the Minutewomen (9-1-1, 3-0-1 MAC).

The Falcons had a 22-12 advantage in total shot attempts, and each team had eight shots on goal and two corner kicks on the afternoon. BGSU had a lopsided shots advantage of 18-5 after halftime.

Junior Payton O'Malley made five saves in goal for the Falcons, who were credited with a 'team save' as well. Leah Nisenfeld had eight stops for the visitors.

The Minutewomen took the lead just over 16 minutes into the match. A long ball found Caroline Dickson behind the BG defense, and O'Malley came off of her goal line to block a breakaway shot attempt near the 18-yard line. Dickson tracked down the rebound and fired another shot that was blocked by a BG defender, but after a review of the play, a penalty kick was awarded, and Deren took that kick and gave UMass a 1-0 lead.

With 10 minutes left before halftime, though, Syam and the Falcons tied the score. The play began when freshman Olivia McCuen pounced on a wayward UMass backpass near the center circle. McCuen played a ball to classmate Mia Ugarte down the right side of the field, and Ugarte beat her defender and crossed the ball into the penalty area. Syam, charging toward the back post, volleyed the ball out of the air and into the net.

HIGHLIGHTS

Minah Syam did her best Karate Kid impression to get the Falcons on the board in the first half today!#AyZiggy 🟠⚽️🟤 pic.twitter.com/JgroOyWtqa
— BGSU Women's Soccer (@BGSU_WSoccer) October 1, 2026

In the second half, BGSU seemingly had all of the momentum before the Minutewomen took advantage of a mistake to retake the lead. After a BGSU goal kick, an errant pass went right to Curry near the top of the 18, and she took one touch and fired the ball into the right side of the net with just under an hour gone.

But, the Falcons continued to threaten, and finally broke through with 5:19 to go. Senior Ella Kane beat her would-be defender down the left side, angled toward the penalty area and hit a cross. Classmate Isabella Mazzaferro got a touch on the ball on the far side of the box, and Syam played it into the path of Butera. Butera quickly hit a shot from the top of the 18, and the ball took a slight deflection and found its way through the box and into the net.

HIGHLIGHTS

Emme Butera & the Falcons got the game-tying goal with just over five minutes left in the second half!#AyZiggy 🟠⚽️🟤 pic.twitter.com/qeaXTayCSO
— BGSU Women's Soccer (@BGSU_WSoccer) October 1, 2026

BGSU continued to pressure, and had several shots blocked in the penalty area in the final minute of play before the Minutewomen were able to escape with one point.

UMass entered the week listed 18th in the entire nation in the RPI, and the Minutewomen were the MAC's lone unbeaten, untied team prior to Thursday's match.

NOTE OF THE DAY
• One impressive streak ended, while another continued, on Thursday. The Falcons allowed multiple goals in a match for the first time since Oct. 31, 2024. BGSU's streak without allowing more than one goal in a game – the nation's longest entering Thursday – came to an end at 32 games.
• However, the Falcons also scored multiple goals on Thursday. BGSU is now unbeaten in the last 46 home matches (44-0-2) when scoring at least twice. That last time the Falcons scored two or more goals at Cochrane Stadium and lost was nearly 10 years ago (Oct. 20, 2016).

ALSO NOTEWORTHY
• The Falcons have just one loss through 10 matches for only the second time in program history, and the second time in as many years. The 2025 Falcons fell to Illinois in the second game of the season (Aug. 17), then did not suffer a second loss for more than two months, going 8-1-6 to begin the year before losing on Oct. 19.
• Junior Minah Syam scored her first collegiate goal on Thursday, and also had her first three-point match with an assist on Emme Butera's goal.
• Butera's goal, as mentioned, was her second in as many matches. She scored the lone goal of BGSU's win at Central Michigan on Saturday (Sept. 26). Butera now has five career goals, tied for first among active Falcons, and she leads all current team members with a total of 20 points scored at BG.
• BGSU has 11 goals on the season, and they have been scored by nine different players. Only Butera and Taylor Green have scored multiple goals on the year.
• Butera now leads the team with six points this year, while fellow seniors Green and Isabella Mazzaferro each have four.
• Mazzaferro's assist on Thursday gives her totals of three helpers and 11 points at BG.
• Freshman Mia Ugarte had her first collegiate assist against the Minutewomen. Ugarte now has three points on the year.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons head to Kalamazoo, Mich., this weekend, meeting defending MAC regular-season and tournament champion Western Michigan on Sunday (Oct. 4). That game, a rematch of the 2025 MAC Tournament final, will begin at 1:00 p.m. at the WMU Soccer Complex.
• Then, the Orange and Brown will travel to Muncie, Ind., next Saturday, Oct. 10, facing Ball State in another 1:00 p.m. start.
• BGSU's next home match comes on Thursday, Oct. 15, when Toledo comes to Cochrane for a 7:00 p.m. matchup.

Gallery: (10-1-2026) 100126 wsoc v UMass - Drake Harlett

FOR MORE INFORMATION...
• For more information on the women's soccer program, follow the Falcons on Twitter/X (@BGSU_Athletics and @BGSU_WSoccer) and Instagram (bgsu_wsoccer), as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.