Bowling Green State University Athletics
Saturday, October 17
Evansville, Ind.
8 p.m.
Bowling Green State University
5-6-2, 3-1-0
1
at
0
Evansville
3-7-2, 2-1-0
| Team | 1 | 2 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bowling Green | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Evansville | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Photo by: Drake Harlett, BGSU Athletics
Falcons Outlast Evansville, 1-0, to Move into First Place & Give Nichols a Milestone Win
October 17, 2026 | Men's Soccer
McCoy Scores, Ball & BG Back Line Withstand Second-Half Onslaught for Falcons' Fourth-Straight Victory
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Tyson McCoy scored early in the second half, and senior Jason Ball and the back line stood tall down the stretch, as the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team picked up a 1-0 win over the University of Evansville Saturday night (Oct. 17). The Missouri Valley Conference match took place at Arad McCutchan Stadium.
The win was the fourth consecutive victory for the Falcons (5-6-2, 3-1-0 MVC), who move into first place in the conference. (Scroll down to the bottom of the page for updated MVC standings)
And, Saturday's result was a milestone win for coach Eric Nichols, as it was the 200th overall victory of his head-coaching career.
McCoy's goal came in the 54th minute, and came after fellow sophomore Caue Ramos won the ball at midfield. Ramos warded off several challenges from UE defenders, and found McCoy as he entered the right side of the penalty area. McCoy took a touch to his left and fired a shot. Purple Aces goalkeeper Hugo Amo was able to get a hand on the blast, but could not keep the ball from finding the back of the net.
Ball made seven saves, including six in the second half, to earn the road shutout.
The Falcons went down a man early, being shown a red card just over two minutes into the match, but the Aces (3-7-2, 2-1-0 MVC) also were issued a red with just under 17 minutes gone, making it a 10v10 contest for the final 73-plus minutes.
Arguably the Falcons' best chance of the opening half came when freshman Joshua Pedersen's shot was saved on a BG counterattack, and a defender barely beat McCoy to the ball to prevent a follow-up shot inside the 18-yard box.
McCoy, as mentioned, found the back of the net early in the second period. At the time of his goal (53:08), shot attempts for the game were even, at 7-7. From then on, however, Ball and the BG back line withstood a barrage by the Aces' offense, as UE had a whopping 18-2 advantage in the shots column over the final 36 minutes.
Ball made four of his seven saves in the final 10 minutes of the match.
BGSU has won four consecutive matches, with the last three coming in conference play.
NOTE OF THE NIGHT
• Saturday night's victory was win number 200 for head coach Eric Nichols. Nichols had a record of 59-22-2 in four seasons at Ohio Dominican, and now has 141 victories at the helm of the Falcons.
ALSO NOTEWORTHY
• Sophomore Tyson McCoy scored a goal for the second-straight match, and also recorded the game-winning goal for the second consecutive Saturday. McCoy also found the back of the net for what proved to be the winner in last weekend's 3-1 victory over Drake at Cochrane Stadium.
• McCoy now has team-leading totals of three goals and eight points on the season.
• Fellow soph Caue Ramos had the assist on McCoy's goal. Ramos is tied for the BG lead with three assists, and is second on the squad with seven points.
• McCoy and Ramos each have five points in the Falcons' four MVC matches to date.
• Senior Jason Ball recorded his second shutout of the season. Ball, who has played in the last six matches, has 31 saves, two clean sheets and a goals-against average of just 0.67.
• The Falcons scored the first goal of the match just once in this season's first 10 games. But, BGSU has taken a 1-0 lead in each of the last three matches. All three games have been in MVC play, and the Falcons have gone on to win all three.
• BGSU has tripled last season's conference win total, as the Falcons went 1-4-2 in the MVC last fall.
• The Falcons are 2-0-0 on the road in MVC action this season to date, after going 2-9-1 in road contests in the program's first three seasons in the MVC.
• BGSU has won four consecutive matches for the first time in over five years, since Sept. 14-24, 2021. The last five-game winning streak for the Falcons came at the start of the 2017 season (Aug. 26-Sept. 9, 2017).
UP NEXT
• The Falcons step outside of conference play for a Tuesday (Oct. 20) match at Oakland. That game will begin at 7:00 p.m. at Oakland Soccer Field.
• As mentioned, the win over Evansville puts the Orange and Brown atop the MVC standings and sets up a matchup between the first- and second-place teams at Cochrane Stadium next weekend. The Falcons will host Belmont next Sunday afternoon, Oct. 25, with first touch set for 3:00 p.m., and it will be Senior Day for the BGSU program.
FOR MORE INFORMATION...
• For more information on the BGSU men's soccer program, follow the Falcons on Twitter/X (@BGSU_Athletics and @BGSUMSoccer), Instagram (bgfalcons and bgsumsoccer) and Facebook (BGMensSoccer) as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.
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The win was the fourth consecutive victory for the Falcons (5-6-2, 3-1-0 MVC), who move into first place in the conference. (Scroll down to the bottom of the page for updated MVC standings)
And, Saturday's result was a milestone win for coach Eric Nichols, as it was the 200th overall victory of his head-coaching career.
McCoy's goal came in the 54th minute, and came after fellow sophomore Caue Ramos won the ball at midfield. Ramos warded off several challenges from UE defenders, and found McCoy as he entered the right side of the penalty area. McCoy took a touch to his left and fired a shot. Purple Aces goalkeeper Hugo Amo was able to get a hand on the blast, but could not keep the ball from finding the back of the net.
Ball made seven saves, including six in the second half, to earn the road shutout.
The Falcons went down a man early, being shown a red card just over two minutes into the match, but the Aces (3-7-2, 2-1-0 MVC) also were issued a red with just under 17 minutes gone, making it a 10v10 contest for the final 73-plus minutes.
Arguably the Falcons' best chance of the opening half came when freshman Joshua Pedersen's shot was saved on a BG counterattack, and a defender barely beat McCoy to the ball to prevent a follow-up shot inside the 18-yard box.
McCoy, as mentioned, found the back of the net early in the second period. At the time of his goal (53:08), shot attempts for the game were even, at 7-7. From then on, however, Ball and the BG back line withstood a barrage by the Aces' offense, as UE had a whopping 18-2 advantage in the shots column over the final 36 minutes.
Ball made four of his seven saves in the final 10 minutes of the match.
BGSU has won four consecutive matches, with the last three coming in conference play.
NOTE OF THE NIGHT
• Saturday night's victory was win number 200 for head coach Eric Nichols. Nichols had a record of 59-22-2 in four seasons at Ohio Dominican, and now has 141 victories at the helm of the Falcons.
Tonight's win at Evansville is a milestone win for Coach Nichols -- the 200th overall victory of his head-coaching career!!! #GoFalcons #AyZiggy 🟠🟤 https://t.co/pPdHST78la
— BGSU Men's Soccer (@BGSUMSoccer) October 18, 2026
ALSO NOTEWORTHY
• Sophomore Tyson McCoy scored a goal for the second-straight match, and also recorded the game-winning goal for the second consecutive Saturday. McCoy also found the back of the net for what proved to be the winner in last weekend's 3-1 victory over Drake at Cochrane Stadium.
• McCoy now has team-leading totals of three goals and eight points on the season.
• Fellow soph Caue Ramos had the assist on McCoy's goal. Ramos is tied for the BG lead with three assists, and is second on the squad with seven points.
• McCoy and Ramos each have five points in the Falcons' four MVC matches to date.
• Senior Jason Ball recorded his second shutout of the season. Ball, who has played in the last six matches, has 31 saves, two clean sheets and a goals-against average of just 0.67.
• The Falcons scored the first goal of the match just once in this season's first 10 games. But, BGSU has taken a 1-0 lead in each of the last three matches. All three games have been in MVC play, and the Falcons have gone on to win all three.
• BGSU has tripled last season's conference win total, as the Falcons went 1-4-2 in the MVC last fall.
• The Falcons are 2-0-0 on the road in MVC action this season to date, after going 2-9-1 in road contests in the program's first three seasons in the MVC.
• BGSU has won four consecutive matches for the first time in over five years, since Sept. 14-24, 2021. The last five-game winning streak for the Falcons came at the start of the 2017 season (Aug. 26-Sept. 9, 2017).
UP NEXT
• The Falcons step outside of conference play for a Tuesday (Oct. 20) match at Oakland. That game will begin at 7:00 p.m. at Oakland Soccer Field.
• As mentioned, the win over Evansville puts the Orange and Brown atop the MVC standings and sets up a matchup between the first- and second-place teams at Cochrane Stadium next weekend. The Falcons will host Belmont next Sunday afternoon, Oct. 25, with first touch set for 3:00 p.m., and it will be Senior Day for the BGSU program.
FOR MORE INFORMATION...
• For more information on the BGSU men's soccer program, follow the Falcons on Twitter/X (@BGSU_Athletics and @BGSUMSoccer), Instagram (bgfalcons and bgsumsoccer) and Facebook (BGMensSoccer) as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.
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Players Mentioned
GK
/ Men's Soccer
F
/ Men's Soccer
F
/ Men's Soccer
M
/ Men's SoccerTeam Stats
BGS
EVV
Goals
1
0
Shots
9
25
Shots on Goal
4
8
Saves
7
3
Corners
1
6
Fouls
4
4
Scoring Plays
Tyson McCoy (3)
Assisted By: Caue Ramos
GOAL by BGS McCoy, Tyson Assist by Ramos, Caue.
53:08
Game Leaders
fwd
Shots
5
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
mid
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
1
mid
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
0
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