Fly the Flag! Falcons Knock Off Kentucky, 2-1, in Lexington

Sunday, September 6

Lexington, Ky.

1 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

3-1-1, 0-0-0

Kentucky

4-3-0, 0-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Bowling Green	1	1	2
Kentucky	0	1	1

BGSU vs Purdue
BGSU Womens Soccer
August 5 2026
Drake Harlett | BGSU Athletics

Lizzie Bultynck (17) scored in the 86th minute as BGSU topped UK Sunday afternoon

Photo by: Drake Harlett

September 06, 2026 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Bultnyck's 86th-minute goal gives BG first Power Four win in 25 years

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Senior Lizzie Bultynck scored with just over four minutes to go, lifting the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team to a 2-1 win over the University of Kentucky on Sunday afternoon (Sept. 6). The non-conference thriller was held at the Bell Soccer Complex.

For the Falcons (3-1-1), the win was the first over an SEC team in program history and the first over a Power Four school in 25 years.

Senior Audrey Oliver also scored for the Falcons, while classmates Ella Kane and Emme Butera each had assists in the win.

Kane, who began her collegiate career at UK, assisted on Oliver's goal with just over 18 minutes gone. Butera began the scoring sequence by playing a ball into the 18-yard box. Kane, on the left side of the box, one-timed it back into the path of Oliver, who volleyed it into the upper half of the goal to give the visitors the lead.

The Falcons took that advantage into the half, but the Wildcats (4-3-0) equalized with just over an hour gone. Kyla Dawn knotted the score with a header off of a Michelle Moskau corner kick at the 61:23 mark.

But, the Falcons had a 6-1 advantage in shot attempts in the game's final 12 minutes. With just over eight minutes to go, junior Alexis Tsaprailis hit the crossbar after a long individual run, and just under four minutes later, Bultynck gave the Orange and Brown the lead.

After a foul and a yellow card on the Wildcats near midfield, Butera took the ensuing free kick. From near the BG bench, the senior played a long ball into the box. Bultynck was there to redirect the ball past UK goalkeeper Megan Holland for what would prove to be the winning goal.

Junior Payton O'Malley had four saves in the win, with all four stops coming in the second half. Holland made five saves for the Wildcats.

BGSU had advantages of 10-8 in total shot attempts and 7-5 in shots on goal. UK had six corner kicks to the Falcons' one.

Audrey Oliver gets the Falcons on the board in the 19th minute!#AyZiggy 🟠⚽️🟤 pic.twitter.com/qZ4Voz8Isw
— BGSU Women's Soccer (@BGSU_WSoccer) September 6, 2026

The winning goal at Kentucky...#AyZiggy 🟠⚽️🟤 pic.twitter.com/IVUsQqCRyK
— BGSU Women's Soccer (@BGSU_WSoccer) September 6, 2026

NOTEWORTHY
• As mentioned, the win was BGSU's first-ever victory over a Southeastern Conference program. The Falcons are now 1-4-2 against current members of the SEC, with the draws coming against UK in 2019 and Ole Miss in the 2020 NCAA Tournament (played in April of 2021).
• Sunday's victory was BG's first win over a Power Four opponent in 25 years and just the third in program history. BGSU's prior such victories came against a pair of Big Ten Conference foes, Michigan State in 1999 and Ohio State in 2001. The Falcons also have defeated Pittsburgh (2002) and Cincinnati (2003), but those schools were not in Power Four conferences at the time (Pitt, now in the ACC, was in the Big East, while Cincinnati, now in the Big 12, was a member of Conference USA).
• BGSU's 3-1-1 start is tied for the third-best five-game start in program history. The 2001 team is the only squad to go undefeated through five matches, with a 3-0-2 record, and the 2020 team matched the '01 club in winning percentage (.800), going 4-1-0 through five matches. The 2002 and 2025 teams, like the current edition of the Falcons, each began the year at 3-1-1.
• Senior Isabella Mazzaferro led all players with three shot attempts in the match, while classmates Lizzie Bultynck and Emme Butera had two apiece. Both Mazzaferro and Bultynck had two shots on goal to tie UK's Teagan Myers for game honors.
• Bultynck's goal was her first of the season and the fifth of her BGSU career. It was her first game-winning goal as a Falcon.
• Bultynck now has career totals of five goals and 14 points.
• Senior Audrey Oliver scored her first goal of the season and the third of her career. Oliver now has seven career points on three goals and an assist.
• Butera, the Falcons' active assist leader, now has two this season and 10 in her BGSU career.
• Senior Ella Kane registered her first point of the season with the primary assist on Oliver's goal. Kane now has seven points as a Falcon and nine points in her collegiate career. She had two points with a goal as a freshman at UK during the 2023 season.
• Senior Lexi White saw her first action of the season on Sunday, coming off the bench vs. the Wildcats.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons will return home for back-to-back Thursday-evening matches, ending the non-conference schedule against Detroit Mercy this coming week (Sept. 10). The UDM match also will be Senior Night for the Falcons, with several members of the program recognized in ceremonies prior to the match.
• Then, the Orange and Brown will open the Mid-American Conference slate one week later (Thursday, Sept. 17), with Eastern Michigan comes to Cochrane Stadium. Both the UDM and EMU contests will begin at 7:00 p.m., and admission is free.

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.