Erik Van Der Meulen - Women's Soccer Coach - Bowling Green State University Athletics

Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics

Erik Van Der Meulen

Title:
Volunteer Assistant Women's Soccer Coach
Email:
vandere@bgsu.edu
Phone:
419-372-9602

Erik Van Der Meulen enters his fourth season on the Bowling Green State University women's soccer staff in the fall of 2023. Van Der Meulen has helped the Falcons to Mid-American Conference championships and NCAA Tournament berths in each of his first two seasons.

Van Der Meulen joined head coach Jimmy Walker's staff in early 2020, in time for Walker's first season at the helm of the Falcons. Walker and Company took over a team that had won two consecutive MAC titles. The new coaches, at the helm of a program that was expected by many observers to win yet another championship, barely had time to get to know their new team before everyone’s world changed due to the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic.

But, when all was said and done, a season that was unlike any other ended just as the previous two seasons had ended – with BGSU capturing the MAC championship. The Falcons posted a 6-1-1 overall record and a 5-1-0 mark in MAC regular-season play in the spring of 2021, and BG downed Ball State in the conference championship.

The Falcons outscored opponents, 17-3, and all 11 starters return in the fall of 2021. The returning players accounted for all 17 of the goals and 10 of the team’s 11 assists in the spring. Nikki Cox and Madi Wolfbauer were named to both the All-MAC First Team and the United Soccer Coaches All-Region First Team in 2020(-21). Lili Berg, Jasmijn Dijsselhof and Audrey Shea each earned All-MAC honors as well, while Berg and Kennedy White also represented the Falcons on the all-region squad.

The BGSU defensive corps helped the Falcons tie for first in the entire nation in shutout percentage (.750), with six shutouts in the eight matches. At the other end of the pitch, Wolfbauer led a balanced scoring attack with five goals.

In the classroom, a school-record 17 Falcons were named to the Academic All-MAC Team, and BGSU had an eye-popping 3.806 team GPA in the spring 2021 semester.

Then, in the fall of 2021, the Falcons repeated that success. BGSU went 11-7-3 overall and won the MAC regular-season title, posting an 8-2-1 league mark. The Falcons captured the MAC Tournament crown as well with a pair of shutout wins at Cochrane Stadium, advancing to the NCAA Championships yet again.

BGSU topped Buffalo, 1-0, in the league tournament semifinals, then downed Kent State by a 3-0 result in the championship match. The three-goal margin of victory was the program's largest in a MAC Tournament final in program history.

The 2021 season saw Wolfbauer named MAC Offensive Player of the Year, and Shea and Nikki Cox joined her on the all-conference first team, while Berg again was named to the All-MAC Second-Team.

Lacee Bethea was named the MAC Tournament MVP, with Nikki Cox, Shea and Wolfbauer joining her on the MAC's All-Tournament Team. Shea and Katie Cox earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors, and Wolfbauer and Nikki Cox was named to the USC All-Midwest Region Team.

BGSU had a whopping 14 student-athletes named to the 2021 Academic All-MAC Team, and Nikki Cox was named a Scholar All-American by the United Soccer Coaches. Six different Falcons earned end-of-season honors from the Ohio Collegiate Soccer Association (OCSA).

In 2022, BGSU finished the season with an overall record of 9-5-5 and a MAC mark of 6-2-3, good for third place in the 12-team league. The Falcons ended the season on a six-match unbeaten streak, and went 6-1-2 over the last month of the year. In those nine games, BGSU outscored the opponents, 21-4.

White was named the MAC's Offensive Player of the Year, with Maya Dean and Mackenzie Reuber joining her on the All-MAC First Team and Brynn Gardner earning MAC All-Freshman Team honors. BGSU led the MAC with three first-team all-conference selections.

White, Dean and Reuber all were named to the USC All-Midwest Region Team, with six Falcons earning CSC (formerly CoSIDA) All-District honors.

Dean went on to be named to the Academic All-America First Team, becoming just the second student-athlete in school history to be named to the first team. And, a total of 13 Falcons landed on the Academic All-MAC Team in 2022.

The Falcons have gone 26-13-9 overall and 19-5-4 in MAC regular-season action in Van Der Meulen's first three seasons on the staff.