Oct. 29, 2000

Bowling Green, Ohio -

The Bowling Green State University men's soccer squad defeated three-time Mid-American Conference champion Akron, 2-1, Sunday afternoon at BG's Cochrane Field.

The Falcons are now 8-7 overall and finish the league portion of their schedule with a 4-2 mark. Akron falls to 7-6-3 overall and also finishes with a MAC record of 4-2. Kentucky and Marshall, who completed their conference schedules earlier, both had league records of 4-2. BG went 2-1 against the three other co-champions (as did Marshall), while both Kentucky and Akron were 1-2. The Falcons defeated Marshall (1-0 on Oct. 14) and will receive the No. 1 seed for next weekend's MAC quarterfinals and semifinals at Buffalo.

BG opened the scoring against the Zips when senior Matt Lyons header to the far post just 6:30 into the match beat Akron goalkeeper Kyle Milligan. Senior Gene Braxton sent the ball in to Lyons from the left side.

Akron tied the game at one at the 13:49 mark when Ørjan Bjånesø put in a rebound of a Pat Beattie shot.

Falcon freshman P.J. Behan's match-winning goal at the 51:21 mark deflected off an Akron defender into the top part of the net. Senior Fred Degand had sent a header back to Behan to set up the winning score.

BG goalkeeper David DeGraff made three saves, while senior Tommy Thomas earned a "team save" when he cleared the ball off the goal line in the first half. UA goalkeeper Kyle Milligan made five saves. Akron held a 16-12 edge in total shots, with BG leading in shots on goal, 7-4.

The Falcons will conclude the regular-season on Tuesday with a home match against Michigan State. Kickoff at Cochrane Field is slated for 3:30 p.m.