Oct. 25, 2002

Final Stats

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team was clicking on all cylinders Friday afternoon (Oct. 25), and the result was a 7-0 victory over visiting Western Michigan University. The Mid-American Conference match was held at a rainy Cochrane Field.

With the win, the Falcons improve to 10-6-2 overall and 7-3-1 in MAC play. BGSU has clinched at least a fourth-place finish in the league standings, and the Falcons have secured a home match for the quarterfinal round of the MAC Tournament on Nov. 5. The Broncos dropped to 6-8-1 and 4-5-1, respectively.

In perhaps the most dominant performance in the six-year history of the program, BG got on the board quickly, as sophomore Nikki Pucillo headed freshman Leslie Dawley's corner kick past WMU goalkeeper Margie Fleshman just 3:02 into the match. For Pucillo, the goal was her first as a collegian.

The Falcons had a number of good chances over the first 15 minutes of the contest, and BGSU doubled the lead off another set piece. Freshman Julie Trundle took a free kick from the left side of the field, not far from the corner where Dawley took her corner kick leading to Pucillo's goal. Trundle's kick found its way to freshman Samantha Meister on the right side of the net.

For an instant, it appeared the ball might scoot past Meister on the wet grass, but she flicked her right foot up behind her and struck the ball with the outside of her foot, placing it just inside the right post at the 10:12 mark.

The Brown and Orange increased the lead at 30:38. Trundle played a through-ball to freshman Britt Anderson as the Western defenders attempted an unsuccessful offside trap. The Falcons went in on Fleshman on a 3-on-0, and Anderson took her time and slide the ball into the left side of the goal.

BGSU outshot WMU by a 15-11 margin in the first half, and BG had a slight 9-6 edge in shots on goal. But, the Falcons had a three-goal advantage at the break. The visitors' best chance of the first half might have come with five minutes left, on a shot by Andrea Tyler from point-blank range that was stopped by BG senior Erika Flanders.

The second half started the same way the first half began, with a Falcon player getting her first collegiate goal approximately three minutes in. Freshman Keeley Dayton's shot was blocked off the line by the Broncos' Michelle Palazzolo, but the rebound went to junior Carrie Richards, who one-timed the ball into the open net at 47:49.

Senior Jill Conover got on the scoreboard at the 72:22 mark. Conover took a pass from sophomore Kristy Coppes and dribbled the ball to the end line. She eluded a WMU defender, took the ball along the end line to the left side of the goal and slid it just inside the near post, past WMU 'keeper Anni Maclear. Maclear, who played the second half for the Broncos, was seeing her first action of the season in goal.

Coppes, who drew the assist on Conover's goal, got two goals of her own in the late going. The sophomore, who had had four or five close calls in the match to that point, finally broke through at the 87:23 mark. She converted freshman Ashley Wentzel's corner kick for her ninth goal of the year.

With just 30 seconds left, another WMU offsides trap failed, and Coppes went in all alone after receiving Conover's pass. Coppes easily had time to deke Maclear and slide the ball home for her 10th marker of the season.

For the match, the Falcons held a 25-20 advantage in total shot attempts, and a 16-9 edge in shots on goal. Flanders made nine saves to earn the shutout for the Brown and Orange.

For WMU, Fleshman made seven saves, while Maclear had one. The Falcons had an 8-2 edge in corner kicks, and BGSU scored goals directly off two of those kicks.

A total of 10 different players had at least one point on the afternoon for the Brown and Orange.

"That was a tremendous team performance," said Falcon head coach Andy Richards. "We really took (finished) our chances. At halftime, I remember looking at the scoreboard and thinking that the stats looked pretty even, yet we were three goals up.

"The difference was the great goalkeeping from Erika -- she made a great leg save, and held on to a number of spinning shots without giving up rebounds -- and the fact that we finished very well.

"We talked to the team at halftime about not relaxing, and about trying to do all of the things that we normally do in practice. That's the big test; you can do things in practice, because you're playing against your teammates, and there's less pressure. But, we transferred those things from practice to the game, and that's what is really pleasing.

"As I've said, we have a lot of depth and talent. It is a nice thing to have, but it is hard to find minutes to get everyone on the field. But, I thought we did a good job of getting a lot of people a lot of playing time today, while still keeping the momentum and getting contributions from everyone in one manner or another.

"We had quite a breakout day today, but we have scored pretty consistently over the last few games, which is very pleasing. There was a time in the first part of the season, where we weren't scoring quite so much. We were getting some 1-0 and 2-1 wins, but we were not quite as effective or dangerous at the offensive end.

"Lately, though, we have been getting great performances, both from the people setting up the goal-scorers as well as the players that have been finishing. We are a more free-scoring team lately, and that is a credit to everyone. Players getting individual stats and records are nice, but when we win, we win as a team, and everyone on the team has contributed to our recent success in some way.

"Our confidence is very high right now, and we are playing very well. We will look to keep the momentum going on Sunday."

The Falcons will return to action with a Sunday (Oct. 27) match vs. Northern Illinois University. That match, which will close the MAC schedule for BG, begins at noon at Cochrane Field. BGSU's senior class of Conover, Flanders, Tracy Gleixner and Susan Wallace will be recognized in "Senior Day" ceremonies prior to the match.

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