Oct. 10, 2000

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, after recording a much-needed home win, will look to continue that success with a pair of Mid-American Conference home matches this weekend. The Falcons (6-6-0 overall, 4-3 MAC) will host Marshall University (6-7-0, 2-6 MAC) in a Friday (Oct. 13) afternoon contest. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at BGSU's Cochrane Field.

Following the MU contest, the Falcons of first-year head coach Andy Richards will complete what has become a six-match homestand Sunday afternoon (Oct. 15). On that date, the Brown and Orange will host Ohio University (6-7-0, 4-3 MAC) in a 3:00 p.m. match at Cochrane.

HEAD COACH ANDY RICHARDS: Andy Richards is in his first year as a head coach, and has a 6-6-0 record heading into the Marshall match. Richards, who came to BGSU after five years as an assistant coach at Oregon State University, was hired in April.

Ashlee Orr was named the BGSU assistant coach in late August.

THE OPPONENTS: Marshall enters the week with a 6-7-0 overall record, and the Thundering Herd will play a Wednesday (Oct. 11) contest at Morehead State before heading to BG. Marshall is 2-6 in MAC action after a pair of home losses last weekend. The Herd fell to Central Michigan, 2-1 in overtime, on Friday (Oct. 6) before losing a 2-0 match to Eastern Michigan Sunday (Oct. 8). MU is 2-2 on the road this year heading into the Morehead State match. Freshman Amanda McMahon leads the team in goals and points, with 10 and 22, respectively. Sophomore Kelly Posey has six goals and 15 points on the year, and goalkeeper Kayla Johnson, a junior, has six shutouts and a goals-against average of just 1.07. Last year, Marshall finished with a 6-10-3 record, including a 2-7-2 MAC mark. Head coach Teresa Patterson has a record of 16-30-4 in her third year, all in Huntington. More information on the team can be found at www.Herdzone.com.

Ohio, like Marshall, enters the week with a 6-7-0 overall mark, and the Bobcats are 4-3 in MAC play heading into a Friday contest at Toledo. OU began MAC action with a 4-0 record, but the 'Cats have lost three consecutive matches, including last weekend's home contests against EMU (1-0) and CMU (4-1). Freshman Christel Schiering leads the team with six goals and 14 points on the season. A year ago, Ohio went 9-10-1 overall and finished fifth in the MAC with a 6-4-1 league ledger. Ohio mentor Stacy Strauss is in her first season as a collegiate head coach. More information on the Bobcats can be accessed at www.ohiobobcats.com.

THE SERIES: The Falcons lead Marshall, 1-0-1, in the all-time series between the schools, and the teams will be meeting in Bowling Green for the first time Friday. Two years ago, Tracy Gleixner and Janice Mentrup scored goals, and Michelle Lisy posted the first complete-match shutout in school history in a 2-0 Falcon win (Oct. 16, 1998). Last season, Lisy scored two goals in the final 3:18 of regulation as the teams battled to a 3-3 tie (Oct. 10, 1999). Stephanie Heller scored the other BGSU goal.

Ohio has a 2-0-1 lead in the series with the Falcons, and BGSU is still looking for its first goal vs. the Bobcats. In the only previous meeting at Cochrane Field, OU posted a 4-0 win in the rain and snow (Oct. 26, 1997). The Bobcats won a 2-0 decision two years ago (Oct. 18, 1998), then the teams played to the only scoreless tie in Falcon history last year (Oct. 8, 1999).

LAST TIME OUT: The Falcons played just two of last week's three scheduled matches, splitting those contests. BGSU travelled to Wright State for a non-conference tilt Wednesday (Oct. 4), but the contest was halted after nearly 17 minutes due to an electrical storm.

On Friday (Oct. 6), Miami rallied from a 1-0 deficit for a 4-1 win over the Falcons at Cochrane Field. Ashley Enser gave the Falcons the lead midway through the first half, with Leslie Hepfinger assisting. But, the RedHawks got a goal just before the half, then took the lead early in the second half en route to the win.

BGSU got on the board first on Sunday (Oct. 8), as Hepfinger scored with less than 13 minutes gone. Erika Flanders made sure that Ball State would not come back, making seven saves to earn a shutout in the 3-0 win. Hepfinger had an assist along with her goal, and Janice Mentrup also had a goal and an assist. Stephanie Heller scored the other BGSU goal.

NOTING THE FALCONS: The Falcons are currently embroiled in the race for home-field advantage for the MAC Tournament's quarterfinal round ... BGSU is in a four-way tie for fourth place with two weeks left in the MAC schedule ... the top-eight MAC teams qualify for the league tourney, with seeds one through four hosting quarterfinal contests on Oct. 31 ... BGSU's best-ever MAC finish was a sixth-place showing in 1998 ... Sunday's win over Ball State allowed the Falcons to surpass last year's victory total ... BGSU is now 6-6 after finishing 5-11-3 in 1999 ... BGSU has doubled the 1999 MAC win total, as the Falcons finished last year at 2-6-3 in conference play, but currently are 4-3 within the league ... junior Leslie Hepfinger had a solid weekend ... she assisted on BGSU's lone goal, scored by senior Ashley Enser, in Friday's Miami match ... then, on Sunday, Hepfinger had the match-winning goal vs. BSU ... she stole a Cardinal pass and scored unassisted ... Hepfinger also added an assist on a goal by senior Stephanie Heller, and she saved a goal at the other end of the field ... Hepfinger cleared a BSU shot off the line with approximately 13 minutes left to help preserve the shutout ... that shutout was the third of the season for sophomore Erika Flanders, setting a BGSU single-season record ... Flanders also holds the career record with five complete-match shutouts ... in fact, she holds nearly every BGSU career goalie record, including victories (11) and saves (156) ... both of Hepfinger's goals this season have been match winners ... after entering the season with a career total of 10 points, senior Ashley Enser has eight points this year ... her total of four assists this fall matches her total for the previous three years ... freshman goalie Ashley Beel made her first collegiate start vs. Miami, and made six saves ... a total of 18 players have started at least one match this season ... the win over Ball State broke a 10-match home losing streak for the Brown and Orange, dating to last Sept. 15 (2-0 vs. Kent) ... BGSU has outshot the opponent in three of this season's four home matches ... five players - seniors Ashley Enser and Janice Mentrup, juniors Leslie Hepfinger and Mandy Smith, and sophomore Jill Conover - have started every match this season ... Ashley Enser and Mentrup have started all 69 contests in the history of the program.

MAC STANDINGS

Team (Overall)                MAC    Pts.
Buffalo (10-4-0)             6-1-0    18
Miami (7-5-0)                5-2-0    15
Western Michigan (7-5-1)     4-2-1    13
Bowling Green (6-6-0)        4-3-0    12
Central Michigan (6-8-0)     4-3-0    12
Eastern Michigan (6-6-2)     4-3-0    12
Ohio (6-7-0)                 4-3-0    12
Toledo (4-7-1)               3-4-1    10
Northern Illinois (4-9-1)    2-4-1     7
Kent State (6-6-1)           2-5-0     6
Marshall (6-7-0)             2-6-0     6
Ball State (5-7-2)           1-5-1     4
(standings as of Tuesday morning, Oct. 10)