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Senior Kristy Coppes and the Falcons will face Kent State in a MAC Tournament match Tuesday
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Falcons Face Kent State in MAC Tournament
Eighth-seeded BGSU heads to NE Ohio for Tuesday match.
Nov. 1, 2004
Complete Release (7 pages) in PDF Format
BGSU Cumulative Stats (1 page) in PDF Format
KSU Cumulative Stats (1 page) in PDF Format
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Official MAC Tournament site
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, having qualified for the Mid-American Conference Tournament, will open tourney play with a quarterfinal match Tuesday (Nov. 2) ... the Falcons of head coach Andy Richards (7-11-2, 5-5-2 MAC), the eighth seed for the eight-team tournament, will head to Northeast Ohio to face top-seeded Kent State University ... that match is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. at the KSU Soccer Field ... the BGSU-KSU winner will join the survivors of the other three quarterfinal matches for Friday's (Nov. 5) semifinal contests, which will be held at the highest remaining seed among the four seeds ... the championship contest will be held Sunday (Nov. 7) at the semifinal site ... BGSU has made it to the championship match in two of Richards' first four seasons.
LOOKING TO PULL THE UPSET (AGAIN)
The Falcons enter the 2004 MAC Tournament as the eighth and final seed for the tournament ... only once has an eighth seed advanced past the first round of the league tourney ... last year's BGSU team, also seeded eighth, upset top-seeded Eastern Michigan in the quarterfinal round and advanced all the way to the final ... in fact, in the 45 matches in MAC Tournament history, the lower team has pulled the upset on 16 occasions ... BGSU has upset an opponent with a better seed five times, including four times under head coach Andy Richards ... last year's team, obviously, was the biggest Cinderella in MAC Women's Soccer Tournament history ... the 2000 squad was seeded seventh, but won a pair of matches and lost the championship match in overtime ... the 1998 team was the sixth seed, but picked up a quarterfinal win.
MAC TOURNAMENT UPSETS #8 Bowling Green 2, #1 Eastern Michigan 1 - 2003 QF
#8 Bowling Green 0, #5 Central Michigan 0 - 2003 SF %
#7 Bowling Green 2, #2 Eastern Michigan 1 - 2000 QF
#7 Ohio 1, #2 Kent State 0 - 2003 QF
#7 Bowling Green 2, #6 Western Michigan 1 - 2000 SF
#6 Bowling Green 1, #3 Eastern Michigan 0 - 1998 QF
#6 Western Michigan 2, #3 Central Michigan 1 - 2000 QF
#5 Ohio 2, #4 Buffalo 1 (2-OT) - 1999 QF
#5 Central Michigan 2, #4 Ball State 0 - 2003 QF
#4 Miami 2, #1 Buffalo 0 - 2000 SF
#4 Central Michigan 2, #1 Ohio 1 (4-OT) - 2001 SF
#3 Eastern Michigan 2, #2 Western Michigan 1 - 1997 SF
#3 Miami 2, #2 Central Michigan 1 - 1999 SF
#3 Miami 4, #2 Eastern Michigan 1 - 2001 SF
#3 Ohio 1, #2 Ball State 0 - 2002 SF
#2 Northern Illinois 2, #1 Ohio 1 (3-OT) - 1998 Champ.
% BGSU advanced on penalty kicks
THIS SOUNDS FAMILIAR
For the second straight season, the Falcons had a 4-5-2 MAC record heading into the final league regular-season match ... and, for the second consecutive year, BGSU needed a road win in that contest to qualify for the MAC Tournament ... last season, the Brown and Orange got a Samantha Meister goal in overtime for a 4-3 win at Marshall ... that win, combined with an Akron loss to Miami, gave the Falcons the eighth and final seed in the 2003 league tourney ... the Falcons then proceeded to become the lowest seed to advance to the MAC Tournament's championship match ... this year, BG got three second-half goals to down host Toledo, 3-0, and qualify for the tournament.
BGSU'S MAC TOURNAMENT FACTS
The Falcons are competing in the MAC Tournament for the fifth time in the team's eight-year history, and BGSU has made the tourney for the third consecutive year, the longest such run in school annals ... each of the previous four Falcon teams to qualify for the tourney advanced at least as far as the semifinal round, with two of Andy Richards' first four teams making it all the way to the championship match.
BGSU has the third-best MAC Tournament record among all conference teams, with 5-4-1 mark all-time ... the Falcons' .550 winning percentage trails only Miami (11-0-1, .958) and Northern Illinois (5-1-0, .833).
The Falcons, the eighth and final seed for the second consecutive year, became the lowest seed to win a match, then the lowest seed to qualify for the championship contest, when last year's team advanced past Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan ... in fact, as mentioned, the lower seed has won 16 of the 45 matches in MAC Tournament history, and BGSU has been that lower-seeded winner on five occasions ... only three times has a team seeded five or more spots lower than the opponent won a match, and the Falcons have been the victor in two of those matches ... prior to the win by last year's eighth-seeded team, BGSU's seventh-seeded squad in 2000 had pulled the biggest upset in tourney history, with a first-round win at EMU.
BGSU enters Tuesday's match with a perfect 4-0 record in MAC Tournament quarterfinal matches ... ironically, BGSU's two lowest-seeded teams have made the deepest runs in the league tourney ... the 2000 team, seeded seventh, and last year's eighth-seeded team each advanced all the way to the championship round before succumbing ... in 1998, BGSU was seeded sixth, but won a quarterfinal match before losing in the semis ... in 2002, the Falcons earned the highest-ever seed in school history -- fourth -- and won the lone home tourney match in BG annals before losing in the next round.
In each of the Falcons' four previous tourney trips, BGSU has been eliminated by the eventual tournament champion.
Eight of BGSU's 10 MAC Tournament matches have been decided by one goal or fewer, including all four quarterfinal round wins ... the lone exceptions have been the 2002 semifinal loss to Miami (3-0) and last year's championship-match setback to Western Michigan (4-1).
The Falcons are 1-1 against the #1 seed in MAC Tournament play ... BGSU is also 1-1 against both the #2 and #3 seeds over the years ... the Falcons have been the lower-seeded team in nine of the previous 10 league tourney matches, and BG will be the lower seed again on Tuesday vs. KSU.
BGSU'S MAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY (5-4-1)
Home: 1-0 // Away: 3-2 // Neutral: 1-2-1 // OT: 1-2-1 1998 (#6 seed)
QF A def. #3 Eastern Michigan, 1-0
SF N lost to #2 Northern Illinois, 2-1 (OT)
2000 (#7 seed)
QF A def. #2 Eastern Michigan, 2-1
SF N def. #6 Western Michigan, 2-1
Ch. N lost to #4 Miami, 1-0 (2-OT)
2002 (#4 seed)
QF H def. #5 Buffalo, 2-1 (2-OT)
SF A lost to #1 Miami, 3-0
2003 (#8 seed)
QF A def. #1 Eastern Michigan, 2-1
SF N tied #5 Central Mich., 0-0 (2-OT) %
Ch. A lost to #3 Western Michigan, 4-1
H/A/N - Home/Away/Neutral
Neutral sites: 1998 - Athens, Ohio; 2000 - Buffalo, N.Y;
2003 - Kalamazoo, Mich.
% BGSU advanced, 4-3, on penalty kicks
COPPES CONTINUES TO CONNECT, SETS SINGLE-SEASON GOALS RECORD
Senior Kristy Coppes has set a new BGSU single-season goals record ... she scored the first goal of the match in the Falcons' 3-0 victory Thursday (Oct. 30) ... that goal was her 14th this season, extending her own mark ... Tracy Gleixner had set the record with 12 goals in 1998, and Coppes matched that mark as both a freshman (2001) and sophomore (2002), before breaking the record this year.
COPPES CLIMBS CAREER CHARTS, SURPASSES CENTURY MARK
Senior Kristy Coppes continues to go where no Falcon has gone before ... already the BGSU career scoring leader entering the 2004 season, she is moving up the MAC lists ... with 48 goals, the Findlay native is now in a tie for third place on the MAC list, deadlocked with Eastern Michigan's Jessica Hupe ... the two share the active career lead ... Coppes now has 102 points, and is in sixth place on that MAC chart ... the lists follow ...
MAC CAREER RECORDS
GOALS
60 - Danielle Berkemeier, Miami (1999-2002)
58 - Andrea Cunningham, Miami (1999-2002)
48 - Kristy Coppes, Bowling Green (2001-SA)
48 - Jessica Hupe, Eastern Michigan (2000-SA)
46 - Paula Listrani, Buffalo (1997-2000)
46 - Christel Schiering, Ohio (2000-03)
POINTS
148 - Danielle Berkemeier, Miami (1999-2002)
141 - Andrea Cunningham, Miami (1999-2002)
116 - Paula Listrani, Buffalo (1997-2000)
113 - Jessica Hupe, Eastern Michigan (2000-SA)
104 - Christel Schiering, Ohio (2000-03)
102 - Kristy Coppes, Bowling Green (2001-SA)
101 - Amanda Kulikowski, Eastern Michigan (1998-2001)
AN OCTOBER TO REMEMBER
At first glance, the Falcons' current overall record of 7-11-2 may not seem like anything special ... but, that record -- and the fact that BGSU has qualified for the MAC Tournament -- looks better when considering the Falcons' state at the end of the month of September ... BGSU went that entire month without a win (0-7-1), and the team was 1-8-1 overall when October began ... BGSU was 0-3-1 in league play at that time ... but, the Falcons proceeded to have the winningest month in school history, going 6-3-1 (5-2-1 in MAC play) ... BGSU had won five matches in a month three times (5-3-1 in Sept. of 1998, 5-4-1 in Sept. of 2002, 5-3-1 in Oct. of 2002).
FIVE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT KRISTY COPPES
Senior Kristy Coppes is the first player in school history to hit double digits in goals in each of her four seasons ... Coppes is just the third player in MAC history to score at least 10 goals in each of four seasons, joining Miami teammates Danielle Berkemeier and Andrea Cunningham (1999-2002).
Only four times in BGSU history has a player scored 12 or more goals in a season, and Coppes has been that player on three of the four occasions.
Coppes now has 29 points on the season, and has tied the school record in that category ... Tracy Gleixner had 29 points in the 1998 season ... Coppes had 26 points in both her freshman and sophomore campaigns.
Coppes' match-winning goal at Toledo was her fifth of the season, breaking her own school record in that category ... she had four MWGs in the 2002 season ... Coppes has increased her career total to 13, six ahead of the next person on the BG list.
Coppes currently is second in the MAC with 14 goals on the season, and ranks third in goals per match (0.70) ... she is tied for third in points (29) and is fourth in points per match (1.45).
CORNERING THE MARKET
The Falcons have taken 136 corner kicks this season, and have shattered the old school single-season record in that category ... the old record was 104, by the 2000 squad ... this season's team is averaging 6.80 corners per match, a pace that would obliterate the current school record (5.32) ... BG has had more corner kicks than the opponents in 18 of this year's 20 matches ... Falcon foes have taken a total of 56 CKs in 2004, an average of 2.80 per match, which would break those BG records by large margins.
ALWAYS THERE TO HELP
A total of six current Falcons rank among the school's top-10 in career assists ... junior Julie Trundle (20) is ranked third on that list, while classmate Leah Eggleton (15) is now fifth ... junior Ashley Wentzel (13) ranks sixth ... still another junior, Samantha Meister, along with seniors Katie Piening and Nikki Pucillo, each have 11 career assists to tie for eighth in BGSU annals ... Jill Conover holds the record, with 25.
A FEW MORE NOTES FROM THE TOLEDO MATCH
Freshman Danielle Cygan picked up her first collegiate point in the Toledo match Thursday (Oct. 28) ... her diagonal crossing ball led to a goal by senior Kristy Coppes ... Cygan became the 13th different Falcon to garner at least one point this season.
Then, sophomore Lindsay Carter became the 14th different BG player to find the scoresheet, scoring her first collegiate goal vs. the Rockets ... she picked up her second career goal less than eight minutes later, becoming only the second BG player to have a multi-goal match this season (Coppes is the other, with two such matches this fall).
The Falcons now lead Toledo, 4-3-1, in the all-time series between the teams ... BG's total of three goals in Thursday's match represented the most the team has ever scored against the Rockets ... that match also marked the first BG-UT contest decided by more than one goal.
BGSU now has a 4-1-0 record in road matches vs. UT, and the Falcons are now a perfect 4-0-0 at Scott Park, including 3-0-0 in the Andy Richards Era ... in fact, the home team has not won a match in the series since the teams' inaugural meeting, at UT's Glass Bowl on Sept. 20, 1997.
Redshirt junior Ali Shingler's complete-match shutout was her fourth of the season, tying her for the second-highest total on that list ... Erika Flanders set the record with seven shutouts in 2002 ... Flanders and Shingler each have had two seasons with four shutouts ... Shingler's career shutout total of eight places her second, trailing only Flanders (17) on that BG chart.
A FEW NOTES FROM THE WRIGHT STATE MATCH
Two Falcons -- junior Megan Rapp and redshirt junior Kylene Newell -- each were in the starting lineup for the first time this season ... in fact, Newell's starting assignment was the first of her BGSU career ... a total of 22 different Falcons have started at least one match this season.
For the first time this season, senior Kristy Coppes and juniors Natalie Sampiller and Julie Trundle were not in the starting lineup ... the three had been the only players to start each of the first 19 matches of the year.
At Wright State, the Falcons were victims of a shutout for the first time in over a month ... after BGSU was blanked six times in an eight-match span from Aug. 29 to Sept. 24, the Falcons had gone 10 contests without being shut out ... BG had scored two or more goals in eight of those 10 matches.
BGSU had fewer corner kicks than the opposition for only the second time in 20 matches this year ... the Falcons' total of two corners tied a season low.
HEAD COACH ANDY RICHARDS
Andy Richards is in his fifth season as a collegiate head coach, all with the Falcons, and has an overall record of 44-51-10 ... Richards has led BGSU to the three finest seasons in school history over his first four years ... last fall, he guided the Falcons to the championship match of the MAC Tournament for the second time in his four seasons ... BGSU has advanced to the semifinals of the league tourney in three of his four campaigns to date ... Ashlee Orr is in her fifth season as an assistant coach for the Brown and Orange, while Eric Golz is in his first fall on Richards' staff.
THE OPPONENT / THE SERIES
Kent State enters the MAC Tournament with an overall record of 11-3-5, and the Golden Flashes finished the regular season as conference co-champions, with a league ledger of 7-2-3 ... KSU and Ohio tied for the title, but the Flashes earned the tourney's top seed by virtue of a 2-1 win over the Bobcats in the teams' regular-season meeting ... KSU closed the regular season with a 2-0 loss at nationally-ranked Ohio State last week ... that loss snapped a nine-match unbeaten streak (6-0-3) dating to late September ... the Flashes have posted a 7-1-1 home record to date in 2004 ... freshman Kimberly Dimitroff leads the team, and the MAC, with 15 goals and 34 points, while classmate Lisa Kurz has six goals and 14 points on the year ... Dimitroff had two goals in last month's meeting with BGSU, while Kurz also found the back of the net ... in goal, sophomore Alicia Fernandez has played in all 19 matches, and has 77 saves and a 1.25 goals-against average ... last year, the Flashes of head coach Rob Marinaro also tied for the MAC's regular-season crown, going 12-5-3 overall and 8-2-2 in the conference ... that team was seeded second for the tournament, but suffered a quarterfinal-round loss to visiting Ohio ... the school's athletics web site is www.kentstatesports.com.
The Falcons lead Kent State, 4-3-2, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU is 2-2-0 in road matches vs. the Golden Flashes ... one of those losses came several weeks ago (Oct. 15, 2004), as host KSU doubled up on the Falcons by a 4-2 score at the KSU Soccer Field ... the 2003 meeting ended in a scoreless tie at Cochrane Field (Oct. 19, 2003) ... four of the nine series meetings have gone to overtime ... the teams have never met in MAC Tournament play.
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