After snapping that pesky 29 game road losing streak against Detroit, the BGSU men’s soccer team decided to start another streak. This time around, the Falcons are now on a two-game road winning streak as they beat the University of Pittsburgh 2-1 Wednesday.
It is the first time since 2003 that the Falcons have won at least two consecutive games on the road.
For the third consecutive game, the Falcons were first to score. In the ninth minute of play, midfielder Justin Kim scored his fourth goal of the season, beating Panther goal keeper Andy Jorgensen.
“We played really well to start the game and that was huge,” said coach Fred Thompson. “We’re entering a different phase of our game. We seem to be starting well and getting early goals. Now we have to find a way to play with a lead.”
Defensemen Kyle Williams passed the ball to fellow defensemen Jacob Lawrence who found Kim in front of the net. Kim redirected the ball into the right corner of the net for the Falcon goal.
“The first goal was a great through ball that JK ran up and tucked past the keeper and put a great touch on it,” Lawrence said. “That put us up early, which was nice to take their crowd out.”
The Panthers nearly tied the game in the 31st minute as forward Keeyan Young passed the ball to midfielder/forward Matt Baker, who was streaking towards the goal but Baker’s shot bounced off the post and was cleared away
Minutes later the Falcons pushed their lead to two. Midfielder/forward Alec Perea found Kim on a breakaway and Kim was able to beat Jorgensen for his second goal of the match and his fifth goal on the season.
“I just have to keep trying to score and hopefully it well help our team win,” Kim said.
In the second half, the Panthers came out with a new intensity and were able to tally their first goal of the match in the 53rd minute. Midfielder/forward Matt Langton found Young and Young was able to beat BG goal keeper Paul Shoemaker.
Young nearly tied the game minutes later, but his header missed the goal and barely sailed over the crossbar.
“He [Young] caused a lot of havoc. He is a really fast kid too. So he starts opening up into space,” Thompson said. “He really gave everything he had for them. He scored a great goal for them.”
The Panthers dominated possession in the second half but were not able to beat Shoemaker or the Falcon defense for the game-tying goal.
The game was played in a steady rain, which made it hard for either team to keep possession for very long. Pitt outshot BG 12-7 but all seven of the Falcon shots were on goal.
The Falcons will enjoy a week-long break before perennial MAC power Akron comes to Mickey Cochrane Field on Oct. 20.
“Bowling Green/Akron is always a war, so hopefully it isn’t snowing because it is always an intense game,” Thompson said.
