It looked like a brand-new team stepped onto the field at Cochrane Stadium as the BG women’s soccer team picked up two victories over the weekend.

Avenging lackluster performances in their most recent two-game home stand, where they dropped disappointing matches to Central and Eastern Michigan, the Falcons came out strong. BG put forth intense defense and a well-composed offense over the course of the weekend.

“I didn’t feel like we played in the spirit of the program in those games,” said BG coach Andy Richards of his team’s previous performance.

But with pressure placed on the team to make the top eight in the Mid-American conference to qualify for the tournament, BG rose to the challenge, which showed in the team’s play this weekend.

“The message going in: Go out and show you are a new team now, and I think they did that,” Richards said.

Winning both games by one goal, the Falcons were led by Corbie Yee, who had the game-winning goal in both matches.

Yee seemed to be saving the best for last. She had not scored this season up until this weekend. She knocked in the game-winning goal for BG with 5:07 left in the second overtime of Friday’s game.

“We’ve had a lot of overtime losses, so it’s great to finally win one,” Yee said.

Before overtime wins against Miami last weekend and the win against Ohio, the Falcons had lost four times in overtime this season.

Defense was key in the victory against OU as the Falcons interrupted the passing lanes of the Bobcats and kept pressure on throughout the entire match.

“OU is a very dynamic, free-scoring team, or have been in the past, and to keep them to a shutout is a credit to the team,” Richards said.

Leading the defensive effort for BG was red-shirt freshman Alexa Arsenault, who recorded three saves and earned the shutout.

Wanting to leave nothing to chance, BG again performed well in front of a large crowd gathered for its final home match of the season and to honor this year’s seniors yesterday.

Playing their final game at Cochrane Stadium were senior co-captains Danielle Cygan, Tiffany Hansen, Rachael Ross and Tiernay Tilford.

Things started off a bit shaky as the Falcons struggled to find their defense against Akron, which nearly resulted in a Zip goal roughly 11 minutes into play as Arsenault recovered a ball in the goal box amidst a sea of BG defenders and Akron forwards.

But with time, as the emotions of the final home game of the season subsided, the Falcons settled into their defense as the first half went by without score from either team.

It was not until 28:37 remained in the second half when Yee scored on a surprising series of events – a punt from Akron goal-keeper Krystin Wilson was headed back downfield by a BG player and picked up by Yee, who dodged around a defender with quick footwork to knock in what would prove to be the game-winner.

Jackie Tamerlano and Susan Hunter were credited with the assists on the goal.

“You don’t have to break the net, you just have to get it past the keeper and over the line,” Richards said of Yee’s well-composed goal.

Throughout the remainder of the second half, physical play continued with much body contact being had by both teams, resulting in numerous fouls and yellow cards being issued.

“We knew coming in the scouting report was that we were going to face a very physical and intense kind of team, and as much as you are going to face that, you still have to battle through it,” Richards said.

The Falcons now sit in seventh place in MAC standings, with one regular season left to be played at second-place Toledo on Thursday.