The frustration on the face of BG men’s soccer coach Eric Nichols told the story as the Falcons were beaten by Western Michigan on Saturday.
Forward Yllson Asani gave the Broncos all they needed as he headed a long throw past Falcon keeper Jeff Smoker on the half hour mark.
‘A long throw can be a dangerous weapon,’ Smoker said. ‘They got the ball into the box and we didn’t have everyone marked.’
Smoker was disappointed in the result, as he did not have to make too many saves for the Falcons.
‘I feel like we didn’t come out with enough heart,’ Smoker said. ‘We felt good coming into this weekend, but we couldn’t get a goal back.’
Falcon striker Byard Ebling will look back at his missed opportunities, thinking about what could have been.
Ebling, BG’s best attacking option on the day, missed two opportunities to open the Falcons’ scoring account.
After beating his man to the ball, Ebling was one-on-one with the keeper, only to see his attempt saved in the 25th minute.
‘I just put it low far post, and the keeper made a save,’ Ebling said.
Ebling had a chance in the second half to level the score for the Falcons, but opted to lay the ball for teammate Jacob Lawrence, who was unable to reach the pass.
‘I heard a scream like Jacob’s life depended on it, so I slotted it across, and no one was there,’ Ebling said. ‘It was not either of our faults, it was just a miscommunication.’
As the clock ticked toward full time the Falcons played their best, most urgent soccer of the day, testing the Bronco defense time and time again.
The Falcons’ last hope to secure a point came from the right foot of co-captain Hunter Van Houten, who beat the Bronco goalie with a 25-yard free kick, only to be denied by the woodwork of the Western Michigan goal.
Asked if he was content with his team’s play at the end of the game, Nichols said it was good, but was still disappointed.
‘I am [content], but that makes me even more disappointed with how we started,’ Nichols said. ‘If we showed that we can play with that kind of urgency at the end, then why can’t we play like that the rest of the game?’
The loss leaves the Falcons 1-7-2 and winless in two conference games.
The Falcons will try to end their skid as they play host to Valparaiso tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Cochrane Field.’