BGSU struggled across all major varsity sports during this past week. Men’s soccer, women’s soccer, football and volleyball all collected losses, with men’s soccer and volleyball being the only two squads to pick up a win.
Football
The Kent State Golden Flashes dominated the Falcons in every facet in a 62-20 blowout victory. Not only did Kent State set a new school record for total yards produced in a game with 750, but this game had Kent State’s largest margin of victory over BGSU since 1935.
The Falcons continue to lack consistency from the quarterback position. Darius Wade and Grant Loy have shared snaps in each game this season, but neither has been able to truly take the reins off the offense. Wade completed 18 of his 25 pass attempts for 161 yards, but his accuracy issues continued. His two interceptions resulted in points for Kent State.
Loy took over for the Falcons in the fourth quarter and was able to muster up two touchdown drives. The BGSU running back committee carried a majority of the weight as Andrew Clair, Davon Jones and Bryson Denley combined for 154 yards on the ground.
Falcon football now faces an important bye week. Reflection and transition will be key themes throughout the off week. The toughest opponent on the schedule, Notre Dame, will welcome BGSU on Oct. 5.
Volleyball
The Falcons finished the Queen City Classic tournament with a record of 1-1, pushing the program to a 6-6 record on the season. Led by an Isabelle Marciniak’s 42 assists and 23 digs, BGSU topped Xavier 3-1 in a near sweep on Friday.
After losing the second set, the Falcons controlled the pace of play in sets three and four. Freshman Petra Indrova was responsible for a Falcon-best 16 kills, but not far behind her was Jacqueline Askin with 14. Askin along with Julia Walz, Katie Kidwell and Kerstie Shaw combined for six service aces compared to Xavier’s one.
Saturday, the continuity and chemistry that helped them succeed against Xavier was missing. The Falcons were swept by the Cincinnati Bearcats and never eclipsed 20 points in any of the three sets. There was an unsuccessful effort to string together consistent offense for the Falcons. The Bearcats contributed eight service errors, but BGSU was unable to capitalize.
Askin remained a strong point with 11 kills. Marciniak’s 16 assists would prove to be a leading statistic for the Falcons once again.
Volleyball now turns to their MAC schedule with upcoming visits against the Ohio Bobcats and Golden Flashes before returning home against Akron.
Women’s soccer
After a stagnant match against DePaul that ended in a 1-1 double-overtime draw, the Falcons finished the week with a 2-0 shutout loss to West Virginia.
The Mountaineers struck early after a breakdown in coverage for BGSU. Alina Stahl’s shot traveled across the body of goaltender Kathleen Duwve and trickled into the net to give WVU the early lead. From there, the Falcons would apply pressure to the Mountaineer side of the pitch, but Ryler Foster stood strong in her crease.
Eleven shots were peppered in Foster’s direction, but she was able to turn away all five that hit the net. She would go on to earn the 35th shutout of her career, the third most in WVU history.
Stahl continued her stellar game and was a nuisance for the Falcons. They struggled to contain her and she would eventually go on to seal the game for the Mountaineers with her second goal in the 83rd minute.
Similar to volleyball, the MAC schedule is all that remains for the women’s soccer program before postseason action gets underway. Akron and Buffalo travel to Cochrane Stadium Friday, Sept. 27 and Sunday, Sept. 29.
Men’s soccer
With a disappointing loss to Ohio State out of sight and out of mind, the Falcons looked to take frustrations out on their next opponent Cleveland State. The outcome was a mere 1-0 win, but it was an aggressive and successful game on all accounts for BGSU. Chris Brennan rocketed a cross-crease pass from Matt Walters for his second goal in just as many matches.
The 1-2-1 Vikings were faced with 14 BGSU shots, with the Falcons carrying the momentum for most of the contest. Anthony Mwembia was challenged seven times but managed to record his fourth clean sheet on season.
The Falcons quickly turned to the University of Cincinnati on Saturday. The action commenced right away as the Bearcats made it clear they were going to play with a high octane offense the whole night. Shevon Stewart finished off a subtle touch from Darryn Commissiong three minutes in to pull UC ahead 1-0. After a Falcon is taken down in the Bearcat box, Achille Robin converts on the ensuing penalty kick to even the score.
Goals by Chris Sullivan and Kale Nichols put BGSU in a 3-2 lead with time winding down in the second half. With under a minute to go, Commissiong scored on a rush upfield to tie the game, then two minutes into overtime Donovan Segree won the game for UC.
“I’m not going to say we should have won it because Cincinnati was deadly in the final third. They pressed us with their attack like we hadn’t been pressed before,” BGSU head coach Eric Nichols said after the match.
The Falcons now sit at 4-2-1 on the year, good enough for second in the MAC. Next on the schedule is #18 Kentucky, and despite giving up a lead in the second half Nichols remains confident in his squad.
“I’m really pleased with how the guys went through the 90 minutes — pleased with the reaction going into overtime … Sometimes you can look to one play, or one moment or one particular thing that we were lacking, but I wouldn’t say that was it,” Nichols said.
After a critical test with Kentucky, BGSU welcomes Canisius to Cochrane Stadium before departing on a four-game trip to Detroit Mercy, IUPUI, Akron and SIUE.
