After losing last Tuesday’s contest, the BGSU men’s soccer team got the much needed win on the road against Northern Illinois by a score of 1-0. This marked BGSU’s second win in the Mid-American Conference play. Their record currently stands at 2-0-1, which puts them at the top of the MAC standings. In addition, the team has an overall record of 9-4-2, which ties their win total from last year.
In the previous three games, BGSU struggled to get a shot attempt up as they shot a total of three shotS in the first period in each of those games. That wasn’t the case on Saturday, with the Falcons being aggressive from the start. In the first three minutes, redshirt sophomore Bismark Agyeman got a shot off from 12 yards out that sailed high. Despite the miss, this was a positive sign for the team going forward as they looked to keep NIU on their toes.
It didn’t take long for BGSU to get another shot attempt around the 16-minute mark as senior Joe Sullivan received a long pass from Agyeman. The shot was saved by NIU’s goalkeeper Drew Donnally.
Northern Illinois quickly responded in the five minutes following a shot attempt by Christian Molina, who lofted a ball from long distance, but hit the crossbar. Following a corner kick by the home team, NIU’s Kevin Rodriguez was at the top of the box and fired an attempt from 15 yards out, but it was blocked by a BGSU defender.
At the 29-minute mark, Joe Sullivan fired a shot from the top of the box after a free kick from fellow senior Jacob Roth. The ball darted toward the top half of the net, but Donnally was able to get a hand on it and get it out of play.
In the final five minutes of the first period, it was all freshman Chris Brennan as he was able to get on a ball that was deflected by an NIU defender following a serve. Brennan quickly fired a shot from outside the box, but it sailed wide right. A minute later, Brennan received a perfectly placed ball from sophomore Tate Robertson as it sailed towards the far post. Brennan got off another shot attempt as he tried to volley the shot into the goal. Once again, Donnally made an acrobatic save.
BGSU went into the half with a feeling of momentum as they were able to put the pressure on the opponent. In the past five games, BGSU has only scored goals in the second period. BGSU looked to make it a sixth straight time going into the final period.
It was a busy opening minute for Sullivan, as he attempted three corner kicks. The first two attempts eventually went out of play as BGSU did not get off a shot off in that span. However, the third was deflected out of the box and , right to senior Max Auden. Auden set his feet and fired a shot from 18 yards out, but the attempt went wide left.
It wasn’t long until NIU tried to strike quickly with a shot of their own as Max Voss attempted a shot from 10 yards out following a cross from teammate Rodriguez. Voss’s shot went wide right and it was another missed opportunity for NIU.
Two minutes later, Auden got a deep cross pass toward the far post. Agyeman was at the six-yard mark and he fired a shot attempt that got past Donnally for the score. BGSU lead the game by a score of 1-0 with 35 minutes left in the game.
“It was a different type of game tonight,” Coach Eric Nichols said. “We definitely saw some different types of challenges tonight, and we kind of had to change our style a little bit. We also showed a lot of resilience to come here to NIU and get a win. Conference games are so difficult, so challenging. The fact that we were able to get points, particularly on the road, is huge. It puts us in a good spot heading into our last two MAC games.”
The team will once again be on the road facing their final non-conference opponent in Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) on Tuesday night beginning at 7 p.m.
