It was another successful night for the BGSU mens soccer team as they improved to 5-1 on the season following their 2-0 victory over Wright State University Tuesday evening. BG is now undefeated at 4-0 at home and has held opponents to one goal in those four games.
After a heartbreaking loss last Saturday, BG looked to bounce back at home against WSU for the battle of the I-75 trophy.
In the first period, BG started out slowly as they couldn’t get any shots going in the first 14 minutes of the game and had some miscommunications early. WSU was able put the pressure on early against BG as they were able take advantage of early BG fouls. This resulted in four corner kicks for WSU, but BG stood strong as three of those were knocked out of play and the final one was cleared out of the box.
BG finally got a good look as sophomore Tate Robertson set up a nice pass towards senior Pat Flynn. Flynn was immediately fouled by a WSU defender and BG was rewarded a penalty kick. Senior Jacob Roth would convert it into a goal that would hit the back of the net giving BG a 1-0 lead around the 14 minute mark.
Shortly after Roth’s goal, freshmen Anthony Mwembia stepped up big for BG as WSU kept attacking offensively. Mwembia made two big saves and later punched out what would be a cross that was out of the box. WSU would have another opportunity to score as they were rewarded a corner kick following a late foul by BG. With 48 seconds left, WSU’s AJ Paterson kicked what seemed like a hurried shot and the ball sailed high. BG would go into intermission with the lead at 1-0.
In the second period, BG would turn the tables and started getting shots attempts early. Around the 60 minute mark, Tate Robertson kicked a curveball that looked like it was heading towards the upper right corner of the net, but it was saved by WSU’s Joel Sundell. Shortly after, Robertson found Pat Flynn in the box and Flynn attempted an impressive turnaround shot, but it was once again saved by Sundell.
Junior Keaton Reynolds, sophomore Bismark Agyeman, and freshmen Chris Brennan were also very active late in the second period as each of them attempted a shot over an eight minute span, but were either saved or blocked by Sundell. Around the 72 minute mark, sophomore Peter Pugliese found freshmen Robert Miller III on the right side of the box in what looked like a good opening for Miller. Unfortunately, Miller’s attempt sailed wide right and couldn’t convert.
With 14 minutes remaining, WSU was whistled for a foul and yellow card. This resulted in a free kick for Jacob Roth as he looked to make his second goal of the game. Roth fired a shot towards the upper half of the goal, but it took a herculean effort from Sundell to get a finger on it to knock it over the crossbar.
Teamwork showed in the final eight minutes of the game as junior Brad Macomber and sophomores Bismark Agyeman and Dominic Grida each passed the ball moving forward. Eventually, Agyeman would find Pat Flynn from 12 yards out and Flynn attempted another turnaround shot. This time, Flynn was successful as the ball found the right corner of the net in what would seal the deal for BG.
“We know going into every game that no matter what we have to outwork the team to win,” said Brad Macomber. “So we knew that in order to close out the game we had to get one more goal and work way harder than they did.”
BG Head Coach Eric Nichols sort of echoed Macomber’s comments and liked how the team responded to last game’s loss against Western Illinois.
“Each game brings a different challenge, Western Illinois brought some different challenges and I think even in that game we worked hard we just didn’t work hard enough to win,” said Nichols. “We knew this game was going to be incredibly hard, so nothing was going to be handed to us and I give full-credit to Wright State, but our guys earned this win.”
WSU outshot BG 17-14 and also had more corner kicks 8-2, but failed to convert into points. Mwembia recorded four saves and helped BG get their fourth shutout of the season.
BG’s next game will be on the road against the University of Cincinnati. The game will begin Saturday at 4 p.m.
