The Bowling Green State University mens soccer team defeated Cleveland State University on the road 1-0 in in double overtime thriller on Wednesday. This was the team’s first overtime game of the season.
BG came out at the gate firing on all cylinders in the first period, attempting 23 shots, six of which were shots on target. Cleveland State countered with a huge game by their goalie Sebastian Kalk who recorded 10 saves. Freshman Anthony Mwembia also played well in front of the net for Bowling Green, recording eight saves in the game.
BG struggled to find a weakness in this Cleveland State defense as many of their shots were wide or blocked. The Falcons also failed to take advantage of corner kicks as they had four on the game.
“It was a hard fought game, we had many opportunities where we could’ve converted into points,” said BGSU Head Coach Eric Nichols. ”It was one of those games were shots weren’t falling in.”
Nichols also commented on his team’s defense and the superb play of Mwembia.
“I liked how our defense played throughout, Anthony had another outstanding game and gave us some stops when needed and I liked how we kept our composure when shots weren’t falling in,” he said.
A great opportunity presented itself early in the second period when senior Jacob Roth had a decent look to get the ball in the net but was too high, hitting the crossbar. The play was later called offsides on BG.
Both teams were in foul trouble early and there were yellow cards drawn in the late second period to Cleveland State’s Jake Lagania and Bowling Green’s Keaton Reynolds in what seemed to be a physical altercation. Neither player was ejected and both continued to play.
The game remained scoreless heading into overtime as both teams were looking to earn the win the hard way. In the first overtime, BG attempted one shot while Cleveland State had two shot attempts. Neither could get on the board and the game went into double overtime.
The play of the game came from freshmen Chris Brennan who made a clean header shot off the free kick from Jacob Roth with four seconds left to go in the game.
“I’m proud of how the guys kept fighting until the very end and I think there’s some things we need to improve on, but nevertheless it was a well-earned win for us and we’ll take it,” said Nichols.
The team looks to keep this winning streak alive as the next game will be on the road against Western Illinois University on Saturday at noon.
