The BGSU women’s soccer team is finally showing the consistency coach Andy Richards has been stressing all season. The squad topped Kent State 2-0 Friday before handing Buffalo a 4-0 shutout and extending their winning streak to five games.
This weekend’s wins give Bowling Green an overall record of 10-6-0 and a 6-2-0 mark in the Mid-American Conference. Richards was pleased with the team’s consistent performance in the last four home games, all of which were MAC contests.
“It’s great to be as dominant as we have been at home,” he said. “I mean, you’d like to see that from your team and we’ve always kind of struggled with that. I think last weekend was the first weekend we went 2-0 in the MAC over the weekend for two years and now we’ve done it back to back. That’s the kind of consistency we’re looking for.”
It’s not an easy task to play consistently well in the MAC. The parity within the league has become apparent in recent years and was clearly a factor in Friday’s match against Kent State.
“Kent [is] a very good team, very well-coached, very physical and very disciplined. They were a match for us,” Richards said.
Both teams battled to a scoreless tie at halftime before Samantha Meister put away a ball from Kristin Anderson at 70:47. Less than two minutes later, Ashley Wentzel scored for the Falcons off a Britt Anderson assist. Ali Shingler had six saves in goal for her third shutout in as many games.
“It was a great team performance against a very good team. It was crucial for us to beat them. The win separates us from them just a little bit,” Richards said.
Yesterday’s match had the added emotion and excitement of Senior Day. Nine Falcon seniors were honored prior to the game by parents, fans and alumni players. Anderson, Molly Bremen, Leah Eggleton, Meister, Megan Rapp, Natalie Sampiller, Shingler, Julie Trundle and Wentzel make up the largest and one of the most successful senior classes in Falcon history.
Richards was quick to praise his seniors.
“They’ve done tremendous for us ever since they came into the program. A lot of them started right from freshman year. They have a lot of experience behind them and they are the ones who keep producing for us.”
“It was a very enjoyable day today, but there were a lot of distractions so it was important for us to get off to a good start,” Richards said. “We were lucky Buffalo made an error and gifted us a goal, but it was our pressure that created that and we just continued from there and really, the game was done by halftime.”
With their fifth straight MAC win under their belts and only three league games left in the regular season, the squad is already thinking about post-season play. This year’s seniors are no strangers to the MAC tournament and will attempt to lead this year’s squad to a second consecutive tournament title.
“[The seniors] have set a certain standard in terms of their performance,” Richards said. “They’ve achieved many things. With this win today, that should be enough to get us into post-season play. This team has done that every single year. That’s a legacy in itself because that’s the goal you’re looking for every year.”
One of the many reasons for the success of the squad is the depth of the team’s bench. Even though Bremen and senior captain Sampiller were out with injuries, players such as Brianne Eisenhard were able to step up to fill empty roles. Richards played every healthy player on the Falcons bench in yesterday’s match, showing off a talented roster.
The squad’s emphasis on team play should give them an advantage through their remaining games.
“All our wins have to be based on the team’s performance and we’re happy with the way things are going right now. We’ve got three more games in the regular season and we’re hoping to get some positive results out of those,” Richards said.
