The BGSU men’s soccer team couldn’t get themselves on the right foot in the Mid-American Conference last weekend, as they were defeated 3-0 by Northern Illinois on Friday and 3-2 by Western Michigan on Sunday in their first two conference games of the 2005 season.

The Falcons hosted NIU, the winners of four straight, to open conference play as the two evenly-matched MAC opponents battled through the cold drizzle at Mickey Cochrane Stadium.

The silence of an uneventful first half was broken when NIU’s Jose Alvarado connected with Justin McGrane on a throw-in, allowing the Huskies to escape with a 1-0 advantage at halftime.

The Falcons could not find an answer for McGrane and Alvarado in the second half either, as the duo prevailed on Alvarado’s free kick that was eventually put in by McGrane to give NIU a 2-0 lead.

BG was only able to get four shots on goal in the match and continued to put pressure on the Huskies’ defense, but could not catch a break on the other end of the field.

NIU took advantage of another free kick and added another score to their lead midway through the second half as Paul Gabel sent a bullet past BGSU’s Paul Shoemaker to the corner of the net, making the score 3-0.

“It was a very even game,” BG coach Fred Thompson said. “Two free kicks and a throw-in made the difference in the game. Other than that, it was anyone’s game.”

The Huskies are ranked No. 22 in the country by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

The Falcons found themselves in an early two-goal deficit against Western Michigan.

WMU’s Nashir Caraballi and Tom Oatley scored to give the Broncos the early lead, but the Falcons kept in the game with strong defense and several ambitious pursuits of the goal.

Just before intermission, senior captain Dave Belfort scored via an assist from Matt Yanick to get the Falcons on the board and re-energized, as they escaped the first half down by just one goal.

Shortly after the start of the second half, WMU’s Edgar Rivera fed Dan Piccman to increase the Broncos’ lead to 3-1.

Omari Aldridge recorded his fifth goal of the season late in the game to cut the WMU lead to one with little time remaining, but it was too little too late.

“We dug a hole early, and simply did not have enough time to climb out of it, Thompson said.

“Our guys played hard and had some chances, but we just don’t have the experience to get ourselves out of such a deficit against a solid MAC team like Western Michigan.”

Aside from the weekend’s losses, Thompson believes his team is in the mix with some great teams in one of the top conferences in the country, which produces two nationally-ranked teams – No. 21 Buffalo and No. 1 Akron – each of whom the Falcons will play this weekend on the road.

The Falcons are the only team in the MAC to have more underclassmen (12) than upperclassmen (seven).

“You have to consider that we are playing some great teams who are very experienced and equipped for the college level,” Thompson said. “It will take some time for us to be one of the better ones, but we’ll get there.”

BGSU will first travel to Buffalo tomorrow and then to Akron two days later.

“We have nothing more to prepare for other than to focus and play the way we know how to play,” Thompson said. “We’ve beaten some favored teams in the past, so now we have to show everybody we can do it again.”

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