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This weekend marks the last chance for the BGSU women’s soccer team to work out any kinks before beginning Mid-American Conference play Sept. 23.

The Falcons will host Cleveland State at 4 p.m. Friday before traveling to play Indiana at noon Sunday.

“Both [teams] will be very competitive. We’re excited to play both games,” BG coach Andy Richards said. “Cleveland State is a second-year program which has made some great strides in the past year.”

Cleveland State is 0-5 this season. The program is still searching for its first win after going 0-20 last season. The Vikings’ Ashley Spahn will likely be the squad’s greatest offensive threat after scoring both goals in Sunday’s 5-2 loss to Valparaiso.

Indiana will likely present much more of a challenge to BG than Cleveland State will. The Hoosiers have a 2-3-1 record after downing Xavier 3-1 Sunday.

“We’re going to Indiana as a definite underdog so we’ll be trying to raise our game to match theirs,” Richards said.

The Falcons are 3-3 heading into Friday’s game and have shown promising improvement over their last few matches. After starting out the season 1-2, the squad stepped up its competition level, winning two of its last three games, including a 2-1 overtime win against Eastern Illinois on Sunday.

While things are looking up for the Falcons, they still hope to increase their offensive production and capitalize on their chances around the goal. They focused on scoring and finishing shots this week in practice.

“We need to do a better job finishing our chances off, so doing work around the goal will be important this week,” Richards said. “We have to be on our guard for both games. We need to keep pushing to be as competitive as we can.”

Richards also highlighted the importantance of closing out their non-conference schedule on a high note so the squad can head into MAC play with confidence.

Friday’s home match will kickoff at Cochrane field at 4 p.m.

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