The Bowling Green men’s soccer team fell to 0-2 on the season after a weekend tournament in St. Bonaventure, N.Y.
The Falcons lost to St. Bonaventure 3-1 Saturday and were shut out by Pittsburgh 1-0 on Sunday.
Freshman Adrian Akpan scored BG’s lone goal of the tournament 89:21 into the St. Bonaventure match, when freshman Paul Seip passed Akpan the ball on a restart. Bowling Green had only two shots on goal in the game. Seip was credited with an assist on the Akpan goal.
St. Bonaventure outshot BG 7-2 and had a 3-2 advantage on corner kicks.
The Falcons played both games without red-shirt junior Matt Martinka, a key defender. Senior midfielder Damion Bennett was red-carded in the St. Bonaventure game and was not able to play against Pittsburgh.
“Saturday’s game was really bad. We did not play well in any aspect of the match,” said head coach Mel Mahler. “Our inexperience showed, our youth showed, and a lack of leadership showed.”
BG improved for Sunday’s match, holding one of the better teams in the Big East to one goal. Pitt scored their only goal at the 51:31 mark.
Junior goalkeeper David DeGraff had three saves for the Falcons. Bowling Green took only two shots in the match.
Pitt outshot the Falcons 9-2, but BG had a 7-1 advantage on corner kicks.
“If there is any one positive out of the loss [to Pitt], it is that we played very well,” said Mahler. “I think our guys learned that everybody is good. There are no weak opponents on our schedule.”
Mahler admitted that BG’s main problem was not making chances for themselves. “We didn’t really create a true scoring chance. Some close ones, but nothing that was going to result at least in a quality chance or a quality shot on goal.”
Junior Eric Duda and freshman Paul Seip were named to the St. Bonaventure Adidas Soccer Classic All-Tournament team. St. Bonaventure won their home tournament when they defeated Oneonta on Sunday 3-0.
The Falcons will have a chance at their first win this season when they play Saint Francis and Duquesne this weekend at the annual Falcon Diadora Classic at Cochrane Field.
