Silly mistakes have been the major problem for the Bowling Green men’s soccer team as they are set to enter their third week of competition tomorrow winless after five matches.
The team insists that there is not a sense of urgency in the air, but rather a desire to keep working hard and putting forth an increased amount of effort in each match.
There are still 13 games left in the Falcons’ season and the team does not play a MAC opponent until Sept. 27, when they travel to Kentucky to play the defending MAC champion Wildcats. A five-game homestand late in the season could also help the Falcons boost their record.
The Falcons fell to Detroit-Mercy 4-1 Wednesday at Detroit’s Titan Field, where Detroit scored two goals in each half of competition. The Titans have won four games and have also recorded a tie.
Detroit out-shot BG 21-12, but Bowling Green took an 11-10 shooting advantage in the second half.
The second half was the high point of the match for the Falcon squad, as they created more chances for themselves and did not give up. They were able to score once, hit the goal post twice, and barely miss three open shots.
Junior Matt Martinka scored the lone Falcon goal on a penalty kick with 24 seconds remaining in the match. Junior goalkeeper David DeGraff gave up four goals and had seven saves in the game. Freshman Paul Dhaliwal had three shots on goal and senior Matt Leardini and junior Nnamdi Ihemelu each had two shots on goal.
“Certainly it is a difficult start; I think our mental state is pretty good,” said head coach Mel Mahler. “We’ve known the past four games we’ve made some really silly mistakes and I think the guys have owned up to it. If we eliminate some really silly stuff we win some of these games.”
Rather than dwell on their early-season losses, the Falcons have adopted a new attitude.
“Our focus today after yesterday was to just come out and work really hard, just be positive and upbeat,” Mahler said. “If we’re playing our best soccer by the end of the year and we’re doing well in the MAC and we get in the MAC tournament, anything can happen. If you just think positive, if you try to be positive, positive things will happen.”
The Falcons will play at Oakland University in Rochester, Mich. Saturday at 2:30 p.m., where they will focus on continuing to improve and execute throughout the game.
Better defense and finishing chances the team has at goals are two of the main points Mahler thinks will improve throughout the season.
“Oakland is a good team. They beat Marquette, who beat St. Louis, who is in the top 10 [in the national poll],” said Mahler.
“They’re well-coached, they’re well-organized. They’re as good as everyone else we’ve played.”
The veterans on the young squad are attempting to lead the mostly inexperienced team to a win this weekend. Although it is admittedly tough to start the season with a losing streak, the team knows that wins will come with time, learning and experience.
“We definitely want to come out with a win. It would be great to get on the board with one,” Leardini said. “Our effort has improved with every game so far; it’s just a matter of getting the goals, scoring early, and playing for a full 90 minutes.”
“This is a good team. We’re going to do some great stuff and it’s just taken us a little longer than we wanted is all,” Mahler said.
