On Friday night at Cochrane Stadium, BGSU Men’s Soccer defeated Chicago State Cougars 3-0 on senior night. Following Friday’s contest, Bowling Green has now defeated the Cougars 3-0 in their last two matches. With an unbreakable Bowling Green defense and aggressive offense, the Brown and Orange gained the upper hand.
Here’s how it happened.
First half:
The first half would begin with a few throw-ins from both teams and then would be followed by Bowling Green’s first shot. Midfielder Kyle Cusimano would take the shot, but CSU goalie Sunny Dhaliwal would save it. About three minutes later, the Falcons would take another stab at the goal with a shot by senior Nathan Masters, which would sail too high of the net. Throughout the first half, Bowling Green’s defense held strong, pushing back any attempts by the CSU offense.
Nearly seven minutes into regulation, CSU’s Rashawn Kellman would be given a foul, giving Joey Akpunonu a chance to score. Akpunonu would capitalize on this opportunity, scoring the first goal of the match, the Falcons leading 1-0.
Minutes later, BG’s Josh Erlandson attempted to score, but it was saved by Dhaliwal. With a few minutes passing, the Falcon offense would take another stab at the goal with a shot down the center by Kale Nichols, which was saved by the Cougars. Nearing the 12-minute mark, Bowling Green logged two shots; one by Masters and one by Jensen Lukacsko, both not entering the net.
Soon after, the Cougars would have two goal kicks and Falcon goalie Brendan Graves saved a shot by CSU, preventing a score. The next shot would be taken by Masters, with a Kale Nichols follow up. Less than a minute later, Nichols pushed toward the goal, shooting low center to be saved by the Cougar defense. Cusimano would also jump in on the action, shooting a goal attempt left and out. At the 29-minute mark, Chicago State advanced on the Falcons, taking two shots within the minute, both saved by Graves. Bowling Green offense would jump back in with a shot by Josh Erlandson, hitting the crossbar, not scoring for the Brown and Orange. BG’s Amer Dedic would also attempt to score, the shot missing to the right. Chicago State would put together an offensive run, shooting twice in a minute, both non-scoring. From there, Bowling Green’s Dedic would return to action with another shot, which would be saved by CSU’s Dhaliwal. The Falcons would hold CSU 1-0 for the remainder of the first half.
Second half:
The second half started with an early shot extending the Falcon lead thanks to Sergi Martinez, assisted by Masters and Cusimano. With this goal within the first two minutes, the Brown and Orange would lead the match 2-0 early in the second half. A few minutes later, BGSU and CSU both logged another shot each, both non-scoring. Many freekicks and throw-ins later, the Cougars would take their next shot attempt of the night at the 68-minute mark, falling short of the goal (CSU Niall Reid-Steven). Soon after Chicago State’s goal attempt, Bowling Green’s Terry Trace scored low right, assisted by Andrew Shaffer and J. Erlandson. With the Falcons now holding a 3-0 lead, would continue to exhibit strong defense against the Cougars, blocking 2 CSU shots and holding their lead. At the 85-minute mark with less than 5 minutes to go, Falcon senior Abdi Faqi would approach the goal, shooting and missing to the left. The Cougars logged one final shot at the 86:42 minute mark, high and away. With a scoreless rest of the match, the Falcons would take the victory 3-0. Bowling Green taking 22 shots and allowing no goals, would shut out Chicago State for their two-match series.
A completely different match from their road match at Akron on Monday, ending in a 0-0 tie, the Falcon offense and defense pushed on to put together a great performance.
“We’re defending really well,” Head Coach Eric Nichols said. “We can defend anyone in the country. We just need some wins to get where we want to be”.
Next up for the Falcons are Northern Illinois Huskies on October 25th starting at 8 p.m.
For more information, visit bgsufalcons.com.
