Bowling Green (7-5-3), (4-2-0) faced off against the number 18 ranked Missouri State Bears (8-2-3), (4-1-1) in the 2023 regular season home finale.
Missouri State struck early in the first half, with a goal scored by forward Gijs Hovius in the 6′.
The Bears quickly added a second goal in the 16′, after a foul in the box committed by freshman defender Mads Christensen, Missouri State’s Jesus Barea stepped up and buried the penalty kick to double the lead for the visitors.
After going down 2-0, the Falcons would respond immediately in the 18′ with a special play from junior midfielder Alberto Anaya, who capatilized off a mistake from the backline and chipped ball past Missouri State keeper’ Harry Townend to cut the lead in half, 2-1.
the scoreline would remain 2-1 going into halftime.
Freshman forward Bennett Painter found the equalizer for the Falcons in the 55′ off a free-kick from Anaya, scoring his third goal of his freshman campaign.
Just moments after, Bowling Green would be down to 10 men for the rest of the match after Painter received a red card in the 56′.
The Bears would retake the lead in the 65′, midfielder Alejandro Lopez put the ball in the back of the net off a through ball from Barea, making it 3-2.
Missouri State quickly made it 4-2, forward Ollie Bate scored the fourth goal after a miscue at the back from the Falcons, restoring their two-goal lead.
Midfielder Jack Denton added a fifth goal for the Bears in the 81′, making it 5-2 and extending their lead to three goals.
With the loss, the Orange and Brown won’t finish the regular season unbeaten at Cochrane, but still held a strong record at (6-1-1).
Bowling Green now sits in fourth place in The Valley, at (4-3-0) in conference and (7-6-3) overall.
The Falcons will finish off the regular season with a trip to Northern Illinois to take on the sixth-place Huskies, on Wednesday, November 1st. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m.
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