After an exciting win over Butler, BGSU men’s soccer (4-1-0) defends its home field against the Northern Illinois Huskies (1-4-0) for the first in-conference matchup of the season for either team.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium. Falcon Media Sports Network’s Lucas Kleimeyer will have the call of the match tomorrow on WBGU-PBS YouTube Channel:
Series History
This is the 42nd all-time meeting between the Falcons and the Huskies. Last year, the Falcons lost to the Huskies with a score of 2-1 at Cochrane. Bowling Green trails the series at 20-19-2. The Falcons have an opportunity to even the all-time series with a win on Friday night.
The last time the Falcons defeated the Huskies was in 2022, when they defeated the Huskies with a score of 6-0 at Cochrane Stadium.
Bowling Green
Last Saturday was certainly a game to remember for the Falcons. Bowling Green was up 3-0 against the Butler Bulldogs for most of the game. However, after three unanswered goals for the Falcons, the Bulldogs wouldn’t go away easily, as they tried late heroics to tie the game but came up short with a final score of 3-2.
A win over a respectable opponent like Butler definitely gave the Falcons momentum heading into their first in-conference matchup against the Huskies.
Sophomore forward Bennett Painter and junior forward Trace Terry are in great form right now after both scoring a goal against the Bulldogs last Saturday. Coming off of an electric performance against Butler, they hope to ride that momentum heading into their matchup against the Huskies.
Northern Illinois
The Huskies are coming off a 6-2 loss against the Kansas City Roos.
Even though their record is not great right now, with only one win in their first five matches, the Huskies defeated Bowling Green in both matchups last year with a final score of 2-1 in each matchup.
Last season the Huskies had a record of 7-9-1, as well as a record of 2-7-1 on the road. They are off to a similar start to the season with a current record of 1-4-0 and a record of 0-2 on the road. The woes on the road are not a good trend for the Huskies, but one for the Falcons to take advantage of.
Falcon Four Players To Watch
Forward: #12, Bennett Painter, Bowling Green
Painter set the pace last match, taking shot attempts early and often. Painter secured the first goal in the Falcons last matchup. Painter’s aggressiveness will prove to be a key thing to watch for the Falcons.
Forward: #21 Trace Terry, Bowling Green
Terry was the star of the match in the Bowling Greens last contest against Butler. Terry had both a goal and an assist in the second half and is looking to continue to attack and score goals.
Forward: #10 Kevin Kelly, Northern Illinois
Kelly is one of the two players who scored last game and looks to do it once again against BG. He also has a goal in each of his last two games, it’ll be interesting to see if he can make it three games in a row.
Goalkeeper: #0 Caleb Pearson, Northern Illinois
Pearson has been on a cold spell in his last three games. He has allowed 13 goals, only making eight saves, It will be interesting to see if Bowling Green can take advantage of Pearson’s recent struggles in goal.
