After a successful trip to Muncie where BGSU women’s soccer (4-2-1, 1-0-0) stifled an impressive Cardinal offense and came out of Indiana with a 2-0 win, BGSU head coach Chris Fox will look forward to his first rivalry game against Toledo (3-4-1) on Sunday, Sept. 22 at 1 p.m.
Both offense and defense were looking pristine and ready for Mid-American Conference play in BG’s win over Ball State that sent the Cardinals home scoreless after 13 goals in their previous two games, and the Falcons will look to carry that momentum into the most anticipated home game of the season.
Toledo has had a mixed bag of a year in 2024, with wins over Detroit Mercy, Oakland, and Ohio Dominican, but four losses, including a 1-0 loss to the Golden Flashes in their MAC opener at Paul Hotter Field on Thursday night.
Scouting the Past
A historic rivalry that dates back to 1997 will have its 34th anniversary in a match where the Falcons will be looking to improve their all-time record against Toledo to 12-17-5 and keep their streak of five games without a loss against the Rockets alive and well.
The most recent match between the two took place on Sept. 21, 2023, when goals by Ellie Pool and Brynn Gardner hoisted the Falcons to their first conference win of the season.
Toledo’s program has had its struggles in the past few seasons after they beat Bowling Green in the 2017 MAC championship game, going 35-51-15 in the years since.
The team is currently in its second season under head coach Mark Batman, who had a successful first rebuilding season in 2023, finishing with a 7-9-2 overall record compared to 2-10-6 under TJ Buchholz. In his final season in 2022.
Batman spent 19 seasons with Division III side Ohio Northern before coming to Toledo, where he led the Polar Bears to seven NCAA Tournament appearances, including an Elite Eight showing in 2017, five conference tournament championships, and eight regular season championships if you count first place ties in 2020 and 2022.
Toledo’s offense was their weakness in non-conference play, as they only scored more than one goal in one match against D1 opponents, a 3-2 loss to Cincinnati, which places them second to last in the MAC in goals per game, 10th with a goal margin of 0.13, and ninth in the MAC with 89 total shots.
Falcons to Watch
The redshirt sophomore has had a great start to the 2024 season at an attacking winger position that’s been versatile for Fox and the Falcons early on this year.
She scored her first career goal against Cleveland State and wasted no time on her second, sending a header into the back of the net for the Falcons’s first goal against Ball State on Thursday afternoon.
Uncapher was at the center of the Falcon attack that was as successful as we have seen them so far this season, and she is sure to continue that trend against a Toledo defense that will be facing confidence issues after their loss on Thursday.
It’s only fair that the goalkeeper with four straight shutouts gets a shout for a player to watch, as she sits tied for second highest in the MAC with those four shutouts, third in the MAC in average goals against, and third in the MAC in save percentage.
The sky is the limit to how far Vukas can go statistically this season thanks to a defensive pairing in front of her that has helped immensely, and her confidence is going to be hard to match against Toledo on Sunday.
Vukas has proved that she is ready to take over as the next BG goalkeeper after the departure of Lili Berg after the 2023 season, and her lack of mistakes in front of the net makes her an easy player to rely on.
Rockets to Watch
Similarly to Bowling Green, Toledo hasn’t had a player that has stood out offensively, and it has been a team effort with no player scoring more than twice on the year and seven different players putting the ball in the net, but Anulare has been one of those whose performance has stood out.
It’s always something to note when a freshman comes in and has the sort of impact that Anulare has had so far this season, playing 647 out of 720 Toledo minutes this season.
Anulare has two goals, both coming in a 3-2 loss to Cincinnati earlier in the year, but that doesn’t mean her impact hasn’t been felt lately, as her presence in the midfield has been confident and precise despite the Battle of I-75 being only her ninth collegiate match.
Watch out for the Michigan First-Team All-State player to shock spectators in Sunday afternoon’s match and give proof of the recruiting prowess of Hatman in only his second year as Toledo’s head coach.
The grad student from Toledo has been a staple of the Rocket attack throughout her tenure with the team, as she will play in her 60th career game on Sunday against Bowling Green.
Toledo will rely on her experience as they face what has proved to be one of the better defenses in the MAC, and she will have her work cut out for her when she leads a team that has struggled offensively to this point in the year.
With 16 career points to her name, Turski and fellow striker Kaema Amachree will need to be the driving force if Toledo’s offense wants a chance on Sunday.
