Following a shutout loss to Ohio and a draw against Miami (OH), the BGSU women’s soccer team got back on track in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play, defeating Northern Illinois 2-1 at Cochrane Stadium on Saturday, improving their overall and conference records to 6-3-2 and 3-1-1, respectively.
A major story out of the victory was the play of freshman goalkeeper Payton O’Malley, who started in place of the injured Madison Vukas.
“I mean, Payton’s been knocking on the door all season long,” head coach Chris Fox said postgame.
Saturday marked O’Malley’s first time playing in front of a home crowd at Cochrane Stadium.
“Feels great,” O’Malley said. “Like I said before, with a team as together like this, it just feels great.”
O’Malley recorded seven saves in the win, including two in the first 90 seconds of the match.
“You get the first save underneath your belt, you start to feel good; you just start going,” O’Malley said. “With a team like this, you feel comfortable at all times during the game, honestly.”
The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, native previously played in BG’s draw against the RedHawks on Sept. 29, making three saves.
While she played well in her first game, Fox believes she backed it up with her performance against the Huskies.
“I thought Payton [O’Malley] was excellent in the game against Miami…looked like she’d been doing this a while, even though it was her first performance,” Fox said. “I think she backed that up again today with a really, really clean performance; didn’t look like a freshman in her second game. So, incredibly proud of her, and she should be proud of herself.”
Vukas, Bowling Green’s usual starter this season, has been out of action since getting banged up while attempting to make a save on the second of Ohio’s three goals in BG’s loss to the Bobcats on Sept. 26.
“I mean, obviously, Maddie [Vukas], she’s got a finger issue,” Fox said. “She’s probably going to be out for a few days; needs some rest.”
While Vukas has been the clear starter all season, O’Malley is capitalizing on her opportunity, with her performance against NIU creating competition—something Fox believes is good.
“It’s always a difficult decision as a coach when you’ve got a good freshman goalkeeper and a senior goalkeeper to make decisions like that because, you know, you’re talking about eligibility as soon as you set foot on the field,” Fox said. “When she [Vukas] comes back, then that’s what you want; you want competition for places.”
Next, O’Malley and the Falcons will head to Kalamazoo, Michigan, to battle the Western Michigan Broncos on Thursday, Oct. 10. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m.
