After an energetic bounce-back weekend that featured a crucial 1-1 tie with the Buffalo Bulls (9-1-5, 4-1-3 MAC) and their nationally recognized defense, a match against the Central Michigan Chippewas (4-6-4, 2-2-3 MAC) awaits BGSU women’s soccer (6-4-3, 3-2-2) on Friday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. at CMU Soccer/Lacrosse Complex in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.
Falcon fans will surely reminisce of a rainy Thursday one day from 365 days ago when BG beat up Central Michigan in a 5-1 win that saw the fastest Falcon goal ever, but Chippewa fans will remind them that this team is not the same one they saw in 2023.
CMU has already had the same amount of conference wins as they had in 2022 and 2023 combined despite there still being four games left in the 2024 season, and they are hungry to bring their win total to three and hold on to the sixth and final place in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) tournament.
Bowling Green holds a firm position in the fourth spot in the MAC standings, and if the conference tournament started today, they would host fifth-seeded Kent State in the quarterfinal at Cochrane Stadium.
Scouting the Past
Central Michigan is still in pursuit of its first victory over the Falcons since 2016, as BG has amassed seven straight wins while averaging three goals a game in that span, which is on par with the success either team has had in those years.
While BG has won the MAC championship four times since the last time CMU beat them, the Chippewas have only won one MAC tournament match, a 1-0 victory over Buffalo that came in 2016, the same year that they achieved the victory over the Falcons.
It seems that Central Michigan will have a chance to get another tournament win if their current position holds, and the credit for that feat goes to head coach Jeremy Groves, who has turned the team in the right direction after back-to-back seasons of two overall wins.
Central Michigan’s success is many thanks to a solid road record that features two of their four wins, one coming in a 2-0 victory over Northern Illinois and the other coming in a big 6-1 win over Purdue Fort Wayne.
However, the team hasn’t won a game since Sept. 26, as they achieved back-to-back draws before losses to Ball State and Kent State derailed their streak of six games without a loss.
BG’s away record has been the weaker of two halves of the schedule this season, featuring three of their four losses that included a lone MAC loss to Western Michigan last Thursday and back-to-back losses to Duquesne and Loyola Chicago in non-conference play.
Friday’s matchup in Mount Pleasant is one of three remaining road matches for the Falcons, as they will take on Eastern Michigan at Cochrane Stadium before heading out east to take on Akron and Kent State to wrap up the regular season.
Falcon to Watch
Facing the second-worst defense in the MAC in a Chippewa system that has allowed 18 goals in only 14 games, there’s no better place to look than the leading goal scorer of the Falcon squad.
Czerwien’s four goals have come at crucial times throughout the season, and in a game against a potential MAC tournament opponent, the lights will be bright on the veteran midfielder.
BG’s offense impressed many by being only the fourth team to score on a Buffalo defense that had allowed only four goals all year to that point, and they will look to carry the momentum into a game that has the potential to be a barn burner.
Chippewa to Watch
The graduate student midfielder from Paw Paw, Michigan, has led a team offense that has kept the Chippewas afloat and in the race for the MAC tournament.
Muessig transferred from Northern Illinois after the 2022 season, and she’s tied her goal total of four from that season with the Huskies in 2024. With four games left in the year, she can eclipse that mark.
Her latest goal gave CMU their 1-1 draw against Toledo that preceded back-to-back losses, and she will be looking to put her squad back in the win column on Friday night.
