Evansville, Indiana – The BGSU men’s soccer team (9-4-2, 3-3-1) battled with Evansville (8-5-2, 4-2-0) in an intense 1-0 loss at Arad McCutchan Stadium Friday night.
Evansville started the match off quickly with a shot by Jose Vivas, whose shot bounced off a fellow Purple Ace and out of bounds for a BGSU goal kick.
The Orange and Brown had their first chance to score at the 14-minute mark when junior midfielder Andrew Shaffer sent a shot to the center of the net before Evansville goalkeeper Michal Mroz came away with it.
Both Evansville and Bowling Green had their fair share of fouls during the first half, none resulting in yellow or red cards.
The Falcons led the way in the first half with four shots to the Purple Aces three. Bowling Green fifth-year goalkeeper Brendan Graves did not have to save a single shot in the first half.
The Purple Aces came out hot in the second half with a shot in the 46′ by Nacho Diaz Barragan, which Graves was able to leap into the air and snag.
Evansville found the back of the net just barely before the hour mark, as Samuel Owusu sent the ball past Graves to the bottom left of the goal to make it 1-0 Purple Aces, which would ultimately be the game-winning goal.
The game intensity picked up over the next 20 minutes as both the Falcons and the Purple Aces acquired two yellow cards each. Senior midfielder Alberto Anaya and sixth-year defender Josh Erlandson received the cards for the Orange and Brown.
Bowling Green was given their best shot of the night in the 80th minute, with Anaya being fouled in the box, resulting in a penalty kick. Mroz correctly guessed the PK and was able to make the save.
The Falcons now find themselves in fourth place in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). With only one more conference game left to play, the Falcons look to make a pushback into the top three of the conference.
Next up for the Orange and Brown are their final conference and the home game as they match up against nationally ranked Western Michigan (9-0-5, 2-0-3) back at Cochrane Stadium on Friday, Nov 1. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m.
