The sixth-seeded BGSU women’s soccer (7-6-4, 4-4-3 MAC) will square off against the number three-seeded Ohio Bobcats (10-4-4, 5-3-3 MAC) in Athens on Sunday, Nov. 3, for a Mid-American Conference (MAC) first-round matchup in a rematch of the 2023 MAC semifinal, where Ohio took down BG by a score of 2-1.
Of course, it is 2024, not 2023, and there is a different head coach reigning over the Falcons, as well as a different atmosphere heading into their eighth straight MAC tournament appearance.
After a crushing loss at Dix Stadium in Kent, Ohio, where the Falcons fell to the Golden Flashes after holding the lead going into the final 30 minutes of the match, they will look to rebound as the final seed in the tournament, where, if they beat Ohio in Athens, they will head to Kalamazoo to take on Buffalo (10-1-7, 5-1-5 MAC) in the MAC semifinal.
Scouting the Past
The lone meeting between the Bobcats and the Falcons came on Sept. 26 at Cochrane Stadium, where Ohio sent a crowd dressed in orange and brown home with a long face in a 3-0 victory that kept OU’s seven-game undefeated streak alive.
Since then, however, it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows for the squad led by 12th-year head coach Aaron Rodgers, as they have lost three of their last four games, including back-to-back losses, first to Toledo at Chessa Field, then on the road at Buffalo before ending out the season with a 1-0 loss to Miami (OH) that earned the RedHawks the fifth seed in the MAC tournament.
The Bobcats will be entering the tournament match with confidence, however, as although they have dropped three of the last four, the Falcons have been experiencing similar recent struggles.
Bowling Green has a 1-3-2 record since their home victory against NIU on Oct. 5, with their lone win coming against Akron a week to the day of the MAC first-round match.
BG’s road struggles have bit them, especially against stronger opponents, going 0-3-1 against MAC opponents ranked above 11th in the conference standings.
MAC tournament success has become the norm for a BGSU program that won four straight MAC championships from 2018-2021, yet his match will feature some unfamiliar territory for a Falcons team that hasn’t been on the road for a quarterfinal matchup since 2004 when they beat Kent State in double overtime.
If the 2023 MAC tournament proved anything, however, it was that you should never count out the underdog, as last year’s rendition of OU went all the way from the sixth seed to win three games against Ball State, Bowling Green, and Kent State that were all predicted as Bobcat losses en route to their first MAC championship.
BG will be taking notes from how this team beat them in the MAC tournament in 2023, and as they fill the shoes of the underdog heading into Athens and potentially Kalamazoo, there is no reason to count out Chris Fox and his resilient Falcons.
The Young Falcons
After injuries to veteran key pieces Ellie Pool and Emilie Gardner that left them sidelined for the entire season, it was already evident that these new players recruited by previous head coach Jimmy Walker would have to step into a bigger role than they may have expected in 2024, but that role has intensified after the injury to junior goalkeeper Madison Vukas that saw the match against OU be the final of her season.
Six of the nine freshmen have seen 300 or more minutes in Fox’s rotation, while members that were key to the 2023 team as freshmen stepped up into a leadership role in 2024, with defender Taylor Green establishing herself as the future of the BG back line along with midfielder Emme Butera, who has led the team in minutes and stands third in the team in points in a defensive midfield position that is a cornerstone of Fox’s possession-based attack.
The freshman production has come from Haley Wolf’s 924 minutes of the brick wall outside back defense in 2024, which has been a great compliment to the center-back play of two of the best defenders in the conference in Green and captain Isabelle Gilmore.
Forward Lilly Boebel stands at the front of the minds of Falcon fans after her buzzer-beater goal against Kent State on Thursday, which was the first of her career, as well as freshman goalkeeper Payton O’Malley, who has stepped into shoes that seemed impossible to fill and held her own in defending the Falcon net with back-to-back shutouts in the BG’s results against Eastern Michigan and Akron.
Ohio’s Statistical Dominance
2024 has been a year of balance between the offensive and defensive put on display by Rodgers and his Bobcats, as 34 goals for and only 12 goals against gives them a goal differential of +22, bested only by the MAC foes of Western Michigan, and they rank second in the aforementioned statistical categories, with the Broncos besting them in goals for and only the Bulls allowing less goals in 2024.
However, after their rough stretch to end the season, the Bobcats were outscored 4-3 in their final four games, including three shutouts.
Sophomore forward Jaimason Brooker has been the key offensive producer for Ohio, with seven goals on top of six assists that give her a total of 20 points, good for eighth best in the MAC.
The Bobcat defense has been anchored by three junior defenders in Norah Roush, Ella Deevers, and Rayann Pruss, who have firmly given fellow junior goalkeeper Celeste Sloma the opportunity for a career year, posting 58 saves good for a .841 save percentage and .63 average goals against, good for third and second best in the MAC respectively.
Watch for both sides of the ball to be a threat as the Bobcats look to defend their MAC title in Sunday’s quarterfinal match with Bowling Green.
