On Nov. 16, 2024, an in-swinging corner kick on a cold, windy night in Springfield, Mo., that redirected into the roof of the net and ended in overtime, was the difference between an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and the 2024 season ending for BGSU men’s soccer.
Fast forward nearly 270 days, head coach Eric Nichols enters his 17th season with Bowling Green, with 15 newcomers ready to make their mark in Orange and Brown. The Falcons seek redemption—a championship ring in 2025.
“We felt like we came up short. We want to win that last game. We want to get to the NCAA tournament,” said Nichols. So we would like to have a ring, whether it’s a regular season championship or winning the conference tournament; that’s pretty clear. That’s our goal.”
Last season, the Falcons went 12-6-2 and 4-2-1 in Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) play. Making a run to the MVC championship match, losing 3-2 to Evansville.
THE RETURNING DYNAMIC DUO
The players who grabbed all the headlines last season were none other than senior forward Trace Terry and junior Bennett Painter.
Terry, who was drafted by the Seattle Sounders FC 76th overall in the third round of the 2025 Major League Soccer (MLS) SuperDraft, is coming back for his final season with the Falcons. The first All-American to return to the program since Scott Vallow in 1999.
With the pressure to top his 2024 season, where he scored 12 goals and five assists, Terry wants to end his BG career with a championship.
“I want to get some hardware for this team. The main goal is to win, and honestly, getting drafted is awesome, but that’s something I don’t care about right now. Winning is the only thing that I care about,” said Terry.
For Painter, he led the team in goals last season with 13, along with four assists. Starting all 20 games and eventually being named to the All-MVC Second Team.
What to expect from the Cincinnati striker in his junior season? Nichols hopes for more of the same.
“He’s grown in other aspects. He’s always been a good goal scorer, but he’s grown in other aspects,” said Nichols. “He got some accolades, but I think he thinks he should be an All-American. With that kind of output, he’s like, “Why aren’t I?” So I think he’s got a little something to prove as well. Was this a blip for him, or is he legit? And that’ll be answered on the score sheet.”
HELLO NEW FALCONS
The Falcons have seven new freshmen and transfers in 2025, along with one walk-on. Junior forward Michael Lindh joins the Falcons after playing two years with BGSU Club Men’s Soccer.
The freshman class includes forwards Adin Ibrahimovic, Namik Mehic, and Tyson McCoy. New midfielders are Sawyer Wilbanks and Caue Ramos, along with incoming defenders Xavier Sims and Diego Ramirez.
With the seven transfers, the Falcons have brought in four Brazilian players to the squad, along with assistant coach Gonzalo Carranza. Goalkeeper Enzo Gil from Lindenwood, defenders Giovanni Soares from William Carey University, and Caio Tascheto from Neuman University.
The other four new transfers for BG are defenders Tim Koczulap, who played two seasons at Robert Morris, winning the Horizon League Tournament title last year. Sixth-year defender Aiden Messinger comes after playing five years at Spring Arbor University and over 6,000 collegiate minutes.
Sophomore Bradley Poppell joins Bowling Green after playing one season at Air Force, making 12 appearances. He was the 2023-24 Ohio Gatorade Player of the Year and the 2023 Ohio Division I Player of the Year.
Finally, junior midfielder Joshua Saavedra comes to BG after two seasons with Long Island University. The Miami, Fla. native was the 2023 Northeast Conference (NEC) Rookie of the Year and a First-Team All-NEC selection. Playing a part of a Sharks squad that won the 2023 NEC Men’s Soccer Tournament championship.
“Joshua is a very good player, a very smart player,” said junior midfielder Andrew Shaffer. “I think he’s gonna make me and a lot of the other guys around him look a lot better.”
The former Inter Miami academy player played all 20 games for LIU in 2024 and was ranked 67th in the country among Division-I college players in TopDrawerSoccer’s Preseason Top 100.
QUESTIONS…WITH GOOD ANSWERS
Bowling Green lost five starters from last season. Kyle Cusimano, Josh Erlandson, Kyle Blasingame, Jake Bergin and Brendan Graves. Along with Taylor Dyson, Rodrigo Silvia, Grant Balcer and Jake Lane, who transferred to Old Dominion.
The big question is who will start in goal for the Falcons. The three goalkeepers on the roster are redshirt-sophomores Jason Ball and Will Schutte, along with incoming junior Gil. Graves held down the spot for three seasons, so for the first time in a while, there is competition for the number one shirt.
“There is a lot of competition and I don’t think we can state it highly enough how valuable Graves was to us,” said Nichols. “He was an incredible goalkeeper, even a better leader in the locker room. It’s gonna be big shoes to fill, a lot of competition for it.”
As for the backline, Gus Peacock is the only returning starter from last season. The Orange and Brown also have junior Saul Rios returning and redshirt-junior Amer Dedic, along with the newcomers Soares, Tascheto, Messinger and Sims.
Plenty of options for BG. It’s going to be about finding the right three center-backs.
So is it a big question? Yes, but the team has the right solutions.
“It’s not questions that we’re searching for something, it’s questions that we’re gonna have to decide,” Nichols said. “We got a lot of viable options. We do have some guys that return and I believe that those guys are all better than they were a year ago, but we also brought in some older guys, some seasoned guys that have some of the intangibles we’re looking for.”
THE BIG MATCHES
17 matches for the Falcons. Seven at Cochrane Stadium, 10 on the road. Bowling Green will begin the 2025 season at home against IU Indy on Thursday, Aug. 21. After that, three straight games on the road against Butler, Wright State in the I-75 Cup, and Michigan on Labor Day.
A big non-conference matchup against Michigan State is slated for Friday, Sept. 5, under the lights at Cochrane. Followed by a road trip to Lexington, Ky., to face the Kentucky Wildcats at Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex on Sunday, Sept. 14.
Arguably, the biggest regular-season bout could be the MVC opener for the Falcons. A rematch against Evansville at home on Friday, Sept. 26, during Alumni Weekend.
A matchup that goes back decades, Bowling Green will head to Kalamazoo, Mich., to face No. 20-ranked Western Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 25.
With the departure of Missouri State from The Valley, BG has just three home conference games, with four on the road.
The Falcons’ regular-season home finale will be against UIC on Halloween night. Then, a road trip against Northern Illinois on Wednesday, Nov. 5, will close out the season before the MVC Tournament.
EXPECTATIONS
Restating the obvious, Bowling Green wants a championship. Plain and simple. The last time the Falcons competed in the NCAA Tournament was during the 2021 season, and the last time BG won a conference title was in 2020(-21).
“We won a lot of games, won a lot of close games. I feel like on paper, that was probably a successful season. But there’s still a sting for us for sure, not getting a ring on our finger, not winning the championship game,” said Shaffer. “So, looking ahead to this season, our motivation is definitely winning. It’s a pretty simple goal and we’re gonna do everything we can to give our team the best chance to win.”
With a good returning core of leaders and proven experienced players who have produced in big moments. The Falcons have eyes for an MVC title. But it’s also crucial that the team is playing their best soccer come tournament time.
“It’s important that with this team, we’re getting better every game,” said Nichols. “This is a team that I really think it’s vital if we’ve locked in on our rings, we want a ring. We need to be playing our best. At the end of October. And so that first game is only about testing us, seeing where we are and how we can get better.”
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