BGSU men’s soccer (1-1-2) traveled an hour north to face the Michigan Wolverines on Labor Day. Fresh off a 3-0 win against rivals Wright State, the Falcons looked to continue that success in Monday’s match; however, they suffered a 1-0 loss.
“It’s probably a fair result, because Michigan is a really good team,” head coach Eric Nichols said. “We’re going on a journey with this very new (Falcon) team.”
The match did not start off well. In the sixth minute, after graduate student defenseman Caio Tascheto got a yellow card, Michigan midfielder Shuma Sasaki scored on an assist from midfielder Raymundo Mendez.
With just over 30 minutes left in the first half, Michigan looked ready to score, but Bowling Green junior goalkeeper Enzo Gil made a great save in the box. He notched two more before halftime.
Bowling Green struggled offensively throughout the match, often stifled by Michigan’s speed and athleticism advantage.
With eight minutes left in the half, the tide seemed to turn. Falcons junior forward Bennett Painter found the. But offside was called on the play, so the goal was waved off.
In the 81st minute, a yellow card on junior midfielder Anthony Hernandez set up a free kick for Michigan. It was BG’s ninth foul on the day, with the Falcons ending with 10 fouls.
Michigan, for its part, received six fouls, including an 81’ red card on midfielder Mitar Mitrovic. However, Michigan was awarded nine corner kicks, while BGSU was awarded zero.
In terms of shots and shots on goal, the game was far more lopsided than the 1-0 score suggests. Michigan registered 13 shots, while BG recorded one; the Wolverines gathered six shots on goal, while the Falcons came away with zero. Gil recorded five saves in the game.
“The defenders were under a stress test for the most part, and now we gotta figure out how to avoid putting them under so much pressure,” Nichols said.
Unfortunate news for Bowling Green, junior defender Gus Peacock went down with an injury in the first half.
“It doesn’t seem great, but we’ll wait. He’s had a couple of tests done already, and we’ll get some more tests,” Nichols said.
The Orange and Brown will look to bounce back from the one-sided loss as they take on the Michigan State Spartans on Sept. 5 at Cochrane Stadium.
