BGSU women’s soccer (6-1-1, 1-0 MAC) began Mid-American Conference (MAC) play with a 2-1 victory over Kent State (2-3-3, 0-1 MAC) on Sunday afternoon, but their tough stretch to begin conference play continues on Thursday, Sept. 16 at 4 p.m. when they head to Athens to take on the Ohio Bobcats (3-4-1, 1-0 MAC).
The Falcons, who enter the match as the highest-ranked team at 45th in the NCAA RPI, have tied their best start in program history at 6-1-1, and would eclipse that mark with a victory on Thursday afternoon.
The Bobcats’ record doesn’t look as pleasing on paper with a losing record in non-conference play, but looks can be deceiving, as OU played three of their six non-conference games against Power Four opponents. The Bobcats didn’t give up more than one goal in any of those games and have only done so once so far in 2025 in their 2-1 loss to Marshall on Aug. 24.
The Falcons are 1-3 in matchups with Ohio in 2023 and 2024, with their most recent victory coming on Oct. 1 of 2023 in a 2-0 victory in Athens.
With Ohio being selected as the third-best team in the MAC by the 2025 MAC Women’s Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll, the possibility that Thursday’s match is a prelude to a rematch in the MAC Tournament for the third consecutive year is one that seems highly probable.
Scouting Bowling Green
The Falcons enter Thursday on a three-game winning streak, and it will have been more than a month since their only loss of the season against Illinois on Aug. 17. After that loss, the Falcons have outscored their opponents 11-4 with two shutouts, five victories and one draw to Cincinnati at home.
With 38 points in eight games on 12 goals and 14 assists, BG sits on top of the MAC team points ranking while tying Buffalo for most goals with 12. Falcons are scattered throughout the top 10 in the individual rankings, with junior forward Emma Stransky standing with second-most goals in the conference after her two-goal performance against that earned her MAC Offensive Player of the Week.
Sophomore defender Haley Wolf ties two other MAC players for the top of the assists leaderboard with three on the year, joining grad student Ellie Pool and juniors Gabby Lamparty and Michelle Hochstadt who tie themselves for fourth with two each.
Sophomore goalkeeper Payton O’Malley leads the conference in goals against average (6.25) and saves (31) in a breakout season where she hasn’t allowed more than one goal in a game throughout the first eight. Nationally, The Pittsburgh native is 14th in the country among sophomores in goals against average in a season that builds on a 2024 All-MAC Freshman Team appearance.
Things won’t get any easier for Bowling Green after Thursday’s match, as they face off with the 2024 MAC champions, the Western Michigan Broncos (4-2) on Sunday, Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium.
Scouting Ohio
After a 1-0 victory over a Central Michigan (0-7, 0-1 MAC) team that is yet to score a goal in 2025, the Bobcats will be happy to return to a Chessa Field that hosted a 1-0 victory over The Falcons in the 2024 MAC Tournament. OU is 5-1 against Bowling Green away from Cochrane Stadium since 2011, outscoring them 10-5 in that span.
Head coach Aaron Rodgers returns all five Bobcat members of the 2024 All-MAC teams in his 13th season as head coach of the program, but it is two sophomores who lead the team in scoring, with forward Sania Dearing scoring a team-high three goals on the season, and Greek midfielder Iro Fakinou firmly in the runner-up spot with a goal and an assist.
Ohio’s offensive statistics are largely deflated thanks to a highly inflated non-conference schedule that featured only one team with a current losing record, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies (1-5-2), who the Bobcats firmly put to bed with a 3-0 victory in Rochester, Michigan.
Despite the tough schedule however, the squad still ties Western Michigan and Toledo for the third-least goals allowed thanks to three narrow 1-0 losses to each of their three Power Four opponents.
Senior goalkeeper and 2024 All-MAC Second Team member Celeste Sloma has picked up right where she left off last November, making 28 saves and allowing only six goals against tough competition and ranking third in goals against average among MAC goalkeepers.
After the Falcons come to town, Ohio will host Akron on Sunday, Sept. 21 before they get back on the road to make the trip to Kalamazoo for a faceoff against Western Michigan on Thursday, Sept. 25.
