BGSU men’s soccer (2-3-2) took a 3-0 loss against Bellarmine (4-2-2) Saturday night under the lights of Cochrane Stadium.
This match marks the first time the Falcons have lost in Cochrane Stadium since Nov. 5, 2023, in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Tournament quarterfinals to NIU.
It is also the first regular-season home loss since Oct. 27, 2023, when the Orange and Brown lost 5-2 to nationally ranked Missouri State.
Bellarmine came out in a heavy press to start the game, keeping BGSU on their half of the pitch for as long as they could.
“I think we just came out really flat, not sure why,” head coach Eric Nichols said after the game. “We’re going to have to all look inside and find out why, why we came out like that. The first 20 minutes were really bad.”
The tight press continued to pay off all night long with multiple shots in the box for Bellarmine, the first coming in the 16th minute from the Knights’ redshirt junior midfielder Tate McCrery, which was sent out by Falcons junior midfielder Mads Christensen before it could get in the reach of the net.
The Falcons fought this press by keeping the box packed to prevent any clear shot, which fell through in the 24th minute.
Bellarmine took a 1-0 lead on a goal by sophomore defender Martin Cadagan, which had bounced around multiple players’ feet in the box before finding Cadagan’s foot for the goal.
“We just played into traps, and we weren’t urgent when there was a loose ball, and we were second to everything, losing first balls, losing second balls, and you’re not going to win many games like that,” Nichols said.
The game then took a turn in the 27th minute as graduate student defender Caio Tascheto received a red card after taking redshirt sophomore defender Sam Safly out on a slide tackle. Who left the game momentarily before returning in the 37th minute.
This put the Orange and Brown at a disadvantage, having to play with only 10 players after Tascheto was ejected.
Falcon’s junior goalkeeper Enzo Gil had shots coming at him all night; his best save came in the 33rd minute with a diving save on the right side of the net.
The Knights also had plenty of saves from their graduate student goalkeeper, Peter Van Euwen, getting three of his in the span of the 35th minute.
Bellarmine knocked in their second goal of the night in the 39th minute as sophomore midfielder Nick Harshaw squeaked a shot past the Falcon backline and Gil.
The Orange and Brown gave themselves a multitude of chances to score in the second half as senior forward Trace Terry sent a shot over the goal and junior forward Bennett Painter had his shot saved in the low right corner.
“We actually had a little bit of energy and just a little bit of urgency to what we were doing,” Nichols said. “Once we got it, we were able to move the ball, create a few chances.”
Bellarmine kept their foot on the gas with their third goal of the night, hitting the back of the net in the 66th minute by sophomore forward Johan Nissen Lie.
Nichols and the Falcons fix their eyes on the next match of the season against DePaul on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 3:00 p.m. to get this loss out of their heads quickly.
“This one leaves a bad taste, I know how urgent or how eager I am to see us go back out and compete, so I’m sure the guys are feeling the same way,” Nichols said.
