BGSU women’s soccer (7-1-3, 2-0-2 MAC) moves forward in its quest for a trip to Columbus, Ohio, for the 2025 MAC Tournament on Thursday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m. with a historic matchup with its longtime rivals, the Toledo Rockets (3-3-4, 0-2-2 MAC) at Paul Hotmer Field in Toledo, Ohio.
The Falcons enter the midweek matchup after a dominant 4-0 victory over Central Michigan at Cochrane Stadium on Sunday afternoon that featured a career game for junior forward Lizzie Bultynck, who registered two goals in the span of two minutes on top of an assist to give BG their second win in their first four MAC games.
The Rockets are yet to earn a win in their own first four conference games, drawing the Chippewas last Thursday evening ahead of a 3-0 loss to Western Michigan in Kalamazoo that featured seven Toledo shots on goal without one crossing the line.
Bowling Green has dominated the Battle of I-75 in recent years, winning six of the last seven matchups and remaining undefeated since 2017. The Falcons beat the Rockets 2-1 in the most recent matchup at Cochrane Stadium after former Rocket defender Dalaney Ranallo got the scoring started in the second minute of the match, but BG rallied back with goals from former Falcons captain Lexi Czerwien and then sophomore forward Emma Stransky that secured their second straight win over Toledo.
Scouting Bowling Green
The Falcons remain undefeated through their first four conference games, and they haven’t lost a game since a 1-0 defeat to Illinois almost a month and a half ago. The Falcons have played only three road games so far in 2025, compared to eight home games, going 2-0-1 away from home with a 1-1 draw against Ohio as their lone road MAC result, alongside non-conference victories over Detroit Mercy and Robert Morris.
Stransky, the breakout junior forward who leads the Falcons in points, added on to her already impressive goal total of five on Sunday afternoon, scoring the first of four Falcon goals against CMU to give her six on the year, a mark that ties Ball State senior forward Addie Chester for the most in the MAC. Stransky is one goal away from doubling her career goal total going into 2025, and she is the only Falcon with more than two goals on the year.
Five Falcons enter the Battle of I-75 with two goals, with Bultynck entering the fray after her five-point performance on Sunday afternoon. 15 of the 29 players on the BG roster have earned a point through 11 games in 2025, a mark that has already eclipsed the 2024 squad’s total of 12 through all of last season.
As far as team statistical rankings, the Falcons place near the top in both goals for and goals allowed, with a conference second-best goal differential of 11, with 18 goals scored and only seven allowed through 11 games.
Sophomore goalkeeper Payton O’Malley earned the squad’s fourth shutout of the season alongside redshirt freshman Kendall Sears, who took O’Malley’s place for the final 11 minutes of Sunday afternoon’s match, making her collegiate debut in the 4-0 victory. O’Malley continues to hold the best save percentage among MAC goalkeepers at .848 with a goals against average of .644, a mark that is only bested by Buffalo goalkeeper Lexie Thompson and is over 200 points better than third-place goalkeeper Celeste Sloma from Ohio.
The Falcons will remain on the road this weekend, heading to Ypsilanti to take on Eastern Michigan on Sunday, Oct. 5, at 1 p.m.
Scouting Toledo
The Rockets have some work to do if they want to make their first MAC Tournament under third-year head coach Mark Batman, who led the team to a combined seven conference wins through his first two years and is yet to win his first of 2025 through four matches.
Toledo suffered a tough loss at the hands of the WMU on Sunday in a match that ended 3-0 in Kalamazoo, and despite 1-1 draws against Northern Illinois and Central Michigan, the squad has been outscored 6-2 in the opening conference span.
The offensive unit is led by sophomore Morgan Spitler, who is fifth in the MAC with four goals despite a four-game scoring drought, failing to find the stat sheet since a 1-1 to IU Indy on Sept. 14. Getting the Centerville, Ohio native on the scoreboard will be a key for the Rockets on Thursday, as they are 2-0-2 in games that she has scored in, but 1-3-2 in games she doesn’t find the net.
After the Battle of I-75, the Rockets will head to Oxford to take on Miami (OH) on Sunday, Oct. 5, at 1:00 p.m.
