BGSU women’s soccer (7-1-6, 2-0-5) tied the Miami RedHawks (7-5-1, 4-2-1) 1-1 at Cochrane Stadium on Sunday afternoon, their third straight draw in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play.
With their sixth tie of the season, the Falcons extended their unbeaten streak to 12 matches, which sets a new program record.
The Falcons’ junior midfielder Emme Butera scored from the penalty kick spot in the 82nd minute of the match to give Bowling Green a point. However, the story of the game was the tactical switch made by head coach Chris Fox at halftime, following a poor first half.
“I didn’t recognize the first half team. I liked that it wasn’t my team. Like means that in the best possible way. Probably the worst 45 minutes of soccer I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” said Fox after the match. “Lots of unforced errors, kicking the ball out of bounds, missed touches, missed passes, and it just kind of played into the hands of Miami, who obviously want to be a little bit more direct.”
However, a change in formation for Bowling Green to start the second made a difference. The Falcons went into a back-three, and moved Butera back to a centre-back position, along with multiple other changes.
“I thought one of our other issues there was that we were lacking a vertical threat. Like, even though we had four forwards in the first half, no one was making runs behind. We tried to simplify that, and that’s part of the tactics and who we want running and moving where,” said Fox. “But then, in the second half, we had a vertical threat that was then creating spaces between the lines, which you obviously saw good players now receiving being able to turn and drive at people, and then more aggressive with the players we have on the field.”
The switch helped, as Bowling Green only registered two shots in the first 45′. Then, they put up 11 shots in the second half, and eventually got the game-tying goal from the penalty spot following a shot by Ella Kane that hit the hand of Miami’s Julian Kidd.
The Falcons remain unbeaten in MAC play and will head to Northern Illinois (4-6-3, 2-3-2) on Thursday, Oct. 16, to face the Huskies, looking to keep their record-breaking unbeaten streak alive.
