BGSU women’s soccer (8-2-8, 3-1-7 MAC) travels to Amherst, Massachusetts, for the final match of the 2025 regular season on Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 1 p.m., when they take on the UMass Minutewomen (5-7-4, 3-5-2 MAC) at Rudd Field.
If the Falcons want to firmly secure a spot in a Mid-American Conference (MAC) Tournament quarterfinal match as a six seed on Saturday, Nov. 1, they must earn a victory to either separate themselves from or tie with the Eastern Michigan Eagles, who play a Wednesday match of their own against the winless Central Michigan Chippewas.
If the Falcons make the tournament with a victory on Wednesday, they would reach their ninth straight tournament, dating back to 2016, and would get in as the sixth seed for back-to-back years.
The match between UMass and Bowling Green will be the first ever match between the two women’s soccer programs after the Minutewomen joined the MAC as full-time members ahead of the 2025 season.
Scouting Bowling Green
The Falcons created late drama in Sunday afternoon’s 1-1 draw with the Akron Zips that saw a season-saving and game-tying goal by defender Gabby Lamparty in the 89th minute that earned her the MAC Defensive Player of the Week award by a BG player this year. The goal was the former Mountaineer’s third of the year, and her nine points are the most by any defender in the MAC.
The result was the first non-victory against Akron since 2018 and the third draw of the season for the Zips, as they hold a 1-7-3 conference record going into a regular-season finale of their own against Toledo.
A tough road schedule to end the season has featured long road trips to DeKalb, Illinois and Buffalo, New York in the past two midweek matches, and that trend will continue on the final week of the season with the trip to UMass, which is the longest of any distance the Falcons could travel in the MAC and would be just over a 10 hour trip for Falcon fans looking to see the season finale in person.
If the Falcons earn the victory, it would be another quick, two-day turnaround for Saturday’s MAC Tournament quarterfinal match that would be against Miami (OH) if today’s standings held.
BG’s possession-based style of play has led to a historically impressive defensive performance in the 2025 regular season, as the Falcons can go the entire regular season without allowing more than one goal to a single opponent if they do so against UMass, and their total of 11 goals allowed would be the lowest in program history if the season ended today.
On the other side of the ball, the Falcons have hit a rough patch in terms of offensive production, with the squad scoring one goal or less in all of the past seven matches, going 1-1-5 in that span with two 0-0 draws and three 1-1 draws, one 1-0 win, and one 1-0 loss.
Junior forward Emma Stransky, who leads the team in scoring with seven goals on the season, has hit a bit of a cold stretch lately, scoring only two goals in the past 10 games after scoring five in the first eight games of the regular season. While much of that discrepancy can be attributed to an increase in the quality of the opponent, Stransky will be hungry to get back on the scoresheet on Wednesday against UMass.
Scouting UMass
The Minutewomen were officially eliminated on Sunday in a 4-1 home loss to Ohio, but they still have the chance to play spoiler to the Falcons’ playoff hopes, just as the Zips did on Sunday.
Head coach Jason Dowiak is reaching the end of his first year as a MAC head coach despite eight years with the UMass program, appearing in two Atlantic 10 Tournament finals in 2021 and 2024 before switching conferences.
Only two goals in the last four matches are one of the main contributors to a tough 0-2-2 stretch that ultimately put them out of contention in the last couple of weeks, but a 2-0 victory at Rudd Field against second-place Buffalo highlights their 3-5-2 conference record.
UMass is led offensively by a plethora of contributors, with three Minutewomen sitting atop the stat sheet at five points each. Junior forward Caroline Dickson is one of those three with her two goals on the year, both of which came in UMass’ spotlight victory over the Bulls three weeks ago.
Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Leah Nisenfield has been in the net for every match this season, earning a .767 save percentage on 1.36 average goals allowed, with her best conference performance coming in a 2-0 victory over Central Michigan, where she saved six shots and earned her fourth shutout of the season.
