BGSU men’s soccer (5-7-4, 1-3-2) hosted UIC (8-2-5, 1-1-4 MAC) in a 1-1 tie on Friday night and still have their Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) tournament hopes alive.
“Couldn’t be more proud of the performance our guys put in,” BGSU head coach Eric Nichols said postgame. “UIC is a great team, we had a game plan, the guys locked into the game plan. A couple inches here and there, and I think we’re up 2-0… that’s just the way the game goes”.
In the second minute, junior forward Bennett Painter and senior forward Trace Terry had a pair of consecutive shots deflected away by junior defender Jacobo Cruz. It was back-to-back heroic saves by Cruz, and those two shots were the best chances either team had to score in the first half.
The Falcons’ offense slowed down as sophomore midfielder Ryko Bodurov and junior defender Gus Peacock were the only other members of the orange and brown to get a shot attempt in the first half. In the first half, it was an 11-5 shot differential in favor of UIC.
Flames junior midfielder Edouard Nys was a key part in flipping the aggression with eight shots, four of them on goal. Along with his ambition to score, Nys was able to facilitate the ball effectively with his teammates and set up numerous opportunities.
Nys was also a big factor in forcing redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Jason Ball into eight saves on the night.
The first half had a clear theme of physicality, with a heavy dose of contested headers and plays in the middle of the field, and it didn’t go away as the game went on.
To open the second half, Bodurov had an upper corner shot saved in jumping fashion by senior goalkeeper Owen Cornell. But the Flames’ defense couldn’t stay firm forever.
BG broke through in the 52nd minute to make it 1-0, as Terry scored his tenth goal of the year on a perfectly placed header in the front of the box that just escaped the grasp of Cornell.
It was set up and assisted by the combo of junior midfielder Joshua Saavedra and junior midfielder Anthony Hernandez. Saavedra passed to Hernandez, who then made the exceptional cross to Terry.
Terry spoke about only having one game left and needing help to get into the MVC tournament.
“Our only focus is to win. We can’t control what we can’t control. We’re going to work hard this week and win on Wednesday,” Terry said.
Hernandez followed up the goal with a missed shot that just nicked the goalpost after a misplay by Cornell. Hernandez is still searching for his first goal of the year.
Later on, Painter stole the ball away and attempted to dribble around Cornell in a one-on-one situation. Cornell ultimately won the battle as he dove and snatched the ball away.
UIC used this opportunity as junior midfielder Adrian Biaggi scored through a flurry of BGSU defenders after an awkward bounce in the box to make it 1-1.
In the closing minutes, the continued jawing and physicality between teams reached its boiling point as UIC junior midfielder Darrel Turcios and BG fifth-year senior defender Caio Tascheto earned themselves a yellow card.
The Falcons made one final push and attempted a corner kick with 65 seconds to go. Senior midfielder Andrew Shaffer kicked into the center of the box, and it ricocheted through a crowd before being cleared by the Flames.
After a close breakaway by UIC, the game ended in a tie, and almost every player laid down on the field from exhaustion.
The Falcons have their final regular season match on Wednesday at 8 p.m. against Northern Illinois. They will need a victory and some help to get into the MVC tournament.
