BGSU men’s soccer (5-8-4, 1-4-2) 2025 season came to a close in DeKalb, Illinois, losing 4-0 to the Northern Illinois Huskies (8-4-4, 3-1-3).
With the loss, Bowling Green finishes seventh in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) and misses out on the 2025 MVC Tournament, securing just one conference win this year.
NIU’s Martin Montoya scored a brace in the win, with one goal coming in the first and the other in the second half. Midfielder Vance Sheffield tallied three assists, and Niko Angulo also had a goal and an assist.
In his last match as a Falcon, senior forward Trace Terry recorded three shots, putting two on frame. Fellow senior Andrew Shaffer played 77 minutes, recording one shot as well.
The Huskies outshot the Falcons 16-11 on the night, but BG had just one more shot on target with six to NIU’s five.
Redshirt-sophomore goalkeeper Jason Ball conceded four goals in his eighth collegiate start, making just one save. On the other side, Northern Illinois goalkeeper Atahan Arslan made five saves to earn his fourth shutout of the season.
Arguably, the best chance of the match for Bowling Green came in the first minute, after junior forward Bennett Painter earned an early BG corner kick, Terry nearly opened the scoring, getting on the end of the set piece, but forced Arslan to make his first save.
The Huskies’ first goal came from Roman Khela in the sixth minute off a quick counterattack. Khela used his speed on the right wing to move in the box and slid his shot past Ball for an early 1-0 lead.
Just minutes later, NIU added their second after a long switch from Angulo that found the foot of Sheffield, who squared it across the box to Montoya, who powered his shot into the roof of the net.
At halftime, the Falcons led the Huskies in shots 7-5, with four on target for BG and two for NIU, both shots on goal for NIU finding the back of the net.
Northern Illinois’s third goal came in the 50th minute from Angulo, who had a lung-busting run from midfield and struck the ball with his left foot into the side netting to make it 3-0.
The fourth goal was a give-and-go from Sheffield to Montoya, who found his second goal of the night in the 77th minute after smashing a shot past Ball.
After receiving a yellow card in the 18th minute, junior captain Mads Christensen received a red card near the final minutes of the contest, putting BG down to 10 men to finish the game.
Bowling Green and head coach Eric Nichols will now head into the offseason to prep for the 2026 season. Falcon Media Sports Network will keep you updated all offseason for the Falcons.
