Western Michigan took a 1-0 win against BG this Saturday. The Falcons record is 5-7-5 overall and 2-2-1 in the Mid-American Conference.
The Falcons attempted more shots than Western Michigan 13-11, but Western Michigan was able to get more saves than BG 4-3, and Western also had an advantage in shots on goal 5-3.
BG wasted no time trying to attempt a score at the 2:38 mark Midfielder Ryan James attempted a shot but he shot to wide. At the 42:50 mark Western Michigan made their goal of the game.
Saturday’s game broke BG’s streak of four consecutive shutouts in road matches. Goalkeeper Michael Wiest and the rest of BG’s defense did not let its opponents get a goal in an away game since Sept. 27 at Marshall.
The lost caused BG to fall in the MAC standings from third place to fourth place, which they share with West Virginia. Akron leads the MAC with a record of 4-1-0 in the conference, Western Michigan sits at second place with a 3-0-1 record and Hartwick is in third place with a 3-2-1 record.
BG is heading back home for a non-conference tilt against IPFW on Tuesday Nov. 5 at 7p.m. This will be BG’s last home game of the regular season; they will then head to Morgantown, W. Va., for its last game of the regular season against West Virginia University on Friday Nov. 8 at 7p.m.
BG still has a chance at being in the MAC Tournament the winner of the BG-West Virginia match will earn a place in the tournament. If there is a tie, BG will remain in a tie at fourth place in the MAC standings. MAC’s first tiebreaker is head to head competition and the second tiebreaker is point accumulation vs. ranked conference teams. Both BG and West Virginia lost to Akron. BG lost to Western Michigan while West Virginia tied Western. On the contrary, West Virginia lost to Hartwick and BG tied Hartwick.
According to head coach Eric Nicholas, every game is a championship game and [the team is] going to prepare for this next game like they prepare for all other games.
The MAC tournament semifinals will be played on Friday, Nov. 15, at the site of the regular-season champion. The MAC tournament championship game will be played Sunday, Nov. 17, at the same place as the semifinals.
