The BGSU men’s soccer team completed their season on Friday with a 2-0 loss against Akron, who is ranked first in the nation in the Mid-American Conference tournament semi-finals.
Northern Illinois defeated West Virginia in the other semi-final game on Friday, but was defeated by Akron, 2-0, in the championship game and gave the Zips an automatic birth to the NCAA tournament.
The Falcons ended their season with a record of 8-9-3, which marks the best finish in Head Coach Eric Nichols’ time at BGSU and the best finish for the program since the 2003 season.
Two BG players were named to the regular season All-MAC First Team — sophomore Danny Baraldi and junior Anthony Grant. This marks the first time since 2005 that a BGSU player was named to the first team.
Grant was also awarded a share of the MAC’s Newcomer-of-the-Year Award, which he split with Akron’s Dillon Serna.
At the end of the tournament, two Falcons, junior goalkeeper Michael Wiest and junior Zach Schewee, were named to the MAC All-Tournament Team.
“[Wiest] was fantastic tonight,” Nichols said. “He did what he needed to do to keep us in the game and give us a chance, but there’s nothing he could do about the goals.”
After the completion of the match on Friday, there are three senior players that completed their NCAA eligibility — defender Sean Hastings, midfielder Zach Lemke and defender Chris McLean.
“Those guys mean a ton to me,” Nichols said. “They have been there since day one when I first got here. They’ve seen a lot of progress in this program, they’ve been a part of that progress and they’ve been great leaders and models to the younger guys. They are definitely going to be missed on the field, but just more importantly in the group and the locker room.”
