Tuesday, September 28, 2010

BG goes 2-0, and 2 for 2 over the weekend


This past weekend the BGSU Women's Soccer team started MAC play with quite an impressive statement. On Friday the team downed Buffalo 4-0 with an exciting offensive display. Junior Alyssa Zuccaro had her hand in every goal on the day, earning a most deserved hat trick and an assist on Maddie Wideman's goal. Assists on Z's three goals were provided by Megan Amman twice, and by Maddie Wideman. The Falcons posted 2 goals in each half and pitched a shutout from solid defensive play to earn the convincing 4-0 win over the visiting Bulls.


The Falcons repeated their winning ways on Sunday with their 2nd MAC victory in as many games over the visiting Kent State Golden Flashes. The Falcons again held their opponent scoreless by quickly thwarting any offensive threat by the Flashes. Senior goalkeeper, Alexa Arsenault played a very solid game between the pipes to keep the shutout, even pushing a ball that was destined for the back of the Falcon net wide and out of danger to keep the game at 0-0 early on in the match. The rest of the defensive unit did a great job of keeping Kent at bay for the remainder of the day even though Arsenault would end the game with a season high 9 saves.

The Falcon's kept the offensive pressure up and were rewarded for their efforts with less than 10 minutes left to play in the match. The winning goal came with help from defender Emily Rothwell who played a flighted ball up toward Z, who flicked the ball on to Freshman Tracy Togba who timed her run perfectly to receive the ball facing the goal. "Toto" then had the confidence to take two defenders on, beating them both, upon which she calmly placed the ball past the keeper and into the Kent State net. The Falcons erupted in celebration as Tracy found the game winning goal (Game winning assist credited to Z). The team held on to the lead rather comfortably in the wanning minutes and saw their second MAC win come to fruition as a reward for their efforts.


For their outstanding individual displays, Junior Alyssa Zucarro and Senior Alexa Arsenault were named MAC offensive and defensive players of the week, respectively. The honor is most deserving for each of the players, as are the victories that the team put together as a collective group.


The Falcons will next look to Friday's away match vs a very good Eastern Michigan team, and will then take on defending MAC champions, Central Michigan on Sunday. Sunday's game is set to kick off at 1:00pm on BG's home field. Hope to see you on the side lines!


Pictured: Alexa makes a great save to keep the game 0-0 against Kent.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Getting To Know Alyssa Zuccarro


This week, mac-sports.com featured Junior Alyssa Zuccaro as part of their "getting-to-know" series of current MAC athletes. Z has been honored as team offensive MVP by her teammates for the past two season's and looks to be in even better form this year. Follow the link below to view the video of Z's interview.


ROLL ALONG!


Click HERE to see Z's interview.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Team volunteers at Black Swamp Art Festival


Senior co-captain Alicia Almond reflects on a recent outing by the team to the Black Swamp Arts Festival. The team volunteers time each year at the event as part of our support to the BG community. (Read on to hear more about the event from Alicia!)


"Helping out with the local Black Swamp Arts Festival has become an event over the past few years that our team looks forward to volunteering for annually. We all enjoy giving back to the community to show our appreciation for the support that we have been given. This year was especally enjoyable because a majority of the team was assigned to the tye-dying station where we got to be hands on with kids of all ages. There was a group of girls twisting and tying rubber-bands around the t-shirts, pillow cases, and bandanas, another group was putting tye dye on the items, other girls were bagging the shirts with instructions, and others were "runners" (refilling dye bottles and running back and forth between the tables). Even though the day was filled with scattered showers, there was never a dull moment. The community kept us busy throughout the day, meanwhile, allowing us to show off our creative side for a change. I, personally, was one of the dyers, and it was soooooo much fun! Even though I got a little messy dying my fingers and some of my sweatshirt it was worth every once of color that I took home with me".


Check back often to see what new adventures the BGSU Women's Soccer team takes part in next!


Tuesday, September 21, 2010

BG Rallies to top ISU, Richards gets #100


This past Sunday the BGSU Women's Soccer team came from behind twice to earn a victory over Indiana State in the team's final non-conference game. Alyssa Zuccaro netted twice for the Falcons, and Sarah Vonderbrink scored her 2nd game winner in a week to put the Falcons on top with a 3-2 win. The victory also marked Head Coach Andy Richard's 100th Career win, a tremendous coaching milestone. CONGRATULATIONS ANDY!
The Sycamores scored the first goal of the day on a wonderful finish by Alison Gasparovich, but the Falcons would even things up a mere 4 minutes later on Z's first goal of the day (credit to Alicia Almond for the assist). The game went into half-time in a 1-1 deadlock, with each team trading chances on goal throughout the remainder of the first half.
ISU again opened up the scoring and went ahead for the second time in the match for a 2-1 lead over the Falcons. The lead was again fairly short-lived for the home team as Z notched her second goal just under 10 minutes later to tie the game up once again. This time, however, the momentum would stay with the Falcons as Sara Vonderbrink found the game winner with a composed finish following a great pass from teammate Maddie Wideman.
With the Win, the Falcon's broke a 6 game winning streak for the Indiana State Sycamores.
The Falcon's will now begin Mid American Conference play opening up against Buffalo on Friday at 4:00pm and Kent State on Sunday at 2:00pm. Both games will be played at home, at Mickey Cochrane Stadium, home of the FALCONS!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

BG posts 2-1 Victory over CSU

This past Sunday the BGSU Women's Soccer team put on a nice showing to earn a 2-1 win over visiting Cleveland State University. The game was scoreless going into the second half, but Senior Katie Stephenson got the Falcons rolling with a header on goal that eluded the CSU keeper and put the Falcons up 1-0 (assists on the goal were provided by Morgan Burgner and Emily Rothwell). The lead was short lived and CSU fought back 3 minutes later to even the score up. BG kept their composure and continued to chip away at the CSU back line until finally Sarah Vonderbrink put in another Falcon goal from a cross from teammate Megan Amann who was put in behind the defense by Katie Stephenson. On the day, BGSU outshot the Vikings 15-8 and dominated much of the run of play and opportunities on goal. Katelyn Turner nearly scored twice and was supported by many other offensive attempts by the Falcons.

The team will next take on the Michigan State Spartans this Friday, September 17th. Game time is set for 5:00pm.

*The team will hold an autograph session with poster handout following the game on Friday. Please stick around following the final whistle to meet and greet this year's team!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

BG registers a tie and a loss on the road

This past weekend the BGSU Women's Soccer team hit the road to New York for two away games. The team's first stop was in beautiful Niagara Falls to play Niagara University. From Niagara, the team traveled to Olean, NY to take on the Bonnies of St. Bonaventure.

The Falcons fought a good Niagara team to a 0-0 double overtime battle to open up the weekend. The game against Niagara was exciting to watch as it took place on a very fast turf field under the stadium lights. Both teams exchanged scoring opportunities and played a very physical game. Neither team could find a winner as both defensive units stood strong. The hard fought 0-0 tie earned the Falcons their first shutout of the year.

The team then was able to spend some time enjoying the scenery of Niagara. The team took in the "awesomeness" of the falls....and even got an up-close look from a trip on the "Maid of the Mist". After a "dry" experience on the maid of the mist adventure, the team traveled to St. Bonaventure's field to have a Saturday afternoon training session.

Click Here to view video from the trip to Niagara Falls.

The game against St. Bonaventure ended in a 0-3 loss, which does not quite reflect the way the game appeared to be played. The Falcon's looked to take the early lead only 5 minutes into the game on a Jenny Fowler goal following a free kick, but the linesman waved his flag to indicate offside and so the goal was called back. Shortly after the called back goal, St. Bonaventure would find a way to go up on a bomb that found the back of the net (with a lot of luck and gust of wind) to give the Bonnies a 1-0 lead going into the second half. In an attempt to find the equalizer, the Falcons pressed forward, and in doing so, were more exposed at the back. St Bonaventure was able to capitalize as the Falcon's were pushed forward as the Bonnies earned 2 late goals as a result.

The Falcons have returned home and look forward to hosting a pair of home games this weekend. The team will take on Nationally Ranked University of Minnesota on Friday, September 10th at 5:00pm and Cleveland State University on Sunday, September 12th at 1:00pm. As always, admission to Cochrane field is FREE!

See you on the Side Line!