Madeline Wideman earns MAC recognition

Freshman Madeline Wideman was recognized by the MAC coaches in being named to the 2010 MAC All-Freshman Team. Madeline was part of a very talented Freshman recruiting class that began their collegiate soccer careers this season at BG. The team is already beginning work towards next year's season and will be looking to continue to strengthen the talent of the team going into 2011.

Click here for the press release regarding Maddie's recognition


Please continue to check back as we will have updates of the team during their offseason efforts as well as updates on clinic schedules and spring season schedules.

BG Rolls on with two Ties and SENIOR DAY

This past weekend the BG Women's Soccer team tied two games, adding an additional 2 points to their name in the MAC tournament standings. The team currently sits in Second place in the MAC West division, tied with Ohio.

On Friday, the team took on visiting Akron in what proved to be another interesting MAC game. The good guys (us of course!) were up on Akron 2-1 going in to half time, but the Zips would find the equalizer mid-way through the second half. Two sudden-death overtime periods could not break the tie and the game ended in a stalemate, despite another good showing by BGSU. Goal scorers for BG were Megan Amann and Madeline Wideman (Z, Wideman, and Katie Stephenson helped out with assists.)

On Sunday, the team battled a fired up Ohio team in another double over time frenzy, again ending in a tie. The team pitched a great defensive effort and shutout in the 0-0 deadlock.

Also on the day, the program celebrated the careers of our four seniors--Alicia Almond, Katie Stephenson, Jackie Tamerlano, and Alexa Arsenault. This group has been tremendously impactful to the program during their time and they have truly left their mark in the most positive of ways. They will be sorely missed.....BUT they still have a lot of work to do because there are great things ahead for us as we move toward MAC tournament time! Check back for some great videos of Senior Day festivities. Picture: The four seniors in traditional Senior Day attire.

The Team next travels to Western Michigan this Friday, Oct 22 and to Northern Illinois Oct 24 for more MAC regular season action.

BG earn another point in MAC play

Last weekend the BGSU Women's Soccer team lost an unfair heartbreaker to rival Toledo on Friday and then traveled to Muncie, IN where they left with a point in hand in a tie over Ball State.

The rival game vs Toledo was again decided by 1 goal (as it usually is), but unfortunately the goal was "scored" by Toledo who were able to hold on to a 1-0 advantage despite much offensive pressure from BG. The lone goal of the game came from a shot which hit the crossbar. The shot appeared to have bounced back into play following the ricochet, but the shot was ruled to have crossed the goal line and the Rockets were gifted a goal that gave them the victory.

On Sunday, the team traveled to Ball State to take on the Cardinals. The game ended in a 3-3 deadlock and felt like another unfair outcome despite good play by the Falcons. Keely Chandler, Jackie Tamerlano, and Alyssa Zuccaro found the back of the net for the Falcons, with assists provided by Sarah Vonderbrink, Kaitlyn Tobin, and Katelyn Turner.

The Falcons next have a two game homestand. Friday Oct 15th the Falcons will take on Akron and Sunday Oct 17th the Falcons will face off against Ohio. As always, admission to home games is FREE.

Video: Pregame rituals during field walk on.

BG scores 4 goals, Come Away empty Handed

This past weekend the BGSU Women's Soccer team suffered two tough losses. On Friday, the team traveled to Eastern Michigan and contributed to an offensive spectacle in a match that saw a total of 10 goals scored. Unfortunately, BG found themselves on the wrong side of the offensive shootout, losing 6-4 to the home team. The team showed perseverance by fighting themselves back into the game after being down by a 2 goal margin twice, but could not find the equalizer in the final minutes when the match was 5-4. Eastern would find the back of the net again as the Falcons pressed forward to force over time. On the day, four different BGSU players scored: Katie Stephenson, Madeline Wideman, Tracy Togba, and Alyssa Zuccaro. Assists were credited to Jackie Tamerlano, Alyssa Zuccaro, Megan Amman, and a duo assist to Stephenson and Wideman on the last goal.

The Falcon's looked to bounce back on Sunday, with a match against defending MAC champion, Central Michigan. The team held CMU scoreless for 80 minutes before the defending champs were able to break the 0-0 deadlock from a corner kick. The Falcons put tremendous pressure on Central in the waning minutes to find the equalizer again (Alicia Almond nearly scored on a 40yd blast), but the effort was perhaps a little too late as Central managed to keep a clean sheet.

The team next travels to Toledo in a rivalry game that is sure to be one for the books. Game time is set for 4:00pm at Toledo. Following the UT game, the falcons will travel to Ball State for their Sunday Match.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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!

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!

BG Drops two tough Games to WVU and XU

This past weekend the BGSU Women's Soccer team lost two tough battles against non-conference opponents. The team opened up weekend play with a very hard fought loss against West Virginia, who is nationally ranked in many polls. Despite the loss, BG was able to put together some dangerous scoring opportunities and WVU can not claim to have had any easy time during the game, despite the score line. 20 players for the Falcon's saw action during the game.

BGSU took on Xavier for their second match of the weekend, and again came away empty handed with a loss. The loss was especially tough to stomach due to the fact that many unforced team errors helped XU secure the win. Xavier got out to an early 1-0 start with a bit of luck and some miscommunication between BGSU players to take the lead less than 4 minutes into the match. The score would remain the same until only 26 seconds into the 2nd half when the falcons found the equalizer on a great pass from Alicia Almond that put Katelyn Turner in on goal. Turner calmly beat the XU keeper and put the score at an even 1-1. BG came right back again with another goal less than 7 minutes later to take the lead 2-1 (Alicia Almond again threaded a ball through the defense to an onrushing Alyssa Zuccaro, who slotted the ball to Katie Stephenson who finished 1st time against the XU keeper). Unfortunately, XU got right back into the game on an own goal by BGSU only minutes later, knotting the match at 2-2. XU got the go ahead goal and would not relinquish the lead, despite continued offensive pressure from the falcons. On the day, BG outshot Xavier 14-12.

BG will now travel to New York for an away-trip set of matches against Niagara University and St. Bonnaventure University this upcoming weekend. BG will be back in action on their home field next Friday Sept 10 against the University of Minnesota, and Sunday against Cleveland State University.

We hope to see you during our next home stand! R O L L A L O N G !!

UC tops BGSU in Season Opener 2-1 in 2OT

The University of Cincinnati Bearcats narrowly pulled out a win over the Falcons in the home, and season, opener for BGSU. The game ended in a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation, but the Bearcats were able to make the most out of a questionable free-kick call in the second overtime period to secure their victory.

The Bearcats struck first, taking a 1-0 lead over the home team early in the first half on an own goal by the Falcons. BG thwarted many UC attacks as the game continued and did not allow the visitors any more good chances on goal during regulation. The team pushed on with consistent offensive pressure and Alyssa Zuccaro netted the equalizer with a little over 5 minutes left in the match. Sarah Vonderbrink and Maddie Wideman were credited with assits.

Although a disappointing loss, the team recognizes many positive aspects in terms of how they played. Spectators would agree that BG easily had some of the best opportunities to score on the day, in a game that was exciting to watch due to it's physical nature and fast pace. The team looks to rebound from the loss this weekend as we host Nationally ranked West Virginia on Friday (kickoff 5:00pm) and Xavier on Sunday (kickoff 1:00pm).

Hope to see you on the sidelines! R O L L A L O N G!

2010 Preseason Underway

The 2010 BGSU Women's Soccer team officially began pre-season training camp on Friday, August 6th. The day began with some meetings and "Christmas" (a.k.a. gear distribution - man are they spoiled!), and concluded with the running of the annual Falcon Fitness Test followed by a short training session. The team has completed preseason and already have the foundation of a very cohesive and talented group. Pre-season has been extremely competitive as the team continues to build toward the beginning of the season, but there have also been many laughs and light-hearted team activities along the way. A few noteworthy team activities include the Iron Chef competition and Midnight Madness with team Camo being triumphant over team Black Attack.

IRON CHEF COMPETITION:
Each one of our seniors "captained" a team to compete in the cooking contest. The teams were given $40, 1.5 hours, and the secret ingredient of "potatoes" and the rest was left up to each team's imagination. The teams were judged on taste, creativity, and presentation.....and boy did they make it tough! The food was truly delicious and it was rewarding for the team to prepare the food together and to eat the foods that they, themselves, made. Watch out BG restaurants....the BGSU Women's Soccer team could start a successful catering business! :)

FOOD DESCRIPTIONS:

Team Jamaican Jerks (Winner!):

Jamaican stir fry with jerk flavored chicken, cauliflower, asparagus and potatoes, served with a homemade garlic potato biscuit, and a potato-peanut butter sushi roll.

Team Shake and Bake:

Baked parmesan idaho potato wedges, rosemary crusted red potatoes served over a bed of rice pilaf, veggie stir fry with tri colored peppers, corn, and red onion, and a sweet potato casserole for des sert.

Team Chow Down:

Sauteed green beans with pierogies, served with a crostini of french bread topped with seasoned mashed potatoes, grilled chicken, sweet barbeque sauce and chives.

Team "Winners":

Whole wheat gnocchi with a turkey sausage and creamy tomato sauce ragout, served with cheesy potato casserole, and homemade jalapeno poppers stuffed with mashed potatoes, cheese, and sour cream.

MIDNIGHT MADNESS:
There are no words to describe this team activity. The videos will have to speak for themselves. All I can say is H I L A R I O U S ! Such a good group! (Videos to follow shortly...check back soon!)