Shea's Long-Range Strike Propels Falcons to 2-0 Win

Saturday, October 24

Bowling Green, Ohio

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

7-7-1, 1-2-0MAC

West Virginia

6-9-0, 1-2-0MAC

West Virginia

Bowling Green

BGSU celebrates Danny Shea's goal v WVU - Amanda Cutcher photo

The Falcons congratulate Danny Shea (13) after his second-half goal

Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications

October 24, 2015 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

BGSU earns a B!G victory at Cochrane Stadium on Senior Day

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Redshirt junior Danny Shea's long-range goal broke a scoreless draw midway through the second half and lifted the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team to a 2-0 win over visiting West Virginia University Saturday afternoon (Oct. 24). The Mid-American Conference match was held at Cochrane Stadium on the BGSU campus.

With the win, the Falcons improve to 7-7-1 overall, while dropping the Mountaineers to 6-9-0. Both teams are now 1-2-0 in MAC play, with two conference matches remaining.

LINKS
FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
POSTGAME VIDEO: Nichols | Shea | Heuton
PHOTO GALLERY: Photos courtesy Larry Clapper & Amanda Cutcher

Shea's first collegiate goal came on a shot from his own side of the midfield stripe. The defender took a pass from sophomore Alexis Souahy and, from the left side of the pitch, near the sideline, played a long ball into the penalty area. WVU goalkeeper Alec Boerner appeared to misjudge the ball as he came off of his line in an attempt to catch or punch it. With BGSU senior Ryan James and a defender making a run toward him in the box, the 'keeper was able to get a hand on Shea's serve, but was unable to keep it from going over his head and toward the center of the vacated goal. A Mountaineer defender made a frantic attempt to reach the ball before it crossed the line, but his diving effort was in vain.

"We created a lot of good chances today," said BGSU head coach Eric Nichols. "We got a little bit fortunate on the first goal, but those are plays that we are creating by putting the ball where we need to put it, and putting them under pressure."

Shea's goal came with 19:51 remaining in the second half. Exactly six minutes later, the Falcons doubled the lead, again after playing a long ball ahead.

This time, juniors Joe Sullivan and Pat Flynn -- like Shea natives of Naperville, Ill. -- were involved in the play that led up to the goal. Sullivan played a ball to Flynn, who raced behind the WVU back line. Flynn poked the ball past the onrushing Boerner, who took down the BG striker approximately 10 yards from the end line. Boerner was issued a red card, the Falcons were awarded a penalty kick, and junior Jacob Roth blasted that PK past replacement 'keeper Daniel Diaz.

The Falcons held advantages of 16-12 in total shot attempts and 7-4 in shots on goal. Redshirt junior Ryan Heuton made three saves to earn his third shutout of the season for the Brown and Orange, while Boerner was credited with four saves and Diaz one for the Mountaineers.

"We've definitely gone through some tough times recently, but guys have continued to do what they need to do," said Nichols. "Today I thought we created a lot of good chances. I was worried that not scoring on some of those chances in the first half would come back to haunt us, but the guys continued to put the pedal down."

On Senior Day at Cochrane, the Falcons' three seniors -- James, Jake Genrich and Jake Martin -- were recognized in ceremonies prior to kickoff. It did not rain during the match, but the field was wet from morning rain in the Bowling Green area, and the wind blew from south to north for much of the match. BG attacked into the wind in the opening half, and the Falcons had the wind at their back in the second period.

BG had an 8-5 first-half advantage in shots, and the first attempt of the day came with just over two minutes gone. Boerner had come off of his line, and actually ventured outside of the penalty area, in an attempt to clear a ball. The ball wound up at the feet of James, and the senior fired a shot from distance, but the WVU 'keeper had recovered and was back in position to make the save.

With just under eight minutes gone, redshirt freshman Bismark Agyeman worked hard to evade first one, then two defenders on the right side of the pitch. Agyeman somehow got free, moving along the end line, and he slid a pass to Sullivan, who was stationed at the near post. Sullivan, with a defender draped all over him, still got off a shot, but the one-timer went wide.

Agyeman and Sullivan teamed up for another solid scoring chance less than three minutes later. Agyeman took a pass from Martin and played a low ball through the WVU defense to Sullivan, who was cutting down the center of the 18-yard box. Sullivan quickly fired a shot, but Boerner went to the ground to make an acrobatic kick save.

Midway through the half, a Martin pas from the left side was nodded backward by Sullivan, who was facing away from goal. The nifty header went into the box, where Flynn was headed toward goal, but a defender cleared the ball over the end line just before the Falcon junior could get there, and the Mountaineers successfully dealt with the ensuing corner kick.

BG had a solid scoring chance with just over a half hour gone. After a Mountaineer foul, Roth's free kick from the right side went over several players in the box, and found its way to redshirt junior Max Auden on the left side of the penalty area. Auden slid a shot toward the far post, but it rolled just wide.

With 13 minutes left before halftime, WVU's Joey Piatczyc picked up a ball on the right side of the penalty area, just inside the 18, and fired a shot that forced Heuton into a leaping save. Heuton rose to the challenge, however, with an acrobatic effort to tip the ball wide of the goal, and BG cleared the corner kick that followed.

Each team had a chance in the 38th minute of play. First, off of a Piatczyc corner kick, Francio Henry's header in the center of the box went just over the bar. Then, only 35 seconds later, Flynn laid a ball off for the onrushing James. James fired a shot from distance, and it appeared that Boerner did not initially see the shot, but it went just wide right.

Early in the second half, Sullivan took a long pass on the left side of the pitch, and cut to his right as he approached the penalty area. He hit a curving shot that was bending toward the far post, but the shot went just outside of the woodwork.

The intensity picked up as the game wore on. In the 58th minute, in a harbinger of things to come, it appeared that Boerner misjudged Shea's long ball forward. The WVU 'keeper came off of his line, then at the last second put his hand up to tip the ball out of bounds for a corner kick, but the Falcons were whistled for a foul as that corner sailed into the box.

Just over an hour into the match, Sullivan made a run with the ball into the Mountaineers' end of the field, and found Flynn near the top of the box. Flynn worked against a defender, created some space for himself and hit a turnaround shot, but Boerner was able to make the save.

Two minutes later, another long ball by Shea nearly found Flynn, who had three defenders converging on him. One of those WVU players, however, was able to knock the ball away at the last instant.

In the 71st minute, however, Shea's next ball forward wound up being the first goal, and the first game-winning goal, of his career.

BG possessed the ball for nearly a minute as the match moved under 17 minutes to go in the second period. At least six different Falcons were involved in the sequence, which culminated when freshman Peter Pugliese was pulled down after he got around a would-be defender on the left side of the field, near the end line. Roth's free kick found the head of Souahy, who was cutting toward the left post, but the sophomore's hard shot went just over the crossbar.

The visitors had a great chance to tie the match in the 76th minute. A low cross from the left side found Jad Arslan in the box, Arslan tried to find the far post, but his shot was blocked by a diving Heuton. The rebound came right back to Arslan, who again fired toward that left goalpost. This time, however, his shot was knocked away by a defender on the goal line.

Less than a minute later, Sullivan played the ball ahead to Flynn, who poked it past the charging Boerner. Faced with the choice of letting BGSU's scoring leader get past him on the left side of the box or committing a foul, the WVU 'keeper chose the latter, and was given a red card. Roth's PK closed the scoring, but BG had at least one more chance to find the net.

Just over five minutes remained when James took a pass from sophomore Brad Macomber on the left side and played a low crossing ball into the box. The pass found freshman Ryan Ross at the six-yard line, and Ross met the ball with a nifty backheel that was on frame, but was hit right at backup goalkeeper Diaz.

BGSU closes the home portion of the regular-season schedule with a record of 6-2-0. The Falcons also won six matches at Cochrane last season, going 6-2-1. No BG team has won more than six home matches since the 1996 Falcons went 9-0-1.

Freshman Vincent Giannini made his first collegiate start on Saturday. Giannini, a native of Sydney, Australia, had played a total of 15 minutes over the Falcons' first 14 matches of the year, but he was on the field for 57 minutes vs. WVU.

The Falcons close the regular season with four-straight games on the road, beginning with a Tuesday (Oct. 27) contest at Wright State University. The road swing also sees the team face Buffalo, Appalachian State and nationally-ranked Akron.