With An Early Goal, Women's Soccer Holds Off Akron For The 2-1 Win

Sunday, October 2

Akron, Ohio

1:00 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

7-5-0 (2-2-0MAC)

Akron

3-7-2 (0-2-2MAC)

Bowling Green

AKRON

With An Early Goal, Women's Soccer Holds Off Akron For The 2-1 Win

October 02, 2016 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: Jenna Jorgensen (Assistant Director of Athletic Communications)

Box Score

AKRON, Ohio – After going up early in the first half, the Bowling Green women's soccer program (7-5-0, 2-2-0 MAC) gained momentum to down Akron (3-7-2, 0-2-2 MAC) Sunday afternoon in Mid-American Conference play. In the 2-1 victory, junior Skylar Fleak tallied her sixth goal of the season, while freshman Sam Howshar notched her first career goal.

"I'm really pleased with our grit today and response to our result on Friday night," Bowling Green women's soccer head coach Lindsay Basalyga said. "Every game or training session, we keep pushing the team to get 1% better, whether it's mentally, technically or tactically and I'm happy the players can get the rewards for making the daily choice to push with us."

The Falcons got on the board just 3:59 into the match, as Fleak received a pass off the corner kick from freshman Maureen Kennedy. Fleak then tucked the ball into the left side of the goal, to create early momentum for the Bowling Green squad.

Then just 6:12 into the start of the second, Howshar found the back of the net for the first time in her collegiate career, as she headed in a long free kick taken by Kennedy for the game-winner. With her second assist on the day, Kennedy earned two points in the match, and doubled her season total of assists to four over the course of the last 12 matches.

Redshirt senior goalkeeper Lauren Cadel returned to man the net, and earned four saves on the day in the process of facing a total of eight attempted shots by the Zips. Akron was able to get past the Newmarket, Ontario native with just over seven minutes to play, by dodging the defenders on a breakaway and finding the back of the net near the left post, although Cadel responded by shutting down the Zips for the remainder of the match to help secure the Falcons victory at the 2-1 mark.

"Our back line was really solid and Lauren came up big with a few saves that kept us in the lead," Coach Basalyga added. "I'm happy that Skylar and Sam could reward Maureen for her consistency on set pieces earning her two assists on the day."

Ultimately, the Falcons attempted 14 shots and had six land on goal. Redshirt sophomore Erica Hubert accounted for five of the team's shots, while Fleak and Howshar took two apiece. Bowling Green also held to just 10 fouls, in comparison to Akron's 12 committed, while the Falcons also benefitted from four corner kick opportunities, the first of which resulted in a goal.

The Bowling Green women's soccer program will return back to Cochrane Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 6, as it welcomes Eastern Michigan for conference play. The match is set for a 7 p.m. start.