Falcons Home for Two Weekend Matches as 2016 Season Begins

FALCONS vs. IUPUI
Friday, August 26 – 7:00 p.m.
Cochrane Stadium | Bowling Green, Ohio
Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com | Twitter: @BGSUmenssoccer

FALCONS vs. APPALACHIAN STATE
Sunday, August 28 – 12:00 p.m.
Cochrane Stadium | Bowling Green, Ohio
Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com | Twitter: @BGSUmenssoccer

FOLLOW THE FALCONS...
Links to any live audio/video/stats will be available on the men's soccer schedule page at BGSUFalcons.com on match day

BGSU MEN'S SOCCER LINKS
This Week's Notes - PDF
2016 BGSU Men's Soccer Schedule
2016 BGSU Men's Soccer Roster
Join the Falcon Club Today!

UP NEXT IN FALCON SOCCER
The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team begins the 52nd season in program history on Friday night (Aug. 26), as head coach Eric Nichols and the Falcons host IUPUI. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium.

Then, on Sunday (Aug. 28), the Orange and Brown will continue a season-opening three-match homestand with a 12:00 p.m. contest vs. Appalachian State University. That matchup will be the first half of a Falcon futbol doubleheader at Cochrane, as the BGSU women's soccer team will host Oakland University in a game scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m.

FREE ADMISSION / FOLLOW THE FALCONS
Again this season, admission to all Falcon men's and women's soccer home regular-season matches is free. For those who can't make it to Cochrane Stadium, live stats are scheduled to be available for each home match via BGSUFalcons.com. Twitter updates for all men's soccer action in 2016, both home and away, will be available via @BGSUmenssoccer. And, plans are in the works to broadcast several home matches on ESPN3.com. All of the pertinent information can be found on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com on the day of the match.

FANATICS REJOICE
BGSU students who have signed up to become members of the Falcon Fanatics can pick up their 2016-17 T-shirt at Sunday's soccer doubleheader.

A FEW THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The 2016 season marks the 52nd year of BGSU men's soccer. Legendary coach Mickey Cochrane initiated varsity programs in both soccer and lacrosse at BG in 1965, after serving as club coach of both sports at the University the previous year. Cochrane usually can be found in attendance at the field that bears his name for most BGSU men's and women's soccer matches.

• Eric Nichols, now in his eighth season at BG, is just the fifth coach in the illustrious history of Falcon men's soccer. Cochrane (1965-77), Gary Palmisano (1978-92, 1994), Mel Mahler (1993, 1995-2003) and Fred Thompson (2004-08) are the only other individuals to have served as head coach of the BGSU men's soccer program.

• Nichols and his staff – assistant coaches Eric Reed and Zach Mason – welcome back a total of 15 letterwinners, including eight starters, from last year's team.

• That group of 15 letterwinners combined to score over 83 percent of the team's goals and register over 77% of the team's assists last fall.

• There are four goalkeepers on the 2016 roster. None of the four have ever played in a regular-season match as a Falcon. The quartet includes junior transfer Nick Johnson, redshirt sophomore Billy Larsen, redshirt freshman Noah Kummer and true freshman Anthony Mwembia. Mwembia, a native of Toulouse, France, drew the start in each of BGSU's scrimmages.

• The Falcons emerged victorious in both of those scrimmages, with a 3-1 victory over Oakland at Cochrane Stadium and a 2-1 triumph at Detroit. Freshmen combined to score all three goals against OU, with Chris Brennan scoring twice and Robert Miller III also finding the back of the net. At Detroit, Alexis Souahy scored both BG goals, with an assist from senior Jacob Roth in each case.

• BGSU has won a total of 23 matches over the last two seasons, the program's highest two-year total in nearly two decades (since 1997 and '98).

LOOKING FOR A(NOTHER) STRONG START
The Falcons will be looking to continue a tradition of getting the season off to a successful start when IUPUI comes to town on Friday night. BGSU has a record of 6-1-0 in home openers during the Eric Nichols Era, and the Falcons have outscored the opposition by a 17-3 count in those seven matches. BG's only loss came to the team ranked number one in the nation at the time, and that match was scoreless until the 64th minute. The Falcons have kept five clean sheets in the last seven home openers, including four in a row before SIUE scored a second-half goal last year.
HOME-OPENING MATCHES, NICHOLS ERA
2009 Marshall W 2-0
2010 #1 Akron L 0-2
2011 #9 Michigan W 2-0
2012 St. Bonaventure W 3-0
2013 Malone W 5-0
2014 IUPUI W 2-0
2015 SIUE W 3-1

LOOKING FOR A(NOTHER) STRONG START II
As mentioned in the previous note, the Falcons are 6-1-0 in home openers during the Eric Nichols Era. In overall regular-season openers, BGSU is 6-0-1 since Nichols assumed the helm, and the Falcons have outscored the opponents by a 17-1 count. BG scored 17-straight goals in regular-season openers before SIUE, trailing the Falcons by three goals, scored midway through the second half of last year's lidlifter at Cochrane.

FLYNN-TASTIC
• In just two years as a Falcon, senior Pat Flynn has already made his mark on the BGSU record books. Flynn, a transfer from DePaul University, scored 32 points in 2014, his initial season at BG. Despite missing the last four games due to injury a year ago, Flynn again led the Brown and Orange in scoring, with 22 points.

• Flynn is just one goal and five points from moving into the top 10 on each of those BGSU career lists. The Naperville, Ill., native has 23 goals and 54 points in just 36 matches as a Falcon. The top-10 lists can be found on page 7 of the PDF version of these notes.

STRONG SENIOR CLASS
• Pat Flynn is not the only senior who has provided stellar leadership both on and off the pitch. BGSU's three other seniors include fifth-year Falcons Max Auden and fourth-year seniors Jacob Roth and Joe Sullivan. That quartet has combined for 53 goals and 41 assists in their Falcon careers to date.

• Auden, a team tri-captain for the second consecutive year, has 22 career points on seven goals and eight assists. He has started all 40 of BGSU's games over the past two years. Auden had six points last season, and he scored the game-winning goal in all three of BGSU's victories over MAC teams in 2014, including a pair of Golden Goals.

• Roth, after seeing limited time as a freshman in 2013, has posted double-digit point totals in each of the last two seasons. He had five goals in both 2014 and '15, with eight assists as a sophomore and four more as a junior. Roth has 32 career points on 10 goals and 12 assists.

• Sullivan, like Roth, has posted double-figure career totals in both goals and assists, with 13 of each as a Falcon. He has scored seven game-winning goals in his career, including a team-leading three last fall. Sullivan had 17 points in 2015 after registering 16 points the prior season. One of three Naperville natives among the senior class, he has scored 39 career points at BGSU.

SCOUTING IUPUI
IUPUI, like BGSU, opens the 2016 regular season on Friday night.The Jaguars have been picked to finish seventh in the Summit League, according to the league's preseason poll. First-year head coach Brian Barnett inherited a roster with almost as many newcomers as returners. The Jaguars played a pair of exhibitions, battling UIC to a scoreless draw before falling to Evansville, 1-0. A year ago, IUPUI finished with an overall record of 1-9-7 and a league mark of 1-2-3. Senior Cristian Soto is the team's top returning scorer, having recorded three goals and eight points in 2015. Like BGSU, IUPUI does not have a 'keeper on the roster who started a match last year. Sophomore Josh Gray played in two contests off the bench last fall, and the 2016 roster also features a redshirt freshman (James Mitchison) and a true freshman (Tyler Shanahan). Gray started both preseason matches and did not allow a goal in over 100 minutes of action.

A LOOK AT APPALACHIAN STATE
Appalachian State opens the season with a Friday night contest at Cincinnati before coming to Cochrane on Sunday afternoon. The Mountaineers return 16 letterwinners, including six starters, from last year's team that finished 8-10-0 overall and 2-3-0 in Sun Belt Conference action. First-year head coach Jason O'Keefe's team was picked to finish fifth in the conference in the preseason poll. Senior Stephen Chapman, the team's leading scorer a year ago, was named to the 2016 Sun Belt Preseason All-Conference Team. Chapman had seven goals and 15 points in 2015. Junior goalkeeper Jake Chasteen had a goals-against average of just 0.37 last season. He allowed only three goals in over 722 minutes of action. ASU has 13 newcomers on the roster, including eight freshmen and five transfers. The Mountaineers battled Wofford to a scoreless tie before downing High Point, 1-0, in preseason scrimmages. Chapman netted the lone goal for ASU in those two matches.

THE SERIES
BGSU leads IUPUI, 2-1-2, in the all-time series between the teams, and the Falcons have a four-match series unbeaten streak. Last season, the Brown and Orange battled the Jaguars to a 2-2 draw in Indianapolis, with Joe Sullivan recording a goal and an assist. Jacob Roth scored BG's other goal. Two years ago, in the teams' last meeting in Bowling Green, Pat Flynn opened the scoring midway through the first half as the Falcons downed the Jags, 2-0. Three of the five series meetings have required overtime.

The Falcons lead Appalachian State, 1-0-1, in that series, and Sunday will mark the teams' first meeting in Bowling Green. The Falcons and Mountaineers battled to a scoreless draw in the 2010 regular-season opener in Davidson, N.C., and BGSU picked up a 2-1 road win last year, with Alexis Souahy opening the scoring and Ryan James picking up the game winner.

AUDEN, ROTH AND SULLIVAN NAMED TEAM CAPTAINS
Seniors Max Auden, Jacob Roth and Joe Sullivan are the tri-captains for the 2016 Falcons. Auden, a fifth-year senior, is serving as a team captain for the second consecutive season.

UP NEXT FOR THE FALCONS
Following this weekend's two matches, the Falcons will conclude a three-match, season-opening homestand by taking on Marshall on Friday night, Sept. 2. Then, BGSU hits the road for three of the next four contests, beginning with a Sept. 7 matchup against Cleveland State.

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