BGSU Hosts Huskies on Senior Night

Saturday, October 28

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM ET

Bowling Green State University

Northern Illinois

Macomber Reynolds Souahy Davis Larsen Jina Jamilloux

October 26, 2017 | Men's Soccer

Falcons meet NIU in a key MAC matchup

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

FALCONS vs. NORTHERN ILLINOIS – Saturday, Oct. 28
7:00 p.m. | Cochrane Stadium | Bowling Green, Ohio
SENIOR NIGHT
Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com | Twitter: @BGSUmenssoccer
Live Audio: Bowling Green Radio Sports (BGRSO) | Live Video: WBGU-TV

ON MATCH DAY...
Links to any live audio/video/stats will be available on the men's soccer schedule page right here at BGSUFalcons.com on match day.

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FALCON MEN'S SOCCER LINKS
This Week's BGSU Notes (PDF)
2017 BGSU Men's Soccer Weekly Releases/Notes
The Opponent: NIU Men's Soccer
Falcons Earn USC Team Academic Award
VIDEO: In the Nest: Mwembia
BGSU Photo Galleries *
BGSU Men's Soccer Videos
MAC Office Announces Preseason Poll
2017 BGSU Men's Soccer: Schedule | Roster | Record Book
Join the Falcon Club Today!
* all sports - choose "men's soccer" in the drop-down link at the top right of the page

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UP NEXT IN FALCON SOCCER
The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team will close the home portion of the 2017 schedule with an important Mid-American Conference contest this weekend. Head coach Eric Nichols and the Falcons will meet Northern Illinois University on Saturday evening (Oct. 28). Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium.

SENIOR NIGHT
Saturday will be Senior Night for the BGSU men's soccer program, with the Falcons' seven seniors recognized in ceremonies prior to the match. That group includes Aaron Davis, Theo Jamilloux, Prayag Jina, Billy Larsen, Brad Macomber, Keaton Reynolds and Alexis Souahy.

THE THRILL OF THE UNKNOWN
• Strange things have happened on Senior Day/Night at Cochrane Stadium in recent seasons. Three years ago, in one of the most improbable comebacks in recent memory, the Falcons rallied for a 2-1 overtime win over Western Michigan. That 2014 team, like this year's version, entered Senior Day with a MAC record of 0-2-1, and things looked bleak when WMU was awarded a penalty kick in overtime. But, the Falcons pulled out a victory, part of a five-game winning streak that took BG all the way to the MAC Tournament's championship match.

Doubleheader: Auden, Falcons Rally Past WMU

• Two years ago, Danny Shea scored on a shot from his own side of the midfield stripe in the 71st minute, breaking a scoreless draw as BG went on to a 2-0 win over West Virginia.

Shea's Long-Range Strike Propels Falcons to Victory

• Last November, the Falcons battled Buffalo to a scoreless draw on the final night of the regular season. BGSU hit the goalpost with a shot on three occasions, but settled for a tie to finish with an undefeated record in MAC play.

BG, Buffalo Battle to Scoreless Draw at Cochrane

• The Falcons are 3-3-2 in Senior Day/Night action in the Eric Nichols Era.

SENIOR DAY/NIGHT MATCHES, NICHOLS ERA
2016  Buffalo (2-OT)    T 0-0
2015 West Virginia   W  2-0
2014  Western Mich. (OT)  W  2-1
2013  Hartwick (2-OT)   T  1-1
2012  West Virginia L  0-1
2011 Northern Illinois   L 0-3
2010 #10 Michigan State L 1-2
2009 Florida Atlantic   W 3-0

THE FALCONS AND THE MAC RACE
• With 60 percent of the conference schedule in the books, the Falcons and NIU are currently tied for fifth place. The top-four teams in the final regular-season standings will qualify for the MAC Tournament.

• The Falcons and Huskies are each just a single point behind fourth-place West Virginia. Teams earn three points for a win and one for a tie.

• WVU hosts Akron on Friday night, and if UA wins, the BGSU-NIU winner would move into fourth place with one match remaining.

• The MAC Tournament picture could become more clear after this weekend's matches. The final day of the regular season will see BGSU (at Western Michigan), WVU (at SIUE) and NIU (at Akron) all playing on the road.

• Here are the current MAC standings and remaining league matches for each of the six teams ...
MAC STANDINGS & REMAINING SCHEDULE
Team    W-L-T   Pts. Remaining MAC Matches
1. Western Michigan   3-0-0   9   v SIUE   v BGSU
2. Akron 2-1-0   6   @WVU v NIU
SIUE 2-1-0   6   @WMU v WVU
4. West Virginia 0-1-2   2   v Akron   @SIUE
5. Bowling Green 0-2-1   1   v NIU @WMU
Northern Illinois 0-2-1   1   @BGSU @Akron
teams earn 3 pts for a win, 1 for a tie – complete list of MAC results on page 8 of the PDF

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• If you can't make it to Cochrane Stadium, live stats are scheduled to be available for each home match via BGSUFalcons.com (live stats likely will be available for each road contest as well). And, twitter updates for all men's soccer action, both home and away, will be available via @BGSUmenssoccer.

• Additionally, a majority of the Falcons' home matches will be streamed by WBGU. Currently, seven of the eight home contests – including each of the final six – are scheduled to have a web stream, free of charge.

• And, audio for many of BG's home matches will be available through the Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization (BGRSO).

• As always, all of the pertinent information re: Falcon soccer coverage can be found on the web at BGSUFalcons.com on the day of the match.

MENTION OUR NAME AT THE DOOR AND GET IN FREE!
Again this season, admission to all Falcon men's and women's soccer home regular-season matches is free.

AND GET SOME GEAR WHILE YOU'RE THERE!
Falcon Outfitters is hosting a merchandise sales table at Cochrane Stadium at select matches in 2017. The merchandise table will be at all men's soccer matches held on Saturdays and all Friday women's soccer matches.

A FEW THINGS YOU MIGHT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE FALCONS
• BGSU enters the Northern Illinois match with an overall record of 6-8-1, and the Falcons are 0-2-1 in MAC play. BG's two most recent matches have been 2-1 setbacks

• After battling West Virginia to a scoreless draw at Cochrane Stadium on Oct. 14, the Falcons headed to Akron and took the No. 19 Zips to overtime Saturday evening (Oct. 21). With BG playing two men down, sophomore Charlie Maciejewski scored the tying goal with under two minutes remaining in regulation, but the Zips would score the golden goal against the shorthanded Falcons in the extra session.

• On Tuesday (Oct. 24), freshman Chris Sullivan scored with just nine seconds remaining in the first half, but visiting Fort Wayne got a pair of second-half goals to come away with a victory.

• The Falcons started the season with five-straight victories. BG posted multi-goal wins – all by shutout – over IUPUI, Cleveland State, Drexel, Penn and Western Illinois, but then dropped the next four matches before downing Duquesne, 1-0 in OT, at Cochrane.

• The Falcons spent a week ranked No. 19 in the United Soccer Coaches poll, and three of BGSU's losses during the four-game streak came by a goal on the road to teams also ranked in the top-25 (No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 6 Michigan State and No. 25 Ohio State). The other loss in that stretch was against a Cincinnati team coming off of a road win over a ranked opponent.

• BG bounced back from the narrow loss at OSU by topping Duquesne, but the Falcons then lost, 3-1, at SIUE in the conference opener before dropping a 2-0 decision at Wright State.

• Sophomore Chris Brennan leads the Falcons with 12 points on the year. Brennan is tied for the team lead with four goals, and the Copley, Ohio, native is second on the club with four assists.

• Junior defender Moe Mustafa is second on the team with nine points in 11 matches, including four goals to tie Brennan for the team lead in that category.

• Junior Tate Robertson has eight points and senior Alexis Souahy and sophomore Robert Miller III six each. Robertson tops the Falcons with six assists, while Miller has three goals, all of which have been game-winning markers.

• Either Brennan or Robertson (or both) have been involved in the scoring of 13 of BGSU's 17 goals this fall.

• Sullivan has five points and Maciejewski three on the year. Senior Keaton Reynolds has two points, as he had the primary assist on Brennan's goals against UC and at Notre Dame. Freshman Zach Buescher also has two assists this year.

• BGSU is 5-0-0 this season when scoring two or more goals. The Falcons are 19-0-2 in such matches since the start of the 2015 season and 49-4-6 in the Nichols Era.

• Sophomore goalkeeper Anthony Mwembia has seven shutouts this season, and has kept 15 clean sheets in 33 career matches. He has 57 saves and a goals-against average of 1.04 on the year.

• Five Falcons have started all 15 matches to date. That group includes Buescher, Mwembia, Robertson, Souahy and senior Brad Macomber. Brennan and junior Peter Pugliese each have made 14 starts, while junior Dominic Grida has started 13 matches, sophomore Tom Wrobel 12 and Mustafa 10. A total of 16 players have started at least one contest this fall.

• Macomber, Mwembia and Souahy each have been on the pitch for all 1381-plus minutes this season to date.

• Both Mwembia and Robertson were listed in the Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Conference Top-20 rankings. Mwembia was listed as the 10th-ranked player in the MAC, while Robertson was ranked 12th in the league.

• BGSU went two decades (1995 to 2015) without going 4-0 to start the season, but the Falcons now have done so in three-straight years. Both the 2015 and '17 teams started 5-0 and broke into the national rankings, while BG began 4-0 in '16.

SCOUTING NIU
Northern Illinois is 3-9-1 overall, and the Huskies are 0-2-1 in MAC matches entering Saturday's contest at Cochrane. The Huskies are looking to end a seven-match winless streak. Northern's last victory was a 1-0 decision over then-No. 10 Omaha on Sept. 15. The Huskies are 2-5-0 at home, 0-2-1 on the road and 1-2-0 in neutral-site matches. Jan Maertins leads the team with four goals and nine points, while Alex Welch has eight points in just seven matches. In goal, Konrad Dziedzic has started nine matches, including each of the last eight contests. He has one shutout, 35 saves and a 2.36 GAA. Last year, the Huskies finished with a 2-10-4 overall record and a MAC ledger of 1-3-1. Ryan Swan is in his first season as head coach of the Huskies.

THE SERIES
BGSU trails Northern Illinois, 17-10-1, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Falcons captured last season's meeting, 1-0, in DeKalb. Bismark Agyeman scored early in the second half, while Anthony Mwembia and the BG defense kept a clean sheet. Two years ago, in the teams' last meeting at Cochrane Stadium, the Huskies won a 1-0 overtime decision. After dropping six-straight meetings with NIU from 2007-11, the Falcons are now 3-1-1 vs. the Huskies in the last five meetings. BG is 7-7-0 at home, 3-9-1 on the road and 0-1-0 in neutral-site meetings with Northern through the years.

UP NEXT FOR THE FALCONS
Following the NIU match, the Falcons will close the regular-season schedule next weekend. BGSU will head to Kalamazoo to face Western Michigan – ranked sixth in the nation in this week's United Soccer Coaches poll – on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 4. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

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