Falcons, Flyers Battle as Exhibition Play Gets Underway

The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team battled the University of Dayton on Saturday evening (Aug. 12) inside Cochrane Stadium. The two head coaches – BGSU's Eric Nichols and UD's Dennis Currier – agreed not to keep score, but both teams saw a large number of players get their first experience of the fall in a match setting.

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FORMAT

The Falcons and Flyers played a total of four 25-minute periods on Saturday evening, with a five-minute break in between each period.

FIRST PERIOD

The opening period was the only one in which Dayton outshot BGSU, as the Flyers had a narrow 2-1 advantage.
With 10 minutes gone, UD's Jonas Fjeldberg made a long run into the penalty area, but BGSU junior defender Moe Mustafa dispossessed him as he crossed the 18-yard line.
Less than a minute later, Fjeldberg played a diagonal ball into the box from the left side, but sophomore goalkeeper Anthony Mwembia was able to get a hand on the ball with a diving effort, and it was cleared out of danger.
Nearly 14 minutes in, sophomore Robert Miller III slid a left-side cross through the box, but it was just out of reach of a lunging teammate.
With seven minutes left in the period, the Flyers got an own goal, as a cross by Alvaro Navarro was deflected by a Falcon defender and sailed into the upper right-hand corner of the net.

SECOND PERIOD

A highly-spirited 25 minutes saw the Falcons threaten, as senior Keaton Reynolds flicked a Mustafa pass toward junior Tate Robertson near the far post, but Robertson's shot went just over the crossbar.
After a Robertson corner kick several minutes later, Mustafa got his head on a diagonal ball, but UD goalkeeper Federico Barrios was able to grab the shot.
But, with seven-and-a-half minutes left in the period, the Falcons found the back of the net.
The goal came when sophomore Chris Brennan forced a UD turnover in the Flyers' own end of the field, near the Cochrane Stadium bleachers. Senior Brad Macomber pounced on the ball and played it ahead to Brennan.
Brennan carried the ball into the penalty area on the right side. With a defender on his heels, the BG soph drew another defender to him and slid a cross to a wide-open Miller. Miller ran onto the ball and blasted a shot that Barrios had no chance of stopping.
Brennan nearly scored after a miscommunication by two UD players with two minutes left before the half, but the sophomore's shot was blocked by a charging Barrios at the top of the box.

THIRD PERIOD

After outshooting Dayton, 5-1, in the second period, the Falcons had a 4-2 advantage in the third.
BG had a flurry midway through the quarter, but back-to-back shots by senior Prayag Jina and freshman Chris Sullivan were blocked.
Sullivan and Jina teamed up to work the ball into the box just over a minute later, but Barrios was able to stop Miller's low shot.
Late in the period, an odd-man rush by the Flyers saw James Haupt fire a shot on frame. But, BGSU senior 'keeper Theo Jamilloux made the save.
Just over a minute remained when Barrios was called for a foul just over 18 yards away from his goal. Brennan put the ensuing free kick around the wall, forcing Barrios to dive to his right and deflect the ball wide of the post.

FOURTH PERIOD

Midway through the final period, sophomore Charlie Maciejewski played a through ball to classmate Mitchell Evans, who hit a shot from the right side of the 18-yard box. The shot was on frame, but UD's Anthony Flowers made the stop.
Just over a minute later, Sullivan's free kick deflected off of a Dayton player's head in a crowd, and fell to junior Dominic Grida in the box. But, Flowers was able to smother Grida's shot as well.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

The Falcons had a 13-7 advantage in shot attempts, and a narrow 4-3 margin in corner kicks.
A total of 24 BGSU players saw action, with 16 Falcons seeing at least 50 minutes of match time.
Mwembia played the first two periods in goal for the Falcons, while Jamilloux was between the posts for the third period and redshirt junior Billy Larsen for the fourth.
Barrios played the first 75 minutes in net for the Flyers, with Flowers playing the fourth period.
The UD 'keepers were called upon to make seven total saves, while BG goalies were forced to make just one stop.

QUOTING COACH NICHOLS
"Our main goal was to see where we needed to work, and we definitely achieved that goal. Both teams have only been in camp for three days, so both teams weren't nearly ready to compete in a real game. But, we got some good information, they got some good information and some players did some decent things. Basically, this was a preseason training session for us."

"We managed our minutes; we wanted certain guys to play a certain number of minutes, and we wanted to see what they did with their minutes when they were on the field. No one was perfect, but some guys did well, and each of the guys got valuable time and an idea of what they need to do to get better."

"This was the first real college action for a number of freshmen, and almost all of them got good minutes. That's very valuable at this point, and we were able to start working on some of the relationships between positions. So, we're on our way, but we've got a lot of work to do."

UP NEXT

The Falcons play another scrimmage at Cochrane Stadium on Monday evening (Aug. 14), hosting Oakland University. That match will begin at 6:00 p.m., and admission is free. The Falcons and Golden Grizzlies are scheduled to play three 30-minute periods.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS

For more information on the men's soccer program, follow the Falcons on Twitter (@BGAthletics and @BGSUmenssoccer, Instagram (bgsumenssoccer) and Snapchat (BGSU Men's Soccer) as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.

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Players Mentioned

Chris Brennan

Mitchell Evans

Dominic Grida

Theo Jamilloux

Prayag Jina

Billy Larsen

Charlie Maciejewski

Brad Macomber

Robert Miller III

Moe Mustafa

Anthony Mwembia

Keaton Reynolds

Tate Robertson

Chris Sullivan

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