Falcons, Grizzlies Get After It On Monday Night

The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team took the Cochrane Stadium pitch for the second time in three days, as the Falcons battled Oakland University on Monday evening (Aug. 14).

As was the case on Saturday evening, when the Falcons faced Dayton, the two head coaches – BGSU's Eric Nichols and OU's Eric Pogue – agreed not to keep score.

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FORMAT

The Falcons and Golden Grizzlies played a total of three 30-minute periods on Monday evening, with a five-minute break in between each period.

FIRST PERIOD

The Falcons had a 3-1 advantage in total shot attempts in the opening period, and the Brown and Orange scored on the first shot of the night.
With just under five minutes gone, BGSU senior Brad Macomber brought the ball down the right side of the field and played a perfect cross into the center of the box. Junior Peter Pugliese met the cross in stride, and Pugliese's bullet of a header gave OU goalkeeper Sullivan Lauderdale no chance to make a save. Macomber drew the lone assist on the play.
Junior Tate Robertson nearly gave the Falcons another goal less than two minutes later, but his volley whizzed just wide of the left goalpost.

SECOND PERIOD

Early in the second period, Oakland had a good scoring chance, as Austin Ricci's low left-side cross found Nebojsa Popovic in the center of the box. Popovic in turn passed the ball to Jacob Moore on the right side of the 18-yard box as the Grizzlies seemed to have the Falcon defense off balance. Moore settled the ball, cut back to his left and fired a shot, but BG starting 'keeper Anthony Mwembia was able to parry the shot.
The Falcons had a chance at the other end with eight minutes gone. Sophomore Robert Miller III raced down the left side of the field and hit a cross to freshman Zach Buescher at the top of the 18. But, Buescher's shot was blocked by an OU defender.
Moments later, Buescher stepped up and stole the ball near midfield. He quickly played a long ball ahead, and Miller just missed getting a head on it as he and two defenders sped into the box.
Buescher got his head on a Robertson corner kick with 12 minutes left in the period, but OU 'keeper Wes Mink snared the ball near the left post.
Three minutes later, a long throw-in by Miller found Buescher at the top of the box. The freshman hit a shot that Mink was barely able to deflect. The shot sailed toward the far post, where junior Moe Mustafa got his head on it with a lunging effort. The ball floated across the goalmouth before Mink gratefully grabbed it out of the air.
With three minutes left in the period, an Oakland combination play resulted in a Ricci shot from the top of the box. But, the OU senior was not able to get much power behind the shot, and it rolled to Mwembia.
Late in the period, the Grizzlies had a flurry, but Mwembia got his hand on a shot by Keenan King to deflect the ball wide of the near post. The BG defense successfully dealt with back-to-back corner kicks by the visitors, and the period ended.

THIRD PERIOD

The Golden Grizzlies outshot the Falcons for the second-straight period, with a 3-1 advantage in the third stanza.
BG's lone shot came 10 minutes into the period, as senior Keaton Reynolds received a through ball and fired a shot as he entered the box. But, Liam McQueenie, Oakland's third 'keeper of the night, made a nifty save.
The visitors pressed forward offensively in the latter stages of the match, and had three shots and three corners over the final seven minutes. But, fifth-year senior Theo Jamilloux and the Falcon defense held firm.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Oakland held a narrow 9-8 advantage in total shot attempts, and put four shots on frame to the Falcons' three.
Mwembia played the first two periods in goal for the Falcons, while Jamilloux was between the posts for the third period. Mwembia was credited with three saves and Jamilloux one.
Mink and McQueenie each had one save for the Golden Grizzlies.
A total of 23 different players saw action for the Falcons, with each player earning double-digit minutes and 19 of those 23 players seeing at least 30 minutes on the field.

QUOTING COACH NICHOLS
"I think we progressed from the Dayton game in some areas. We fixed a few things and got better. We didn't get where we need to be, but be got better. But, I think we fell short in some other areas. It's a process; preseason's about getting better, but we've got a lot of work to do."

(On Peter Pugliese's goal)
"It was a good team goal. Brad (Macomber) did his job. The team was pressing, he ate it up and played a very inviting service. And, it was a clinical finish by Pete. He didn't try to over-hit it, he just tried to put it on frame. It looked like a pro finish, and it was a deserved goal. It was a good team goal."

"We've played two games in three games now. So, even though we rotated guys and no one played too many minutes, we need to do some recovering now, and we need to be smart about the work we ask them to do. We'll look to lay low for a couple of days, then have a really good work day, head to Valpo and see if we can make some improvements on what we saw today."

UP NEXT

The Falcons' final scrimmage of the 2017 preseason is Friday morning (Aug. 18), when BGSU plays at Valparaiso University in a 10:00 a.m. local start (11:00 a.m. ET). Then, BGSU begins the regular season with two home matches, beginning with the IUPUI contest on Saturday, Aug. 26, at Cochrane.

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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Zach Buescher

Theo Jamilloux

Brad Macomber

Robert Miller III

Moe Mustafa

Anthony Mwembia

Peter Pugliese

Keaton Reynolds

Tate Robertson

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