Late Detroit Goal Downs Falcons, 2-1

Tuesday, October 8

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Detroit

October 08, 2013 | Men's Soccer

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Anthony Grant vs Detroit - Nahikian - Oct 8 2013

Adam Bedell's goal with just 4:37 left in the second half lifted the University of Detroit Mercy to a 2-1 win over the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team Tuesday night (Oct. 8). The non-conference match was held at Cochrane Field.

FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
PHOTO GALLERY: Courtesy James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications
Scroll down for a post-match interview with BGSU coach Eric Nichols

With the win, the Titans improve to 2-5-4 on the season. The Falcons' record also stands at 2-5-4 after Tuesday's result.

Senior Anthony Grant had given the Falcons a 1-0 lead in the 38th minute of the match, but the Titans scored late in each half to overcome that deficit. Zachary Atwood's long shot tied the match with only 41 seconds left before halftime, and Bedell's second-half goal proved to be the game winner.

The Falcons outshot Detroit in each half, and BGSU had advantages of 21-13 in shot attempts and 9-6 in shots on goal for the match. The Brown and Orange also had five corner kicks to the TItans' two.

After threatening to score on UDM goalkeeper Nathan Steinwascher on multiple occasions in the opening period, the home side finally broke through with 7:15 left before halftime. Senior Ryan Snashall won the ball deep in Titan territory, and brought it along the end line on the left side of the field. He slid a pass back to freshman Joe Sullivan, stationed near the 18-yard line. Sullivan quickly played a ball through several defenders to Grant, who was wide open for the easy tap-in at the far post. Sullivan and Snashall both drew assists on the play.

The Titans tied the score seemingly out of nowhere, however, as Atwood fired from distance in the 45th minute.

From there, neither team could break the tie until the late going. The deciding sequence began after a BGSU foul near midfield. Steinwascher took the kick, playing a long ball into the box. A BG defender momentarily cleared it out of the box, but the ball went to Matt DeVries in the center of the pitch. DeVries headed the ball forward to Tyler Moorman, who in turn nodded it past the Falcon defense to the onrushing Bedell. The 2012 Horizon League Player of the Year hit a one-timer that found the left corner of the net for the winning goal.

Bedell scored in the 86th minute of a UDM win over the Falcons at Cochrane Field for the second-straight season. Last year, his goal at the 85:58 mark gave the Titans some insurance in a 2-0 win (Sept. 18, 2012). His goal on Tuesday night came at 85:23.

Bedell led all players with seven shots on the night. Grant paced the Falcons with five shot attempts, and both Bedell and Grant put three shots on goal.

Steinwascher made eight saves, including seven in the second half. BGSU senior Michael Wiest had four stops for the home side.

The Falcons put just two shots on goal in the opening period, but BG had numerous other scoring chances. In the 11th minute, junior Vlad Lekarev hit a crossing ball into the box that was just beyond the leaping effort of Grant. Several minutes later, junior Jon Kumher's pass found senior Rodcliff Hall heading into the 18-yard box on the right side of the pitch. Hall hit a shot across his body, and the ball was heading left of the goal. Grant got a boot on the ball with a lunging effort near the six-yard line, but was unable to redirect it on frame.

Just moments after that sequence, senior Brandon Silva put junior Danny Baraldi through on the right side. Baraldi cut back toward the center of the field and attempted to slide a pass to Grant, but the ball was knocked away.

With just under 20 minutes left in the period, Baraldi fired a long ball to Grant. Grant's shot from the right side forced Steinwascher to make a leaping save.

The Titans, who had seen scant few scoring opportunities to that point, came right back down the field, and Matt Ybarra hit a shot from distance, but Wiest was there to make the save.

With 13 minutes left in the period, Steinwascher got to the near post and punched away a dangerous-looking cross from Baraldi, just a split-second before Grant arrived.

Eight minutes remained in the half when UDM's Alex Mendonca took a free kick for the visitors. That kick was blocked, but the ball went to Bedell in the penalty area, and he fired a shot on goal. Wiest, however, made the stop to keep the match scoreless.

The scoreless deadlock was broken less than a minute later, however, as Grant knocked home the Sullivan pass for BGSU's first first-half goal since the season opener on Aug. 30.

Atwood, however, equalized for the visitors, and the teams went into the halftime break all tied up at 1-1.

Early in the second period, the Falcons were able to string together several passes, with Silva, Grant, senior Matt Griesinger and sophomore Ryan James involved in the buildup. Griesinger's pass found Grant, who saw his pass deflected by a defender. The ball went to Lekarev, however, who got it back to Grant, and the senior fired a hard shot on goal. But, Steinwascher made his first of seven second-half stops.

The Falcons had several chances to take the lead as the second half neared its midpoint. Snashall laid the ball off for James, who saw his shot deflected out for a corner. A Zach Schewee cross from the left side of the pitch whizzed through the box without a player from either team getting to it.

Baraldi's pass put Grant into the area with 25 minutes to go, forcing Steinwascher to come off his line. On the right side of the six-yard box, Grant attempted to poke the bouncing ball past the 'keeper, but Steinwascher got a piece of it. The ball went out for a corner kick.

Off of that corner, a defender knocked the ball out of the box, but a nifty turnaround shot by sophomore Jake Genrich from distance gave Steinwascher nearly all he could handle, as the UDM junior extended his body to make a leaping save at the upper-right corner of the goal.

Steinwascher broke up a hard crossing ball by senior Ryan Comiskey with 22 minutes to go, then took the ball off Snashall's foot to end another BG scoring opportunity two minutes later.

With just under 17 minutes to go, Sullivan ran on to a Baraldi through-ball and hit a shot with the outside of his foot from several yards out on the left side. But, Steinwascher was in position to make the point-blank save.

As the clocked ticked under 15 minutes, Comiskey's hard shot was parried by the Titan goalie. Then, two minutes later, a give-and-go between Schewee and Comiskey resulted in Schewee heading into the box. The senior, hounded by several UDM defenders, fired a shot as he moved left-to-right across the 18-yard line, and that shot eluded the Titan back line. But, Steinwascher made the stop on that low shot.

At the other end, Wiest made a diving save on an Atwood effort, and a cross by Jason Leslie was broken up by the Falcon defense with Atwood lurking on the doorstep.

The Titans broke through, however, with the Bedell goal from close range. The Falcons had three shot attempts over the final three minutes, but a Schewee effort went wide, and a Lekarev shot was saved. The Titans cleared the ball past midfield, and as Genrich gathered it, he got past the lone UDM forward and found himself with plenty of space between midfield and the roughly 17 players congregated in or near the UDM penalty area. Genrich made a long run and hit a shot, but the ball went wide with just over 30 seconds remaining. The Brown and Orange got the ball back, but were unable to get another shot off before time expired.

The Falcons continue a three-match homestand Saturday night (Oct. 12), taking on Northern Illinois University in Mid-American Conference action. That game begins at 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane, and admission is free.