Falcon Futbol Friday: NKU Comes to Town as Non-League Schedule Rolls Along

Senior Vlad Lekarev and the Falcons play three of the next four
matches at home, beginning with Friday night's NKU contest

The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team, after heading out of the state for a pair of matches last weekend, now plays three of the next four games inside the friendly confines of Cochrane Field, beginning Friday night (Sept. 12). The Falcons of head coach Eric Nichols face Northern Kentucky University in a 7:00 p.m. start, and admission is free.

LINKS
BGSU Notes & Stats - PDF
Coach Nichols Interview
BGSU 4, Niagara 0 | Duquesne 3, BGSU 2 (2-OT)
Falcons Well Represented Among NCAA Stats Leaders
Flynn Named MAC Player of the Week
BGSU Media Guide | Career Stats of Current Falcons
Northern Kentucky men's soccer

FAMILY TIES
A few members of the BGSU women's soccer program will have more than a passing interest in Friday's men's soccer match vs. Northern Kentucky...

• NKU head coach John Basalyga is the father of Falcon women's soccer head coach Lindsay Basalyga. The elder Basalyga is a BGSU graduate, and played on the 1972 Falcon baseball team that won the first MAC championship in that program's history.

• NKU starting goalkeeper A.J. Fleak, a junior, is the brother of BGSU women's soccer freshman Skylar Fleak. A.J. was unanimously voted the Atlantic Sun Conference's Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year in 2014, after earning all-league second-team honors last fall. Skylar is currently tied for the BGSU women's soccer team lead in goals, with two, and is second on the Falcons with five points.

CHART-TOPPERS
The NCAA office released the first Division I statistical rankings of the season on Monday (Sept. 8), and the Falcons were well represented, to say the least. Entering the week, BGSU leads the nation in five team categories, while sophomores Pat Flynn and Jacob Roth each lead the country in at least one stat. A host of their teammates are on various lists as well. BG is ranked among the nation's top 10 in the following categories...

FALCONS IN THE TOP TEN (NCAA Rankings through matches of Sept. 7)
Player/Team	Nat'l Rank	Categories
BGSU	1	Goals/Game (4.00); Points/Game (12.25); Total Goals (16); Total Assists (17); Total Points (49)
BGSU	2	Assists/Game (4.25)
Pat Flynn	1	Total Goals (8); Goals/Game (2.00); Total Points (18); Points/Game (4.50)
Jacob Roth	1	Total Assists (5)
	2	Assists/Game (1.25)
Max Auden	T-8	Total Assists (3)
Ryan James	T-8	Total Assists (3)
Danny Baraldi	T-9	Total Goals (3)
Joe Sullivan	T-9	Total Goals (3)

LAST WEEKEND: FALCONS SPLIT A PAIR IN PITTSBURGH
The Falcons split a pair of matches in the Duquesne Invitational over the weekend. On Friday (Sept. 5), sophomores Pat Flynn and Joe Sullivan scored two goals each as BGSU downed Niagara by a 4-0 score. Sullivan and Flynn each scored once in each half, and redshirt soph Nick Landsberger made four saves in goal for the Brown and Orange. Sunday afternoon (Sept. 7) saw the Falcons rally from a two-goal deficit to tie the contest late in regulation, but host DU scored in the second overtime for a 3-2 win over BG. Redshirt soph Max Auden and senior Danny Baraldi scored second-half goals for BG, with Baraldi converting a penalty kick with just 2:13 left in regulation. Flynn nearly ended the match in the first OT, ringing a shot off the crossbar. Much more information about the Niagara and Duquesne games can be found on the web at BGSUFalcons.com.

FLYNN NAMED MAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sophomore Pat Flynn was named the Mid-American Conference Player of the Week, the conference office announced on Monday (Sept. 8). Flynn exploded for seven goals and 16 points in the Falcons' three matches last week. He scored five goals and 11 points in BG's 8-0 win over Findlay, tying the school single-game records that had stood for nearly 33 years. Flynn had five more points vs. Niagara before being held scoreless vs. Duquesne. That marked the first time Flynn had not scored a point in a match at BG. But, he nearly won that contest for the Falcons, drilling a shot off the crossbar in the first overtime.

FASCINATING FALCON FACTS
• BGSU sophomore Pat Flynn, as mentioned above, tied the school single-match records for both goals and points in last Tuesday's (Sept. 2) win over Findlay. Flynn's totals of five goals and 11 points matched the records originally set by Don Popp in an 11-0 BGSU win over Toledo on Sept. 16, 1981.

• Flynn has eight goals and 18 points through four matches. No BGSU player had more than six goals or 13 points during all of the 2013 season.

• Sophomore Jacob Roth has five assists this fall. No BG player had more than four assists during all of last season.

• The Falcons started the season with three consecutive wins for the first time since the 1999 campaign.

• BGSU posted three-straight shutouts to start a season for the first time since 1981.

• Flynn was involved in the scoring of 10 of the Falcons' first 14 goals of the season.

• BGSU has scored 16 goals through four games this year. The Falcons scored a total of 19 goals during all of the 2009 season, head coach Eric Nichols' first at BG. That '09 team won three games, a total already matched by this year's club.

• The Niagara match marked BGSU's first win by four or more goals away from home in nearly 17 years. The Falcons downed host Eastern Illinois by an identical 4-0 score on Sept. 28, 1997.

• Entering Friday's NKU match, BGSU has won three consecutive home games dating to last season, That streak includes a pair of 8-0 victories, over IPFW (Nov. 5, 2013) and Findlay.

2014 TOTALS v 2013 TOTALS
• Sophomore Joe Sullivan had his first two-goal game as a collegian on Friday vs. Niagara. Sullivan's four points also was a career best. He had three points in a win over Davidson last year, as well as in the Findlay game three days prior to the NU match.

• With three goals and seven points this fall, Sullivan has topped his totals for all of last season. He had six points on two goals and two assists as a freshman.

• Sophomore Jacob Roth had the first two assists of his career in the Findlay match. Against Niagara, Roth had his second two-assist match in as many games. With one more helper in the Duquesne game, Roth has five assists – the highest total on the team and in the nation – this year.

• Junior Ryan James has three assists this season after recording two helpers in each of his first two years as a Falcon. James had an assist in each of BGSU's first three matches this season.

• Redshirt sophomore Max Auden's goal on Sunday vs. Duquesne was the first of his collegiate career. Auden redshirted the 2012 season, his first at BGSU, and had one point on an assist last year. He has five points on a goal and three assists this fall.

• Senior tri-captain Danny Baraldi has three goals this season, matching his total for all of last year. Baraldi has 53 career points in 58 matches as a Falcon, with 17 goals and 19 assists.

• Redshirt sophomore Nick Landsberger did not allow the first goals of his BGSU career until his fourth match. He has a goals-against average of 0.82 in this, his first playing season with the Falcons.

MORE HONORS FOR THE FALCONS
Senior Danny Baraldi and sophomores Pat Flynn and Joe Sullivan all were named to the all-tournament team at last weekend's Duquesne Invitational. Flynn, as mentioned, earned MAC Player-of-the-Week honors on Monday, giving the Falcons two conference award winners in as many weeks this season. Redshirt sophomore Nick Landsberger was the MAC P-O-W a week ago (Sept. 1). A complete list of BGSU's 2014 honors to date can be found in the PDF version of these notes.

SCOUTING THE NORSE
Northern Kentucky will enter Friday's match at Cochrane Field with a record of 1-0-2 on the young season. The Norse posted a 1-0 overtime win over Detroit on Friday (Sept. 5), sandwiched between 1-1 draws vs. Cincinnati (Aug. 29) and High Point (Sept. 7). The UDM and HPU matches came at the Dayton Flyer Classic. Seniors Caleb Eastham and Cian McDonald and junior Ronnie Moss each have scored a goal this fall, and McDonald has the team's lone assist to date. Junior A.J. Fleak has played all 314-plus minutes in net, and has 16 saves and a goals-against average of just 0.57. Fleak was named the Atlantic Sun Conference's Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year. Last fall, head coach John Basalyga's club went 9-4-6 overall and 5-2-1 in the A-Sun. Basalyga, in his 12th season at the helm, is the winningest coach in NKU history.

THE SERIES
BGSU and Northern Kentucky are tied, 0-0-1, in the all-time series between the teams. The only previous meeting came last Sept. 29, when the Falcons and Norse battled to a scoreless draw at the NKU Soccer Stadium. BGSU held advantages of 17-13 in shots and 11-1 in corner kicks, but could not score on NKU 'keeper A.J. Fleak. Fleak had five saves for the Norse, while Michael Wiest made three stops to earn the shutout for BGSU.

UP NEXT FOR THE FALCONS
Following the NKU match, the Falcons will make a short trip north for a Tuesday (Sept. 16) matchup with the University of Michigan. That game will begin at 7:30 p.m. at U-M Soccer Stadium. BGSU then returns to Cochrane Field for back-to-back matches vs. Eastern Illinois (Sept. 19) and nationally-ranked Michigan State (Sept. 24).

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