What To Watch For: #14 Falcons Travel to Akron for Key MAC Matchup

#14/18 FALCONS at RV/#24 AKRON – Friday, October 22
7:00 p.m. | FirstEnergy Stadium | Akron, Ohio
• Video/Web Stream: ESPN3 •
• Live Stats: GoZips.com | Twitter: @BGSUmenssoccer •

#14/18 FALCONS at OAKLAND – Tuesday, October 26
7:00 p.m. | Oakland Soccer Field | Rochester, Mich.
• Video/Web Stream: ESPN+ •
• Live Stats: GoldenGrizzlies.com | Twitter: @BGSUmenssoccer •

WHAT TO WATCH FOR...
• The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team, tied for first place in the Mid-American Conference standings at the midpoint of the conference schedule, faces yet another tough test this weekend. Head coach Eric Nichols and the defending MAC champions travel to Northeast Ohio for a Friday (Oct. 22) matchup with Akron. First touch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at FirstEnergy Stadium.

• Then, on Tuesday night (Oct. 26), the Orange and Brown will step outside of conference play for the final time this fall, meeting Oakland in a 7:00 p.m. start at Oakland Soccer Field in Rochester, Mich.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Friday's Akron match will be streamed via ESPN3, while Tuesday's contest at Oakland will be available via ESPN+. Live stats for both matches will be available, and twitter updates will be available at @BGSUmenssoccer.

• Links to live audio/video/stats for all 2021 matches can be found on the web at BGSUFalcons.com (on the men's soccer schedule page as well as at the top of the main page) on game day.

A(NOTHER) TOP-25 MATCHUP
• Friday's BGSU-Akron match will be the Falcons' second-straight contest that features a pair of nationally-ranked teams. BGSU is ranked 14th in the nation in this week's United Soccer Coaches poll.

• That marks the program's highest ranking since Nov. 18, 1996, when the Falcons were also 14th in the land. BGSU is also ranked in the College Soccer News poll. BG moved up two spots to 18th on that list this week.

• Akron is receiving votes in the coaches poll, and the Zips are 24th in the nation in the CSN poll. In the United Soccer Coaches North Region rankings, BGSU is second for the second consecutive week, while UA is sixth.

• The Zips and Falcons are 22nd and 23rd, respectively, in this week's RPI rankings.

FASCINATING FALCON FACTS
• The Falcons are 9-2-2 on the season, and BGSU is off to a 2-0-1 start in MAC play. BG picked up a pair of home wins over the league's two newest members, defeating Georgia State (3-2) and Georgia Southern (4-0) at Cochrane Stadium, before going on the road last weekend and earning a 1-1 draw vs. Northern Illinois in a matchup of top-25 teams.

• After battling IUPUI to a scoreless draw in the season opener at Cochrane, BG went to Gonzaga, Cleveland State and Michigan State and won all three matches.

• Then #6/7 Marshall got a goal with just 93 seconds left in the second half as the defending national champions downed the Falcons, 1-0, on Sept. 11. But, the Orange and Brown bounced back with four-straight wins, including shutout victories over Wright State, then #13/17 FIU and Detroit Mercy.

• BG downed Canisius before falling at Ohio State in overtime, but the Falcons then picked up seven points in three MAC matches.

• The Georgia State skirmish marked only the second time all season that BGSU trailed during a match. The Falcons trailed for just 1:33 of the total minutes (937:55) over the first 10 contests.

•BGSU led by two goals on only one occasion during all of last season, and the Falcons never led by three (BG took a 2-0 lead against Syracuse [Feb. 23, 2021] before winning by a 2-1 final). But, BG has led by two or more goals in seven of the last 11 matches, winning six of those contests by multiple goals.

• BGSU scored as many as two goals in a match only three times in 13 games in the spring. But, the Falcons have scored two or more goals nine times in 13 matches this season to date.

• The Falcons have scored three or more goals five times this year after doing so only once in those 13 spring matches.

• BGSU is now 74-8-6 when scoring two or more goals in a match in the Eric Nichols Era.

• BG is 5-1-1 at home and 4-1-1 on the road, and the Falcons have topped the home, road and overall win totals for all of last season. BGSU has outscored opponents by a 26-8 count this season.

• Jacob Erlandson leads a balanced Falcon scoring attack with 13 points this season, while Alberto Anaya and Kyle Cusimano have 12 points apiece and Sergi Martinez 10. Erlandson was named to the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week on Tuesday after scoring the Falcons' goal at NIU. Anaya had five points in the wins over Georgia State and Georgia Southern. Erlandson has a team-leading five goals this season, while Anaya has four goals and four assists.

• Cusimano leads the Falcons with eight assists this fall. Martinez, who has three goals and four assists on the season, was chosen as the United Soccer Coaches Division I Player of the Week on Sept. 22.

Nathan Masters has nine points after picking up an assist at NIU, while Roberto Fernandez Garrido has come off the bench to score four goals this year, including in three-straight matches during BGSU's September winning streak. Fernandez Garrido has eight points.

• Logan Kowalczyk has played every second between the posts this fall, and has seven shutouts and a goals-against average of just 0.59. Kowalczyk has kept 12 clean sheets in 25 career starts at BGSU.

• Entering the Akron contest, the Falcons have an overall record of 34-16-6 over the last 56 games, dating to late in the 2018 season. Twelve of the 16 setbacks in that time have come by a single goal.

CAPTAINS
• Zach Buescher, Jacob Erlandson and Jensen Lukacsko are the captains of the 2021 Falcons.

THE OPPONENTS
• Akron enters Friday's match with an overall record of 7-3-3, and the Zips are 1-1-1 in MAC play. UA's two most recent matches have been against Big Ten schools, including a 2-1 win over Penn State and Monday's scoreless draw with Michigan. Diogo Pacheco leads the Zips with five goals and 15 points on the year. Will Meyer has played every second in goal and has 33 saves, five shutouts and a GAA of 0.80. The Zips are 6-1-2 at home and 1-2-1 on the road this season to date.

• Oakland is 7-5-2 overall and 5-1-1 in Horizon League action, heading into Saturday's match at IUPUI. The Golden Grizzlies have won four-straight matches, including road wins over Wright State (3-2) on Saturday and Louisville (2-1) on Tuesday. Mikey Ketteman has nine goals and 19 points to lead the team in both categories. Finn Jurak and Alessio Carbone have split time in goal. Jurak has 21 saves and a 1.35 GAA, while Carbone has 24 stops and a GAA of 1.34 to date. The Grizzlies are 4-2-0 at home and 3-3-2 on the road.

THE SERIES
• BGSU trails Akron, 49-10-5, in the all-time series, but the Falcons have won two of the last three matches. Last season, the teams split a pair of meetings, with the Zips capturing a 2-0 victory at FirstEnergy Stadium (March 7, 2021) and the Falcons picking up a 1-0 overtime win at Cochrane (April 11, 2021). BG's last road win over the Zips came in the semifinals of the 2019 MAC Tournament, a 1-0 Falcon victory (Nov. 15, 2019). BGSU is 2-3-2 in the last seven series meetings, after Akron had won 18-straight games from 2002-15. The Falcons are 4-19-4 at home, 4-28-1 on the road and 2-2-0 in neutral-site matches vs. the Zips through the years.

• The Falcons trail Oakland, 6-2-1, in that series, but the teams have not met in 17 years. The most recent meeting was a 2-0 Grizzlies win in September of 2004. OU has won the last three meetings, since a 2-1 BGSU road victory in October of 2000. BG is 1-4-0 at home and 1-2-1 on the road vs. the Golden Grizzlies.

UP NEXT
• Following the Oakland match, the Falcons will close out the home portion of the schedule vs. Western Michigan on Saturday night, Oct. 30.

# BGSU FALCON SOCCER #

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