Falcons, DePaul Battle to Scoreless Draw at Cochrane

Friday, September 8

Bowling Green, Ohio

7 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

2-1-2, 0-0-0

DePaul

1-2-2, 0-0-0

DePaul

Bowling Green

Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics

September 08, 2023 | Men's Soccer

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BGSU remains unbeaten at home in 2023

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – An 89th-minute goal was nullified by a controversial offside call, and the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team was forced to settle for a scoreless draw against DePaul University on Friday night (Sept. 8) at Cochrane Stadium.

Nathan Masters appeared to break the scoreless deadlock for the Falcons (now 2-1-2 on the season) with a header off of a diagonal ball from Rodrigo Montez Silva, but as Masters and the Falcons celebrated, the assistant referee's flag was raised, and the Blue Demons (1-2-2) were awarded a free kick.

BGSU had advantages of 19-10 in total shot attempts and 8-3 in shots on goal. Brendan Graves made three saves as he and the Falcons kept a clean sheet.

At the other end of the pitch, DU 'keeper Gandhi Cruz had seven stops, and the Blue Demons also had a 'team save' on the night.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• On Alumni Weekend at Cochrane Stadium, a large number of former Falcon greats were on hand, including legendary coach Mickey Cochrane. The current group of men's Falcons were on the front foot from the get-go.
• With less than two minutes gone, Eli Shope dispossessed a DePaul defender of the ball, and the fifth-year Falcons headed in on goal. Shope entered the box on the left side, but his low shot was gathered in by DU goalkeeper Gandhi Cruz.
• Under four minutes had elapsed when BG was at it again. This time, a left-side cross by Shope was headed by Trace Terry, and Andrew Shaffer hit a volley before the ball hit the ground. His hard shot, however, was blocked, and a Kyle Blasingame follow-up try sailed over the crossbar for a goal kick.
• Goalkeeper Brendan Graves grabbed a DePaul corner kick and threw a long pass to Shope, who went past midfield and all the way to the top of the 18-yard box. Shope cut back and hit a curving shot toward the far post, but Cruz made the stop with nearly 11 minutes gone.
• Three minutes later, Nathan Masters just missed directing a Terry cross toward goal, and less than a minute after that, hard shots by Shaffer and Mads Christensen each were blocked by defenders near the six-yard line.
• Under one minute after that, a long throw-in was deflected to Masters, who hit a low shot that just missed finding the far corner of the net.
• As the match neared the half-hour mark, Taylor Dyson took a corner kick for the hosts. Amer Dedic got his head on the ball and nodded it across the six-yard line, while Rodrigo Montez Silva redirected it on frame. But, Cruz was able to make a diving save.
• With just over three minutes left in the half, Jake Bergin played the ball out wide to Dyson, who hit a low diagonal ball into the box. Masters got his foot on the ball, but his shot went just wide of the left post.
• BGSU was back at it in the second half. With just over two minutes gone, the hosts strung together several passed before Montez Silva played a long ball from the midfield stripe. Terry's leaping flick-on put the ball into the path of the onrushing Shope. who took a touch and fired a shot on frame. But, Cruz came up with the save.
• Thirty six minutes remained when another Montez Silva long ball was headed down by Shope. Anthony Hernandez slid a pass to Masters on his left, and Masters uncorked a hard shot, but Cruz again made a stop.
• After a BGSU giveaway four minutes later, the Blue Demons had a chance, as Felipe Corral came down the center of the field with several Falcons in pursuit. BG nearly knocked the ball away from Corral as he entered the penalty area, but Corral quickly recovered and fired a hard shot. Graves came off of his line and deflected the ball into the air with a diving effort. Corral attempted to head the rebound toward the goalmouth, but his shot was wide left.
• With 24 minutes to go, Dyson fought off a DePaul attempt at a tackle on the right side of the field and fired a low cross into the box. Bennett Painter – who had entered the game less than two minutes prior – hit a shot that appeared to have Cruz diving the wrong way, but a DU defender was able to block the shot away from the goalmouth.
• Just over 18 minutes remained when DePaul mounted a counterattack and Santiago Rodriguez received a pass in space as he entered the box. Graves, however, made a spectacular diving stop of his low shot.
• In the 80th minute, a Hernandez free kick sailed into the box, and Dedic met it with a header, but the shot was off the mark. Dyson put a shot on frame from a sharp angle with four minutes to go, and it then appeared the Falcons had broken the scoreless deadlock as the clock reached the two-minute mark.
• A BG cross into the box was blocked away, and a DU defender attempted to clear it. Montez Silva gathered the ball near midfield and put a diagonal ball into the box. Masters, on the far side, met the serve with a leaping effort, and his shot found the far upper corner of the goal. But, his celebration was short-lived as the assistant referee's flag was raised, and the match remained scoreless.
• DePaul had a chance in the final seconds of the match. Off of a corner kick with 14 seconds to go, a shot by Colin Mackay was blocked by Masters and went out of play. Time expired before the Blue Demons could set up for another corner.

STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• BGSU, as mentioned, had a 19-10 shots advantage. Masters led all players with five total attempts, while Shope had three shots on goal to match DePaul's team total in that category.
• Graves made three saves to earn his first shutout of the season and the 10th of his BGSU career.
• Each of the last two BGSU-DePaul matchups has ended in a 0-0 draw. The teams played to a scoreless stalemate in the 2022 season opener in Chicago.
• BGSU leads the all-time series with DePaul, 4-0-2. The Falcons have not allowed a goal in any of those six meetings with the Blue Demons
• The Falcons now have a record of 44-26-14 over the last 84 games, dating to midway through the 2018 season. Sixteen of the 26 setbacks in that time have come by a single goal.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons' three-match homestand concludes on Tuesday evening (Sept. 12), as Northern Kentucky comes to Cochrane for a 7:00 p.m. matchup.

• Then, BGSU will head to Kalamazoo to begin Missouri Valley Conference play with a contest against Western Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 16.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• For more information on the BGSU men's soccer program, follow the Falcons on Twitter/X (@BGSU_Athletics and @BGSUMSoccer), Instagram (bgfalcons and bgsumsoccer) and Facebook (BGMensSoccer) as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.