Stransky's Late Strike Lifts Falcons Past Huskies, 1-0

Thursday, October 16

DeKalb, Ill.

8 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

8-1-6, 3-0-5

Northern Illinois

4-7-3, 2-4-2

Bowling Green

NIU

Photo by: Scott Walstrom, NIU Athletics

October 16, 2025 | Women's Soccer

Box Score Final Stats (PDF)Support BGSU Women's Soccer

BGSU extends school-record unbeaten streak to 13 matches

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

DeKALB, Ill. – Junior Emma Stransky scored with exactly nine minutes remaining, lifting the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team to a 1-0 win over Northern Illinois University on Thursday evening (Oct. 16), in Mid-American Conference action at the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex.

With the win, the Falcons (8-1-6, 3-0-5 MAC) have topped the team's overall win total for all of last season. Additionally, BGSU has extended the program's current unbeaten streak to a school-record 13 matches.

Sixth-year Falcon Ellie Pool and junior Michelle Hochstadt picked up assists on Stransky's goal, while sophomore Payton O'Malley made six saves as she and her teammates kept a clean sheet.

BGSU has won four-straight matches and eight of the last nine meetings against the Huskies (4-7-3, 2-4-2 MAC)

NOTE OF THE NIGHT
• The Falcons are now 7-0-6 in the last 13 matches, since BGSU's lone loss of the season nearly two months ago (1-0 vs. Illinois on Aug. 17). BG's current unbeaten streak is the longest in school history.
• The 2005 team held the old record, having put together an 11-match unbeaten streak (9-0-2). The '05 club's streak began on Oct. 2 and did not come to an end until an NCAA Championships first-round match on Nov. 11.

BONUS NOTE OF THE NIGHT
• The Falcons are now 8-1-6 (.733) on the season, continuing the best start in program history. The 2018 team also had a .733 winning percentage through 15 matches, having gone 10-3-2 en route to MAC regular-season and tournament titles.
• The 2025 season is the 29th in the history of the program, which began in 1997.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• In the seventh minute, BGSU worked the ball forward with several passes, the last two of which were between Minah Syam and Ella Kane. Syam took a return pass from Kane just inside the 18-yard box and hit a shot, but NIU goalkeeper Lauren Pearson parried that shot and grabbed the ball on a bounce.
• With 17 minutes gone, Jayna Searles played a long ball forward, and Emma Stransky and a Huskie defender raced toward the NIU goal. Stransky got a touch on the bouncing ball, but her shot went over the crossbar.
• After a foul and a yellow card on the Huskies midway through the period, Emme Butera took the ensuing free kick from approximately 35 yards out, and the junior hit a hard, low shot, but Pearson was able to go to the ground and make the save.
• Off of a corner kick in the 64th minute, the Huskies had a scoring chance. The ball was knocked to Lauren Mrugala near the six-yard line, and she attempted to poke the ball past BGSU goalkeeper Payton O'Malley. O'Malley, however, blocked that shot, and a follow-up attempt by Tyra King went over the bar.
• In the 72nd minute of the match, NIU's Aubrey Robertson was shown a yellow card, her second of the contest, and the Huskies were down to 10 players.
• The Falcons broke through with nine minutes to go. Stransky cut past her defender on the left side of the field, headed into the box and attempted to cross the ball into the six-yard box, but it was blocked out of play by an NIU player.
• Michelle Hochstadt took the ensuing corner kick, serving it into the box. Several players on both teams battled for the ball, but it bounced in the six-yard area and went out the other side. Ellie Pool was there, chesting the ball down and lofting it back in the direction from whence it came. As Pool served the ball toward the left post, Stransky cut past her would-be defender and knocked the ball into the goal from several yards out.

ADDITIONAL FALCON NOTES
• Emma Stransky now has team-leading totals of seven goals and 14 points this season. She has scored the game-winning goal in each of BGSU's last four wins.
• Stransky has increased her career totals to 14 goals and 33 points, and she has moved into the top 20 on both BGSU lists. The junior is 17th in career goals, and she is now tied for 19th in career points at BG.
• Thursday night's game-winning goal was the ninth of her career. She is tied for second in BGSU history on that list. Hall-of-Famer Kristy Coppes had 14 career GWG from 2001-04, while Corbie Yee (2005-08), Nikki Cox (2018-21 and Kennedy White (2019-22) each had nine.
• Four of Stransky's career winners have come in 1-0 victories.
• Ellie Pool now has eight points this season to rank second behind Stransky in scoring, and she is tied for the team lead with four assists. Pool has 25 points on eight goals and nine assists in her BGSU career.
• Five of Pool's nine assists as a Falcon have come on game-winning goals.
• Michelle Hochstadt now has three assists this season and eight in her BG career. Four of those eight assists have come on winning goals.
• Payton O'Malley made six saves on Thursday night, just one off of her career high. She now has five complete-match shutouts this season and seven in her career.
• Through Thursday's matches, O'Malley leads the MAC in both save percentage (.855) and goals-against average (0.61).
• Since the start of the 2018 season, the Falcons are now 28-6-6 in MAC regular-season road matches. BGSU has outscored the opponents, 87-31, in those 40 matches.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons return home for a weekend matchup with Ball State, as BGSU will face the Cardinals on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 19). First touch is set for 1:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium, and admission is free.
• Then, the Orange and Brown will return to the road to take on Buffalo next Thursday (Oct. 23), with that contest beginning at 6:00 p.m. in Western New York.

REMAINING REGULAR-SEASON SCHEDULE
(all times Eastern [ET]; home matches in CAPS)
Sun., Oct. 19 – BALL STATE – 1 pm
Thu., Oct. 23 – at Buffalo – 6 pm
Sun., Oct. 26 – AKRON – 1 pm
Wed., Oct. 29 – at Massachusetts – 1 pm

FOR MORE INFORMATION...
• For more information on the women's soccer program, follow the Falcons on Twitter/X (@BGSU_Athletics and @BGSU_WSoccer) and Instagram (bgsu_wsoccer), as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.

#AyZiggy | 🟠⚽️🟤