Tuesday's Scoreboard
Bowling Green 1, Detroit Mercy 0
SIUE 1, Western Illinois 0
Western Michigan 1, Xavier 0
UIC 2, Northern Illinois 1
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Bowling Green 1, Detroit Mercy 0
Box Score
DETROIT, Mich. -- Sophomore Ike Swiger scored midway through the second half to lift the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team to a 1-0 win over the University of Detroit Mercy Tuesday night (Oct. 1). The non-conference match was held at Titan Field.
With the victory, the Falcons have matched the win total for all of last season. BGSU is now 6-3-1 in 2019, after going 6-7-4 a year ago. BG has picked up four of those six victories away from home, again equaling the total for all of last year.
Senior Charlie Maciejewski and junior Chris Sullivan had assists on the play, and senior Anthony Mwembia and the BG defense kept a clean sheet. Mwembia made two saves en route to his fifth shutout of the season.
SIUE 1, Western Illinois 0
Box Score
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE men's soccer won its third consecutive game Tuesday, shutting out Western Illinois 1-0 at Korte Stadium.
SIUE improved to 5-3-1 overall and 4-1 at home. Western Illinois fell to 0-10 for the year.
"When you have so many games consecutively, you don't have as much time to train," SIUE Head Coach Cale Wassermann said. "You use the games as training opportunities. I was happy with our counter prevention against a team that is very threatening up front."
Steven Bibas netted his first career goal, heading home a picture-perfect cross from Corban McAvinew in the 70th minute.
"Corban is very aggressive going forward," Wassermann said. "They overplayed him a little bit. He cut back on his weaker foot and crossed with his right foot. Steven Bibas is like 5-6 but he wins nine out of 10 headers so credit to him. He's not afraid to crash into a goal post or a goalkeeper. Whatever it takes. We're excited for him to get the game-winner."
SIUE dominated the run of play, outshooting the Leathernecks 20-9. The Cougars put nine shots on goal and forced Western Illinois goalkeepers Timothy Trilk and Seanan Main to make eight saves.
Western Illinois managed four shots on goal. SIUE goalkeeper Lluís Martorell made three saves. The redshirt-sophomore has made three starts and has three shutout wins to his credit.
The Cougars will remain home to face Valparaiso Saturday at Korte Stadium.
Western Michigan 1, Xavier 0
Box Score
CINCINNATI, Ohio - The Western Michigan men's soccer team got back in the win column following a 1-0 victory at Xavier in Cincinnati, Ohio. With the result, the Broncos, who had lost their last two matches in overtime, improve to 5-4 overall on the season. WMU now has four shutout wins in 2019, which already matches its total from last year.
"Great road victory from the men tonight," said seventh year head coach Chad Wiseman. "Xavier is a very talented team and this isn't an easy place to come and get a result at, especially coming off two overtime losses, but our leaders stepped up and made sure that we didn't have another setback."
The Broncos and Musketeers battled to a scoreless draw in the first 45 minutes, with Western Michigan earning two shot attempts on goalkeeper Matthew Rosenberg, including a scoring opportunity from sophomore transfer forward Eric Conerty in the final five minutes of the half.
"Eric had a great all around game today," Wiseman stated. "I'm very excited to see his growth within our program."
In the 72nd minute, senior midfielder Anthony Bowie scored the eventual game winner off a pass from freshman defender Max Keenan. It was Bowie's team-leading fourth goal of the season and Kennan's team best fifth assist.
The best equalizing opportunity for the Musketeers came in the 82nd minute following a corner kick. The first shot attempt by Jacob Goodall was blocked by the Western Michigan defense, but the rebound went right to the foot of Davis Eddelman. Eddelman got a clean strike away, however redshirt freshman goalkeeper Isaac Walker made an outstanding save, outstretching his arms to get just enough of the ball to deflect it safely away from his net.
The Broncos defense was on high alert in the second half, staving off five corner kick opportunities by the Musketeers to secure the victory.
Walker made four saves between the pipes for Western Michigan to pick up his third complete game shutout of 2019.
Despite trailing by a slim margin of 12-10 on the shot chart to Xavier on the evening, the Broncos had six attempts on goal to the Musketeers' four.
"Our depth was the difference maker tonight," Wiseman said. "We went 18 players deep while Xavier used most of its starters for the duration of the match."
Western Michigan will welcome #22 Loyola Marymount to the WMU Soccer Complex this Sunday for Alumni Weekend.
"It's always great to head into Alumni Weekend with a win," exclaimed Wiseman. "We're looking forward to welcoming all our alumni in for a great weekend of events capped off with a match against a top 25 team."
UIC 2, Northern Illinois 1
Box Score
CHICAGO – A second half goal from Jesus Perez lifted UIC to a 2-1 victory over the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team on Tuesday night (Oct. 1) at Flames Field, snapping NIU's four-game win streak. Sophomore Anthony Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) scored the opening goal of the contest but UIC answered with one before halftime and Perez's winner in the 76th minute.
"I think there is frustration and disappointment on the night, but I think we played pretty well tonight and the guys know that," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "We will get over that disappointment and take the positives from the game."
UIC (8-2-0) started the brighter of the two teams and the early possession by the Flames led to the first chance as Perez forced NIU redshirt freshman goalkeeper Martin Sanchez (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) into a save down low to his left in the eighth minute.
The Huskies grabbed more control of the contest following the UIC chance and NIU had its first look at goal in the 11th minute on a diving header from sophomore Nick Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais), off a deflected cross from Anthony Markanich, was saved by UIC goalkeeper Sokratis Vasilas.
In the 18th minute, Anthony Markanich opened the scoring as he rose above everyone at the back post to power home a header off a deep cross from junior Carlos Valdez (Houston, Texas/Richland College) to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead. Anthony Markanich headed the ball back across goal, giving Vasilas no chance, as he scored his sixth career goal.
Six minutes before the interval, UIC leveled the match on a goal by Roberto Alonzo. A turnover in midfield was collected by Christian Crespo and played toward Alonzo who turned a Huskie defender and tucked a shot into the corner past Sanchez to bring the Flames even.
Crespo had a chance of his own a minute before halftime, but his curling effort went just wide as NIU and UIC went into the break tied.
After the break, UIC again made the quicker start as Eduardo Garcia cut in from the right and fired a shot that was stopped by Sanchez in the 49th minute.
NIU (4-5-1) came right back a minute later as sophomore Pierce Ugarte (Oak Lawn, Ill./Oak Lawn) played a ball from the back into the run of senior Jan Maertins (Rheinfelden, Germany/Marquette) who got in behind the UIC defense but Vasilas was able to make the save.
Ugarte was on the other of an opportunity from a set piece in the 54th minute as freshman Luis Hernandez (Mesquite, Texas/Lone Star) stood a free kick up to the back post where Ugarte headed it toward goal and Vasilas scrambled it away.
Hernandez was again the provider from a free kick seven minutes later as Maertins flicked a header off the crossbar as the game remained tied.
NIU nearly took advantage of a UIC turnover in the 69th minute as sophomore Adrian Corona's (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) shot was spilled by the Flames goalkeeper into the feet of a pair of Huskies, but they were ruled offside.
UIC went in front in the 76th minute as Perez used a bit of skill to slip away from a Huskie defender and slotted home a second goal for the Flames as UIC went in front, 2-1.
The Huskies went immediately back on the front-foot after the UIC goal as Nick Markanich had a chance from the corner kick in the 79th minute. Sophomore Louis Sala (West Bloomfield, Mich./Orchard Lake St. Mary's) whipped the corner into a dangerous position but Nick Markanich couldn't direct it on target.
Less than two minutes from time, senior Ethan Pitre (Minneapolis, Minn./Prairie Seeds Academy) moved past the UIC left back and was taken down on the edge of the box. The referee pointed to the penalty spot before changing his mind after consulting with the assistant referee. UIC cleared the ensuing free kick and hung on for the victory, extending the nation's longest home winning streak to 18 games.
Sanchez made seven saves in goal for the Huskies; Vasilas had five stops for the Flames.
NIU will return to action at home on Saturday night, October 5, as the Huskies host 10th-ranked Saint Mary's (CA). Kickoff against the Gaels is scheduled for 7 p.m.
