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FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
• The Falcons are heading to the NCAA Championships for the third consecutive season and the fifth time in school history. BGSU (6-1-0) faces Ole Miss (10-5-0) in first-round action on Tuesday evening (April 27) at the UNCW Soccer Stadium in Wilmington, N.C.
• BGSU earned the Mid-American Conference's automatic bid by virtue of a 2-1 win over Ball State in the MAC Championship at Cochrane Stadium. Sophomores Kennedy White and Katie Cox scored the Falcons' goals in the victory.
• Cox now has scored the game-winning goal in each of BGSU's last three matches, vs. Kent State, Ohio and BSU. Cox now has five career goals, and four have proven to be the GWG.
• Katie's older sister, Nikki Cox, is definitely no stranger to Wilmington or the UNCW Soccer Stadium. Nikki Cox, a 2020(-21) team captain, began her collegiate career at UNCW, and scored 16 points on seven goals and two assists in 23 total games for the Seahawks in 2016-17. A two-time All-MAC First-Team selection at BGSU, she has scored 46 points (18 goals, 10 assists) in 51 matches as a Falcon.
• The Falcons have outscored opponents, 17-3, this season. BGSU went a perfect 4-0-0 at home (outscoring the foes by a 10-1 count) and 2-1-0 on the road (outscoring the opposition, 7-2). Tuesday's Ole Miss match will be BG's first neutral-site contest of the season.
THE FALCONS AND THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• The Falcons have qualified for the NCAA Championships for the fifth time in program history, and the third time in as many seasons. BGSU advanced to the national tournament in 2004 and 2005. The '04 team was seeded eighth in the MAC Tournament, but outscored opponents by an 8-2 aggregate en route to three upset wins. That club lost to Ohio State, 2-0, in NCAA action in Columbus.
• The 2005 club, led by coach Andy Richards, was the first team in school history to win both the MAC regular-season and tournament crowns. The '05 squad did not allow a goal in MAC Tournament play, but twice went to penalty kicks after scoreless draws, advancing past their opponent on both occasions.
• The Falcons were sent to South Bend, Ind., to face Michigan State in the 2005 NCAA Tournament. In a match that was much, much (much) closer than the score indicated, BG fell, 4-0. The Falcons outshot the Spartans, 8-1, in a scoreless first half, and it was a one-goal game until less than 20 minutes remained in the match.
• Two years ago, Matt Fannon's club went a program-best 10-1-0 in MAC regular-season play, then won a pair of one-goal matches in league tourney action to advance to the championship match. The Falcons tied Ball State, 1-1, but advanced via PKs in come-from-behind fashion, with BGSU goalkeeper Kathleen Duwve making a save when a BSU goal would have clinched the title for the Cardinals.
• BGSU headed to Penn State for the first round. The Falcons saw an early goal nullified due to an offside call, then fell behind by a pair of goals after 15 minutes. Erica Hubert scored the first NCAA Tournament goal in program history midway through the opening half, off of a Nikki Cox assist, but the Nittany Lions got a pair of goals in the latter half of the second period to seal a 4-1 victory.
• In 2019, Duwve and the Falcons tied Eastern Michigan, 0-0, in the MAC Tournament final at Cochrane Stadium, then advanced past the Eagles via penalty kicks. BGSU headed to Ann Arbor for the NCAAs, and the Falcons took the lead against #19 Michigan on a Chelsee Washington goal, before the Wolverines rallied for a 2-1 win.
A FEW FINAL FALCON NOTES
• Madi Wolfbauer leads the team in scoring, with five goals and 10 points. All five goals came over the final three regular-season matches. Wolfbauer became the first BG player with back-to-back multi-goal games in over a decade (since 2010).
• The Falcons now have an all-time record of 18-7-7 in the MAC Tournament, and BGSU now has records of 10-1-4 in MAC Tournament games at home and 2-3-4 in the championship match. BGSU has advanced past the opponent (winning outright of via penalty kicks) a total of 24 times in 32 MAC Tournament contests over the years.
• BGSU is now 47-19-7 overall, 31-7-1 in MAC regular-season matches and 38-8-3 in all games vs. conference foes since the start of the 2017 season.
• Since the beginning of the 2018 campaign, the Falcons are now 34-12-6 overall, 25-3-0 in MAC regular-season action and 30-3-2 in all games vs. league opposition.
UP NEXT
The BGSU-Ole Miss winner will advance to face #8-seeded Southern California in second-round action. That match will also take place at UNCW Soccer Stadium, on Friday, April 30, at 6:00 p.m.
