Wednesday's Women's Soccer Results
Wednesday's Scoreboard
Bowling Green 3, Detroit Mercy 1
Courtesy of Bowling Green Sports Information
DETROIT, Mich. – Skylar Fleak and Erica Hubert each scored second half goals to lead the Falcons to a 3-1 victory over the University of Detroit Mercy on Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 6). The game was held in Detroit, Mich. at Titan Field. The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team improved its overall record to 3-2-0 with two games remaining in the non-conference schedule. The Titans dropped their fourth consecutive match and are now 2-4-1 in 2017.
The game began very auspiciously for BGSU. Detroit Mercy attacked BGSU's goal within the first minute, as Rachel DeLuca sent a pass into the box, which Kelli Doyle headed past goalkeeper Victoria Cope. The Titans led 1-0 after just 32 seconds but did not score again. Madison Schupbach snuck the equalizer past Marina Manzo in the 16th minute. Fleak earned the game-winner six minutes into the second half, and Hubert gave BGSU distance with a goal in the 75th minute.
This was the Falcons' first comeback victory in regulation time since Oct. 17, 2014, when they defeated Ohio 2-1 at Cochrane Stadium.
COACH SAYS…
BGSU head coach Matt Fannon said, "We started slowly and were fortunate to only be down 1-0 after ten minutes. From then on, we fought our way back into the game and were good value for the result."
SKY-HIGH
Skylar Fleak added to her Mid-American Conference-leading goals and points total when she beat Detroit goalkeeper Marina Manzo for the game-winning score in the 52nd minute. Nikhita
Jacob started the play with a free kick pass from 40 yards out, which Maureen
Kennedy directed to Fleak in the box. It was the sixth game-winning goal of Fleak's career, which is sixth-most in BGSU history and second among active Falcons behind Erica Hubert (7). Fleak now has 21 career goals and is alone in third place on BGSU's all time list. She is seven behind Samantha Meister for second place.
Jacob's assist was the first of her career; it was also her first career point and game-winning assist. Kennedy earned her second assist of the season and now has three career game-winning assists, tied for most among active Falcons (Madison Schupbach).
GETTING (SCHUP-)BACH IN THE GROOVE
Detroit Mercy put a lot of pressure on the Falcons, both offensively and defensively, early in the match. However, the Falcons were able to flip the momentum, and Madison Schupbach played a key role. Schupbach won the ball in the offensive zone during the 16th minute, touched left past a defender, then snuck a ball past the post for the equalizer. The goal was the seventh of her career and first of the season.
BREATHING ROOM
Erica Hubert goal-scoring consistency has been critical for the Falcons during her career, and her efforts as a junior have provided BGSU much-needed distance in two of the team's wins. At Detroit, Marissa Swindell
found Hubert in the box with a pass from the corner, and Hubert expertly back-heeled the ball past the keeper to give the Falcons a two-goal edge. That marks two straight BGSU wins in which Hubert has provided the team a two-goal lead. It gives her 17 career goals, as she moves into ninth-place on the team's all-time list. She has a goal in 14 of her 43 career matches.
ROAD WARRIORS
BGSU has played four of its first five matches and has achieved a 3-1-0 record in those contests. This is the first time in program history that the Falcons have won three road non-conference matches. Bowling Green has already matched its road win total from 2016, and this is the first time since 2007-08 that the Falcons have won three or more road games in back-to-back years.
UP NEXT
Bowling Green (3-2-0) will return home to face Wright State (3-3-0) at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 10. The game will be held at Cochrane Stadium. The Falcons will celebrate Senior Day and will honor the team's four seniors (Mikaela Couch, Skylar Fleak, Madison Schupbach and Rachel Winters) with program ceremonies that will begin 15 minutes before kickoff.
