ST. LOUIS, Mo. (BGSU Strategic Communications) – The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team has been picked to finish second in the Missouri Valley Conference race in the 2025 season. The list of preseason favorites, the result of voting by the conference's eight head coaches, was released by the league office on Monday morning (Aug.18).

The conference office also announced the Preseason All-MVC Team, which included a trio of Falcons. Seniors Andrew Shaffer and Trace Terry and junior Bennett Painter were named to the team.

Drake was picked to win the league title in 2025. The Bulldogs earned 56 points along with three first-place votes.

The Falcons were right behind the Bulldogs, as BG received two first-place votes and earned 54 points. Western Michigan was picked to place third, garnering 51 points and a pair of first-place votes.

New this year for all MVC sports, the league office is not releasing a complete poll of all teams. Rather, only the favorites and their point totals will be published.

Painter, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio (Anderson), was named to the All-MVC Second Team after leading the 2024 team in scoring. He started all 20 matches last fall, and had BG-best totals of 13 goals and 30 points. He also had four assists on the year.

Painter scored the first goal of the match on five occasions, and found the back of the net in 10 of the Falcons' 20 games.

Painter had four goals and eight points in MVC regular-season play to rank second on the team in both categories. He finished among the top 25 players in the nation in total goals, total points, game-winning goals (four), points per game (1.50) and goals per game (0.65). Painter has 38 career points in 33 games, with 16 goals and six assists since joining the Falcons.

Shaffer, who hails from Galena, Ohio (St. Francis DeSales), was named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team in 2024. He started all 20 matches on the year, and ranked fourth on the team in scoring with 13 points.

Shaffer's point total included two goals, and he tied for the team lead with nine assists. He finished the 2024 season tied for 18th in the nation in total assists, and he was deadlocked for 32nd in assists per game. Shaffer tied for second in the MVC in assists.

One of Shaffer's goals came in the MVC Tournament's championship match, and he had a two-assist match in a win over Butler. Entering his senior season, Shaffer has career totals of 29 points on eight goals and 13 assists.

Terry, who hails from Bellbrook, Ohio (Bellbrook), has been named to the Preseason All-MVC Team for the second-straight season. The striker was recently named to the United Soccer Coaches Forwards to Watch List, after earning a veritable plethora of honors in 2024. He was named to the USC Coaches All-America Second Team and was a TopDrawerSoccer Third-Team All-America last season. Terry also was voted to the All-MVC First Team, and landed on the MVC's All-Tournament Team as well as the USC All-West Region First-Team.

In December of 2024, Terry was drafted by Seattle Sounders FC in the third round of the MLS SuperDraft. He is the first player in program history to return to the Falcons after being drafted, and is the fifth player in history (and the first since Scott Vallow in 1999) to come back for another season after being named an All-American.

Terry had totals of 12 goals and 29 points last season, ranking second on the Falcons in both categories. He also recorded five assists to rank fourth on the club. Terry played in 18 of BGSU's 20 matches, starting all 18, and had a team-leading five game-winning goals. He scored at least one point in 13 of his 18 matches.

Terry has scored 47 points in 51 matches in his BGSU career, with 18 goals and 11 assists. Seven of the goals have been game winners. He is ranked among the school's career leaders in goals (tied for 17th), GWG (tied for ninth) and points (tied for 26th).

BGSU finished the 2024 season with an overall record of 12-6-2, and the Falcons went 4-3-1 in their second season in the MVC, tying for third in the nine-team league. The Orange and Brown picked up wins over UIC and Drake to advance to the championship match of the MVC Tournament, before falling in overtime to Evansville.

The Falcons have a total of 12 returning student-athletes on the 2025 roster. That group includes six starters from a year ago. A whopping 15 newcomers join the Falcons in '25.

The Falcons begin the 2025 regular-season schedule on Thursday evening (Aug. 21) at home, taking on IU Indy in a 7:00 p.m. start at Cochrane Stadium. That is the second half of a BG soccer doubleheader which sees the Falcon women's team face Cleveland State at 4:00 p.m. Admission is free to all BGSU home soccer matches.

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), and on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.

MVC Men's Soccer 2025 Preseason Favorites
Team (FPV) – Pts.
1. Drake (3) – 56
2. Bowling Green (2) – 54
3. Western Michigan (2) – 51 

Preseason All-MVC Team
GK – Michal Mroz, Evansville
D – Ryder Barrett, Drake
D – Eskil Gjerde, Drake
D – Christian Shannon, Western Michigan
D – Dylan Steely, Belmont
M – Jose Gomez, Northern Illinois
M – Rui Reis, UIC
M – Andrew Shaffer, Bowling Green
F – Preston Kipnusu, Drake
F – Bennett Painter, Bowling Green
F – Trace Terry, Bowling Green