BGSU at IU INDIANAPOLIS
Friday, Aug. 30 | 7:00 p.m.
Carroll Stadium | Indianapolis, Ind.
Video/Web Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: IUIndyJags.com BGSU at MICHIGAN
Monday, Sept. 2 | 2:00 p.m.
U-M Soccer Stadium | Ann Arbor, Mich.
Video/Web Stream: B1G+
Live Stats: MGoBlue.com

• The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team, after starting the 2024 season with a pair of one-goal wins, hits the road for two matches in a four-day span during Labor Day weekend. The Falcons of head coach Eric Nichols face Indiana University Indianapolis (formerly IUPUI) on Friday evening (Aug. 30), in a 7:00 p.m. start at Michael A. Carroll Stadium.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will head to a Big Ten Conference venue for the second consecutive Monday, facing the University of Michigan on Labor Day afternoon (Sept. 2). That contest is set to start at 2:00 p.m., at U-M Soccer Stadium.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Friday's IU Indianapolis game will be streamed on ESPN+, while Monday's Michigan matchup will be available on Big Ten Network Plus (B1G+). Live stats and Twitter/X updates (@BGSUMSoccer), as always, will also be available.

• Links to any available live audio/video/stats for all 2024 matches can be found on the web at BGSUFalcons.com on game day.

ANOTHER GAME, ANOTHER GAME WINNER FOR BENNETT
• Sophomore Bennett Painter has scored the game-winning goal in each of the Falcons' last three wins. Painter scored just 12 seconds into the second half for what proved to be the winner at Drake last season, and has notched the winning goal in each of BG's two matches so far in 2024.

• He scored with just 5:25 remaining in Friday's (Aug. 23) season-opening win over Wright State, breaking a 2-2 tie, before recording the lone goal in the 71st minute of Monday's (Aug. 26) victory at MSU.

RHYMES WITH SAVES
• Fifth-year Falcon Brendan Graves has had many impressive matches in goal during his tenure in the Orange and Brown, but the performance in Monday's (Aug. 26) win at Michigan State was definitely one of his best.  Graves made six saves, with arguably no routine stops among them, in the Falcons' 1-0 win.

• Graves, who has been in goal for every second of every match for more than two years now, recorded the 12th shutout of his Falcon career in the win over MSU. Eight of those 12 clean sheets have come on the road.

• Graves recorded five or more saves in nine matches last season, including in eight of BG's final 12 contests. He had two stops vs. Wright State in this year's opener, before making six saves vs. the Spartans.

• Entering the IU Indy match, Graves has a career goals-against average of 1.25, along with 153 saves and (as mentioned) 12 complete-match shutouts. He finished the 2023 season ranked ninth in the nation in total saves (84) and 16th in saves per game (4.67).

• Graves has played every second of the Falcons' last 42 matches, a total of 3,800 minutes. No other BGSU 'keeper has been between the goalposts since Oct. 22, 2021.

TWO AND OH
• The Falcons are off to a 2-0-0 start for the seventh time in the Eric Nichols Era, and BGSU is undefeated after two matches for the 11th time in his coaching tenure. BG's last 2-0-0 start came in the 2020(-21) season.

• BGSU has not won three matches to begin a season since the 2017 team got off to a 5-0 start. Since that time, BG has twice been undefeated after four matches in both 2019 and 2021, posting a 3-0-1 record on each occasion.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• Bowling Green, as mentioned, is off to a 2-0-0 start to the season. The Falcons posted a 3-2, come-from-behind win over Wright State at Cochrane Stadium on Friday (Aug. 23), before picking up a 1-0 victory at Michigan State Monday night (Aug. 26).

• The Falcons welcomed back 17 of the 20 players who saw action last season. That group includes nine starters from a 2023 club that went 7-8-3 overall and 4-4-0 in the Falcons' first season in the Missouri Valley Conference.

• Sophomore Bennett Painter leads the Falcons in the early stages of the season, with four points on two goals. He scored the winning goal against both WSU and MSU, and is one of six Falcons to play all 180 minutes this season to date.

• Junior Trace Terry scored a goal in the WSU match, while five different Falcons have recorded one assist apiece in 2024. Fifth-year Falcon Brendan Graves has played both matches in goal and has eight saves, a 1.00 GAA and one shutout.

• BGSU's top-two scorers from a year ago, Terry and senior Alberto Anaya, are back. Both Anaya and Terry were named to the Preseason All-MVC Team.

• Anaya and Terry each had 14 points on four goals and six assists a year ago. Anaya was named to the All-MVC First Team, with Terry earning all-conference second-team honors.

• In all, BGSU returns six of last year's top-seven scorers.

• In goal, Graves returns after starting every match a year ago. In fact, Graves has played every second of the Falcons' last 42 matches, dating to Oct. 22, 2021.

OFF TO A(NOTHER) STRONG START
• The Falcons have gotten the season off to a good start, something BG has made a habit of doing in the Eric Nichols Era. In overall regular-season openers, BGSU is now 11-1-4 since Nichols assumed the helm. The lone loss came to a Northern Kentucky team that was coached by current BGSU assistant coach Stu Riddle.

• The Falcons have a 11-4-1 record in home openers in the Nichols Era.

• The complete list of BGSU's results in regular-season openers can be found on page 8 of the PDF version of these very notes.

DON'T CALL IT A ... ACTUALLY, GO AHEAD AND CALL IT A COMEBACK
• Last Friday's win over Wright State marked the first time in the Eric Nichols Era that the Falcons won after trailing by two goals. In fact, it had been nearly 16 years since BGSU accomplished that feat.

• BG's last such win came on Sept. 12, 2008, when the Falcons posted a 3-2 victory over Centenary at the UCA Tournament in Conway, Ark.

• In that 2008 contest, the Falcons fell behind on goals in the 54th and 57th minute, respectively. It was still a 2-0 game when Chuko Evwaraye scored with 28:05 to go. Cameron Hepple, who assisted on that goal, scored a goal of his own in the 75th minute, before Evwaraye notched the winner with just under nine minutes to go.

HOME COOKIN'
• As mentioned earlier, BGSU has a record of 11-4-1 in home openers since Eric Nichols took the helm prior to the 2009 season. In all games at Cochrane Stadium during that time, the Falcons are 64-31-22.

• In the last decade (plus one game) – since the start of the 2014 season – BGSU is now 48-15-15 (.712) in home games.

ROAD DUB
• The Falcons have matched the road win total for all of last season. After going 1-6-2 away from home in 2023, the Orange and Brown picked up a victory on Monday (Aug. 26) in the 2024 road opener, at Michigan State.

A FEW MORE FALCON FACTS
• The Falcons had a successful year in the classroom in 2023-24. BGSU had a team grade-point average of 3.41 during the '23-24 academic year.

• Alberto Anaya scored a goal in four consecutive matches last October. That marked the longest streak by a Falcon in over 18 years, since Omari Aldridge found the net in five-straight contests from Sept. 18 to Oct. 2, 2005.

• The Falcons suffered a 1-0 loss at eventual league champion Western Michigan in the first MVC match in program history, back on Sept. 16. Following that match, BGSU averaged 2.43 goals per game over the remainder of conference play, with 17 goals in the final seven MVC regular-season matches. BG scored two or more goals five times in MVC play, with three or more goals in four league contests.

• BGSU has scored at least two goals in every home regular-season MVC match in program history. That 'history' began last Sept. 23 with a 3-1 win over Bradley, and BGSU also downed Evansville (4-2; Sept. 30) and UIC (3-1; Oct. 18). The Falcons found the back of the net twice against #18 Missouri State (Oct. 27) as well.

• Since the start of the 2009 season, BGSU is 89-10-7 when scoring two or more goals in a match.

• Entering the IU Indy match, the Falcons have an overall record of 51-33-15 over the last 99 games, dating to midway through the 2018 season. BGSU has 24 multiple-goal victories in that time.

CAPTAINS
• Alberto Anaya, Kyle Cusimano and Brendan Graves are the captains of the 2024 Falcons. All three are captains for the second-straight season.

THE OPPONENTS
• IU Indy, like the Falcons, is off to a 2-0-0 start to the season, after wins at Incarnate Word and Houston Christian last week. Jose Antonio Herrera has two goals and four points for the Jaguars, while Mason Taylor played both games in goal and has 13 saves, two shutouts and a GAA of 0.00. Taylor was named the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts. Head coach Sid van Druenen's team was picked to finish third in the HL, according to the league's preseason poll. Last year's club went 7-7-5 overall and 4-2-3 in league play.

• Michigan is also 2-0-0 on the young season. The Wolverines host Oregon State Friday before meeting the Falcons on Monday. U-M, like BGSU, has picked up a pair of one-goal wins, topping visiting Loyola Chicago and Oakland. Three different players – Charlie Lawrence, Jason Bucknor and Grayson Elmquist – each have one goal this season, while Hayden Evans and Isaiah Goldson each made one start in net last weekend. The Wolverines were picked to place 10th in the Big Ten Conference, while Bucknor, Bryce Blevins and Nolan Miller all were named to the league's Players to Watch List. Last year, coach Chaka Daley's club went 5-6-7 overall and 2-1-5 in conference play.

THE SERIES
• BGSU leads IU Indy, 6-1-3, in the all-time series, and the Falcons are unbeaten in the last nine meetings. The teams have not met in three years, since battling to a scoreless draw in August of 2021 at Cochrane Stadium. BGSU's last trip to Indianapolis saw the Falcons pick up a 1-0 win five years ago (Oct. 8, 2019). BGSU is 4-1-1 at home and 2-0-2 on the road against the Jaguars over the years.

• The Falcons and Michigan are tied, 6-6-2, in that series, and BGSU is unbeaten in the last four meetings. Last season, the Falcons picked up a 2-1 victory on Labor Day (Sept. 4, 2023) at Cochrane Stadium. BGSU's last trip to Ann Arbor saw the teams play to a scoreless draw two years ago in another Labor Day matchup (Sept. 5, 2022). BG is 3-1-1 at home and 3-5-1 on the road vs. the Wolverines.

UP NEXT
• Following the Michigan match, the Falcons will return home for the next two games. BGSU will host Butler on Saturday, Sept. 7, in a 7:00 p.m. start at Cochrane Stadium.

• Then, six days later (Sept. 13), the Orange and Brown will host Northern Illinois in the Missouri Valley Conference opener. That match is also scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane.

FOR MORE INFORMATION...
• 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 at BGSUFalcons.com.