SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team lost a heartbreaker on Saturday night (Nov. 16), falling to the University of Evansville, 3-2 in overtime, in the championship match of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Betty & Bobby Allison South Stadium.

A corner kick by the Purple Aces (11-6-3 [4-3-1 MVC]) curved toward the near post, glancing off the head of a BGSU defender and in, in the 98th minute.

Junior Andrew Shaffer and sophomore Jake Lane scored goals for the Falcons (12-6-2 [4-3-1 MVC]), the third seed for the six-team tournament.

UE had taken the lead on a Kai Phillip goal with just under a half hour gone. But, Shaffer and Lane recorded goals just over six minutes apart, with Lane's first goal of the season giving the Falcons a 2-1 lead with five minutes left in the opening half.

That lead held up until the 79th minute, when Baraka Tarleton scored on a rebound of his own shot after a free kick near the corner flag.

The winning goal came at the 98:09 mark, when Jacopo Fedrizzi took a corner kick that glanced off the top of a defender's head at the near post.

The win completed an impressive tourney run for Evansville. The Aces, the fifth seed for the tournament, had defeated a pair of nationally-ranked teams, Western Michigan and Missouri State, on the road to reach the final.

The Falcons played without tri-captain Kyle Cusimano, the 2024 MVC Defensive Player of the Year, who was injured in the second half of Wednesday's (Nov. 13) semifinal-round win over Drake.

Lane, Brendan Graves and Trace Terry all were named to the MVC's All-Tournament Team. Lane was also the recipient of the MVC Elite 18 award, which is given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA at the finals site of each of the MVC's 18 team championships.
 

Gallery: (11-16-2024) 111624 msoc v Evansville - Kevin White

HOW IT HAPPENED
• On a windy night, several diagonal balls by the Falcons curved toward goal in the game's first 10 minutes, but UE goalkeeper Michal Mroz grabbed each one. One was fired into the box by Alberto Anaya and one by Andrew Shaffer. Play was primarily in the Falcons' offensive end, as BG played with the wind at their backs in the opening half.
• Midway through the opening half, Anaya played a long ball ahead to Bennett Painter, who had a defender marking him. Painter won a corner kick, which was taken by Anaya. Mroz swatted the ball as it passed through the penalty area, but Kyle Blasingame tracked it down on the far side of the box and played a pass to Painter. Painter attempted a side volley, but did not get a lot of force behind his shot, which was blocked out for another corner. The Aces were able to successfully deal with the latter corner.
• In the 29th minute, BGSU was whistled for a foul just a few yards outside the Falcons' own 18-yard box. Falcon goalkeeper Brendan Graves went high into the air to grab the ensuing free kick, hanging onto the ball even as he was fouled and a free kick was awarded to the Orange and Brown.
• But, the Aces would score just three seconds from the half-hour mark. Kai Phillip received a nice through ball from Nacho Diaz-Caneja as he headed into the box on the left side. He chipped a shot over the onrushing Graves to give UE a 1-0 lead.
• Two minutes later, a Shaffer cross went just past Falcon striker Trace Terry, who was tied up by a UE defender in the box.
• In the 34th minute of the contest, a pair of substitutions by head coach Eric Nichols paid off immediately. Taylor Dyson and Jake Lane entered the match and were involved in scoring of the tying goal within a minute of entering the pitch.
• That goal came after Dyson sent the ball ahead to Lane on the right side. Lane made several nifty moves to elude a would-be defender, and put a low cross into the box. Ryko Bodurov, who was closely guarded by a defender in the six-yard box, poked at the ball, which went to Shaffer. The junior's shot caught Mroz leaning the wrong way and slowly rolled past his outstretched arm. A defender cleared the ball away, from the goalmouth, but it had already crossed the goal line.
• In the 39th minute, a foul was called on the Falcons approximately 25 yards from goal. Jacopo Fedrizzi took the ensuing free kick. Graves appeared to have it covered, but the ball sailed a foot or two over the crossbar.
• With just over five minutes remaining in the half, the Falcons took the lead. Again, Dyson and Lane were involved.
• Dyson slid a pass to Terry, who checked it back to him in the center of the field. Dyson slotted a pass to Lane, who again was heading into the box on the right side. Lane cut the ball inside and fired a shot that beat Mroz to the near side. Lane had a goal and an assist within seven minutes of checking into the match, and the Falcons had the lead.
• Early in the second half, Anaya made a nifty turn after receiving a pass, and the senior slid the ball through a pair of defenders to Terry. But, in a very close play, the whistle blew and an offside call went against the Falcons.
• In the 64th minute, a Shaffer ball was blocked on the left side of the field, near the penalty area. The ball caromed to Anaya, who volleyed it out of the air toward the goalmouth. A flick-on by Bodurov sent it toward goal, but Mroz was able to punch the ball away just before Lane arrived.
• Less than a minute later, the Aces looked to counter, heading into the BGSU end of the pitch with a numbers advantage. But, Josh Erlandson blocked a centering ball in the box, knocking it back off of the UE player and over the line for a BG goal kick.
• With 20 minutes left in the second half, Lane played a long ball ahead for Painter, who was racing toward the 18. The ball went over the charging Mroz, but bounced high in the air, and and a defender was able to clear it away before Painter could get a touch.
• Just over 11 minutes remained when a BG foul gave the Aces what was in essence a short corner kick. The ball sailed toward goal, with a UE player deflecting it. Graves made a tremendous play to get a hand on the ball, which popped up into the air. From close range, Baraka Tarleton headed it back toward goal, but Graves again deflected it. Finally, though, Tarleton made a lunging effort and poked the ball into the upper 90.
• Under a minute remained in regulation when Dyson's pass found Anthony Hernandez on the left side of the field. Hernandez slid a ball to Painter, who got off a left-footed shot that was headed toward the lower left corner of the goal. But, Mroz made a diving save to keep the game knotted at 2-2, and the teams headed to overtime.
• The Aces threatened with just over a minute gone in the extra session, but Erlandson blocked a shot in the box. Then, 40 seconds later, Graves made the save on a shot by Fedrizzi from just outside the 18.
• The winning goal came after a corner kick was awarded to UE late in the first scheduled 10-minute OT period. Fedrizzi took that corner kick, and curved it toward the near side of the goal. It glanced off of the top of a BGSU defender's head and found the upper-right-hand corner of the goal, giving the Aces their first MVC Tournament title since 1996.

UP NEXT
• Evansville earns the MVC's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. The NCAA will announce the tournament field of 48 on Monday (Nov. 18) at 1:00 p.m. on NCAA.com. Twenty-two teams earn automatic qualification, with the remaining 26 teams selected at large by the Division I Men's Soccer Committee. The top 16 teams will be seeded and receive first-round byes.

MVC TOURNAMENT
Sunday, November 10 – Quarterfinals (campus sites)
#5 Evansville 2, #4 Western Michigan 1 (2-OT)
at #3 Bowling Green 4, #6 UIC 1

Wednesday, November 13 – Semifinals (Springfield, Mo.)
#3 Bowling Green 1, #2 Drake 0
#5 Evansville 1, at #1 Missouri State 0

Saturday, November 16 – Final (Springfield, Mo.)
#5 Evansville 3, #3 Bowling Green 2 (OT)

MVC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Bart Muns, UIC
Noah James, Western Michigan
Ryder Barrett, Drake
Eskil Gjerde, Drake
Alex Matthews, Missouri State
Tyler Caton, Missouri State
Brendan Graves, Bowling Green
Jake Lane, Bowling Green
Trace Terry, Bowling Green
Jacopo Fedrizzi, Evansville
Martin Wurschmidt, Evansville
Nacho Garcia, Evansville

Tournament MVP – Kai Phillips, Evansville

Elite 18 Winner – Jake Lane, Bowling Green (Individualized Business Major, 4.00 GPA)

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) as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.