BGSU vs. #14 WESTERN MICHIGAN
Friday, Nov. 1 | 7:00 p.m.
Cochrane Stadium | Bowling Green, Ohio
Video/Web Stream: WBGU-TV/YouTube
Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com

• The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team faces the nation's only remaining unbeaten team this weekend. Head coach Eric Nichols and the Falcons meet 14th-ranked Western Michigan University in a Friday-evening matchup (Nov. 1). First touch is set for 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium, and admission is free.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Friday's WMU contest will be streamed on YouTube, free of charge, and produced by WBGU-TV. 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.

UNBEATEN AT HOME VS. UNBEATEN EVERYWHERE
• The Falcons are unbeaten at home in 2024, with a 6-0-1 record. That includes a 5-0-1 mark at Cochrane Stadium and an additional win in a match that was moved indoors due to weather and field conditions.

• Western Michigan, however, is unbeaten in 2024 at all venues. The Broncos are the only undefeated team left in NCAA Division-I men's soccer, with a 10-0-6 mark heading into Friday's match. WMU is riding a 37-match unbeaten streak, dating to August of 2023.

DOUBLE THE DOUBLE-DIGIT SCORERS
• Sophomore Bennett Painter scored his 10th goal of the season in the Falcons' match at nationally-ranked Missouri State (Oct. 20), in the process tying junior Trace Terry for the team lead in goals.

• As of Wednesday morning (Oct. 30), BGSU is one of only two teams in the nation – joining Duke – with two players who have scored at least 10 goals this season.

TOUGH CROWD!
• The Falcons definitely have a difficult schedule down the stretch. BGSU is coming off of narrow road losses to Missouri State and Evansville. MSU was ranked 11th in the nation in the RPI rankings and No. 15 in the United Soccer Coaches Top-25 poll at the time of the BGSU match. Evansvulle is currently 81st in the RPI.

• Each of BGSU's two remaining regular-season matches are against teams ranked within the top 25 in the RPI. That includes Western Michigan (17th) and Oregon State (24th). The Falcons are currently 75th in the country in the RPI.

• BGSU has already played five teams ranked 81st or better in the RPI this season. That list includes Missouri State, Michigan (32nd), Drake (33rd), Michigan State (66th) and Evansville, with WMU and Oregon State still to come.

DYNAMIC DUO
• Junior Trace Terry and sophomore Bennett Painter each have had a knack for finding the goal this season. A few facts about the Falcons' dynamic duo...

• Entering Friday's WMU game, both players have 10 goals on the season. The 2024 campaign marks the first time BGSU has had two players with 10 goals or more since 1996, when Steve Klein scored 18 times and Dave Kindl 11.

• Painter and Terry have 23 and 21 points, respectively, this fall. BGSU has not had two 20-point scorers in a season since the aforementioned '96 campaign. That year, the Falcons actually had three players with over 20 points, as Klein had a whopping 50 points, with Dave Kindl and Jason Began adding 29 and 26, respectively.

• Each player has four game-winning goals in 2024, tying them for eighth in the nation in that category. This season marks the first time two Falcons have each had four GWG in the same year since 1991 (Rob Martella five, Tom Kinney four).

• In addition to GWG, both Painter and Terry are ranked in the top-40 in the nation in six other categories. Each are listed among the country's leaders in total goals, goals per game, total points, points per game, shots per game and shots on goal per game..

ALOTTA ASSISTS FOR ALBERTO
• Senior Alberto Anaya had four assists in the Falcons' win over Eastern Illinois (Sept. 24) , tying the school record. Anaya matched the mark set by Brian Ferguson in a 6-1 win over Eastern Michigan on Sept. 20, 1989.

• Anaya also had the assist on Bennett Painter's goal at Missouri State. On the season, he now has 13 points on two goals and a BG-best nine assists. As of Wednesday morning (Oct. 30), Anaya was tied for fourth in the country in total assists and 27th in the nation in assists per game.

• Anaya now has career totals of 23 assists and 51 points. He has moved into a tie for ninth place on the BGSU career assists list, and is now 21st in career points.

RHYMES WITH SAVES
• Fifth-year Falcon Brendan Graves had a pair of shutouts to end the month of September, making a total of seven saves in BG's wins over Eastern Illinois and Belmont. With three saves and another shutout vs. Drake (Oct. 12), he now has kept 15 clean sheets in his BGSU career.

• Graves has a total of four shutouts this season, including a spectacular performance in a 1-0 win at Michigan State (Aug. 26). Graves made six saves vs. the Spartans, with arguably no routine stops among them.

• Graves, who has been in goal for every second of every match for more than three years now, has a goals-against average of 1.13 this season, and that average drops to 1.00 in MVC matches.

• Entering the WMU game, Graves has a career goals-against average of 1.23, along with 198 saves and the 15 complete-match shutouts. He has moved into a tie for ninth place in BGSU history in career shutouts, and he is in sole possession of seventh place on the school list for career wins, with 25.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• Bowling Green is 9-4-2 on the season, and the Falcons are 3-3-1 in MVC play. BG is tied for fourth place in the nine-team league wth Western Michigan (although the Broncos have played one fewer conference match than the Falcons), and the Falcons have clinched a berth in the MVC Tournament.

• All three of BGSU's conference wins have come by a single goal, with 2-1 victories over Northern Illinois at home and Bradley on the road, and a 1-0 home win against Belmont. The Falcons lost in league play for the first time on Oct. 5, falling at UIC by a 2-1 final.

• BGSU bounced back to beat Detroit Mercy, 5-2 (Oct. 8), rolling up a 5-0 lead at the half at Cochrane Stadium. The Orange and Brown battled visiting Drake to a scoreless draw four days later (Oct. 12). before suffering single-goal setbacks at No. 15 Missouri State (2-1; Oct. 20) and Evansville (1-0; Oct. 25)

• In non-league play, the Falcons have topped Wright State, Butler, Eastern Illinois and UDM at home – although the EIU match was moved indoors due to inclement weather and field conditions – and BG has beaten Michigan State and IU Indy on the road. The Falcons played host Northern Kentucky to a 1-1 draw, and BG's lone non-league loss this season to date came at Michigan (2-0; Sept. 2).

• The Falcons are currently ranked 10th in the United Soccer Coaches West Region poll, as of Tuesday (Oct. 29). BGSU is 6-0-1 at home (including a 5-0-1 mark at Cochrane Stadium) and 3-4-1 on the road.

• BGSU has topped the goal total for all of last season. The 2024 Falcons have scored 29 goals in 15 matches, an average of 1.93 goals per game. Last season, BG had 27 goals in 18 games (1.50 goals per game).

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

• Sophomore Bennett Painter and junior Trace Terry are leading the way in scoring, with 23 and 21 points, respectively. Both players, as mentioned earlier, have 10 goals to rank among the national leaders. Both Painter and Terry have four game-winning goals this season to date.

• Senior Alberto Anaya and junior Andrew Shaffer have 13 and nine points, respectively. Anaya has nine assists to lead the team and rank eighth in the nation, while Shaffer is also among the nation's top-30 players in that category, with seven assists. Fifth-year Falcon Kyle Cusimano has six points on the year.

• Another fifth-year Falcon, Brendan Graves, has played all 15 matches in goal and has 53 saves, a 1.13 GAA and four shutouts. Three of the goals BGSU has allowed this season have come via penalty kicks.

• Graves has played all 1350 minutes this season, while Cusimano has been on the field for 1349 of those 1260 minutes. Josh Erlandson has played 1320 minutes, with Shaffer, Anaya and Painter at 1271, 1233 and 1227, respectively.

• Anaya and Terry, BGSU's top-two scorers from a year ago, each were named to the Preseason All-MVC Team in 2024. Both players had 14 points on four goals and six assists last season. Anaya was named to the 2023 All-MVC First Team, with Terry earning all-conference second-team honors.

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

• Graves is back in goal in '24 after starting every match a year ago. In fact, Graves has played every second of the Falcons' last 55 matches – a total of 4,970 minutes. No other BGSU 'keeper has been between the posts since Oct. 22, 2021.

THE OPPONENT
• Western Michigan, the only undefeated team in the country, is 10-0-6 on the season, and the Broncos are 2-0-4 in the MVC. WMU is No. 14 in the nation in the United Soccer Coaches poll this week, and the Broncos are unbeaten in the last 37 matches, dating to August of 2023. Western has outscored opponents, 37-11, this season. Owen Smith leads the team with 21 points, and leads the entire nation with 13 assists. Carson Hodgson and Greyson Mercer each have six goals to tie for the team lead. Colin Welsh has started 15 of the Broncos' 16 games in goal, and has 51 saves, four shutouts and a GAA of just 0.73. Coach Chad Wiseman and the Broncos went 17-1-4 overall and 7-0-1 in MVC action in 2023, advancing to the NCAA Tournament's Round of 16.

THE SERIES
• BGSU leads Western Michigan, 28-23-6, in the all-time series, but the Broncos have captured the last three meetings, including a 1-0 victory in Kalamazoo last season (Sept. 16, 2023). The teams' last meeting at Cochrane Stadium resulted in a 1-0 WMU win as well (Sept. 27, 2022). The Falcons won the first 11 meetings, and BGSU began the series with a 24-3-2 mark. But, WMU is 20-4-4 vs. the Orange and Brown since 2002. BG is looking to beat WMU for the first time since a 2014 victory at Cochrane. All told, the Falcons are 16-5-5 at home, 11-16-1 on the road and 1-2-0 in neutral-site matches vs. the Broncos through the years.

UP NEXT
• Following the WMU match, the Falcons will end the regular-season schedule with a non-conference match at Oregon State on Wednesday (Oct. 6). That contest will begin at 10:00 p.m. ET at at Lorenz Field.

• The Falcons, as mentioned, have clinched a berth in the MVC Tournament. BGSU will play a first-round match on Sunday, Nov. 10, with opponent, start time and location to be determined.

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.