BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team scored five times in the game's first 35 minutes Tuesday night (Oct. 8), rolling along to a 5-2 win over the University of Detroit Mercy at Cochrane Stadium.

Sophomore Bennett Painter was involved in the scoring of all five goals for the Falcons (9-2-1), with three goals and two assists.

Painter's hat trick was the first by a Falcon in over nine years.

In addition to the three goals, Painter had the primary assist on each of BGSU's other two markers. Freshman Ryko Bodurov and redshirt freshman Aiden Ptacek each scored the first goal of their respective collegiate careers on Tuesday night.

Vincent Stockton and Fisher Hudak each scored for the Titans (1-8-2) in the second half.

Brendan Graves had four saves in goal for the Falcons. Viktor Sulc played the first half for the Titans and made one save, while Quinn Tews played the second half and stopped both shots on goal he faced.
 

Three goals and two assists -- IN THE FIRST HALF -- for Bennett Painter tonight!#AyZiggy | 🟠⚽️🟤 pic.twitter.com/THwHjkYbw3

— BGSU Men's Soccer (@BGSUMSoccer) October 9, 2024

NOTES & NUMBERS
• Bennett Painter's hat trick was the first by a Falcon in over nine years, since Pat Flynn had three goals vs. Western Illinois on Aug. 30, 2015.
• Painter's total of eight points was the highest by a BGSU player in more than a decade, since Flynn had an 11-point night vs. Findlay (Sept. 2, 2014).
• Prior to Painter's prolific performance, no Falcon had scored three goals and/or eight points in a single half since that Findlay game, when Flynn had all 11 of his points – including five goals and an assist – prior to the intermission.
• Painter now has nine goals on the season, just one behind Trace Terry. This marks the first time BGSU has had two players with nine goals or more since 1996, when Steve Klein scored 18 times and Dave Kindl 11.
• Painter and Terry are tied for the team lead with 21 points. BGSU has not had two 20-point scorers in a season since 1996. 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.
• Both Painter and Terry now have four game-winning goals this season. This marks the first time two Falcons have each had four GWG in the same season since 1991 (Rob Martella five, Tom Kinney four).
• With an assist on BG's first goal Tuesday night, Alberto Anaya now has career totals of 22 assists and 50 points. Anaya has moved into a tie for 11th place on the BGSU career assists list, and he is deadlocked for 21st place in career points.
• BGSU has topped the goal total for all of last season. The 2024 Falcons have scored 28 goals in 12 matches, an average of 2.33 goals per game. Last season, BG had 27 goals in 18 games (1.50 goals per game).

HIGHLIGHTS
• The Falcons took the lead with just over eight minutes gone. Sophomore Mads Christensen slid a pass to senior Alberto Anaya on the left side of the field. Anaya took a touch, then put a cross into the box. Painter, just outside of the six-yard line near the left post, met the cross and put his flick-on into the far side of the net.
• BGSU added to the lead just over six minutes later. The scoring play began when goalkeeper Brendan Graves played a long ball forward from just outside his own 18-yard line. A UDM defender headed the ball, but the clearing attempt was blocked by Painter into the path of freshman Ryko Bodurov. Bodurov, behind the Titans' defense, took the ball into the left side of the box and fired a low shot that found the far corner of the goal.
• In the 25th minute, Painter and the Falcons struck again. A Titan defender played a pass back to UDM goalkeeper Victor Sulc. Painter converged on Sulc near the top of the penalty area, and as the 'keeper attempted to chip the ball to a teammate on his left, Painter leaped into the air and blocked the pass. The ball caromed up into the air, and the BGSU sophomore got to it first, then quickly poked the ball into the net from close range at the 24:12 mark.
• And, Painter completed the first-half hat trick in the 33rd minute. As a Titan player looked to get a shot off near the top of the 18-yard box at the north end of the field, a BG defender poked the ball away. Senior Jake Bergin then played a pass ahead to sophomore Jake Lane, and the Falcons were off.
• Lane took several touches and, from near midfield, fired the ball ahead in the direction of Painter. The ball glanced off of the top of the head of a leaping Titan, and Painter raced past the defender, cut to his left as he headed into the box at the south end of the field, and flicked the ball past the onrushing Sulc with the outside of his foot. Sulc got a piece of the shot, slowing it down but not preventing it from crossing the goal line.
• Aiden Ptacek checked into the game after Painter's goal, and scored a goal of his own just 73 seconds later. After a throw-in from in front of the UDM bench, a crossing attempt by junior Andrew Shaffer was blocked, but came right back to Bergin. Bergin and Shaffer then worked a give-and-go play, with Shaffer laying the ball off to Painter on the left side of the pitch. Painter put a ball into the box where Ptacek was waiting. The redshirt freshman nodded the ball toward the far side of the goal, where it eluded the diving effort of Sulc, caromed off the right goalpost and into the net.
• The Titans broke up BG's shutout bid in the 75th minute. Fisher Hudak ran onto the ball in the Falcons' defensive third, poked it ahead and then hit a shot as he slid to the ground near the top of the box. His shot rang off the crossbar and back into the penalty area, where Vincent Stockton headed it into the net.
• UDM ot a second goal just under two minutes later. Tim Allos took the ball past a sliding BG defender on the right side, then brought it along the end line before sliding a pass to Hudak. Hudak's one-time effort was deflected by a Falcon defender and went into the far corner of the net to cap the scoring.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons return to Missouri Valley Conference play for the next four matches, beginning with a Saturday (Oct 12) game vs. Drake. Please note that the starting time for that match has been moved to 7:30 p.m.

• Saturday will be Senior Night for the Falcons, with eight players recognized in ceremonies prior to the contest.

• The Drake match is also scheduled to be televised by BCSN in the Toledo area, and is slated to be streamed via both the BCSN Now App and ESPN+.

• Admission is free to all home regular-season matches.

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.