RV BGSU at UIC
Saturday, Oct. 5 | 8:00 p.m. ET
Flames Field | Chicago, Ill.
Video/Web Stream: None
Live Stats: UICFlames.com RV BGSU vs. DETROIT MERCY
Tuesday, Oct. 8 | 7:00 p.m.
Cochrane Stadium | Bowling Green, Ohio
Video/Web Stream: BCSN/ESPN+
Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com

• The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team heads to the Windy City as the midway point of the conference schedule approaches. Head coach Eric Nichols and the Falcons face UIC on Saturday evening (Oct. 5), with first touch set for 8:00 p.m. ET at Flames Field.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will return home for a Tuesday (Oct. 8) non-conference matchup with the University of Detroit Mercy. That contest begins at 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium, and admission is free.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• There will not be a live stream for Saturday's UIC match. Tuesday's UDM contest will air on BCSN in the Toledo area, and will be streamed via the BCSN app as well as on ESPN+. 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.

GREAT START!
• With an overall record of 8-1-1, the Falcons have topped the win total for all of last season (7-8-3). BGSU's record through 10 games is the Falcons' best since the 1995 team got off to a 9-1-0 start en route to a 16-3-2 record and a trip to the NCAA Championships.

• BGSU is 3-0-0 in Missouri Valley Conference play, the program's first such start in league action since the 1996 team finished the regular season with a 5-0-0 Mid-American Conference mark. Several other teams have been unbeaten after three conference matches since '96, including the 2016 (2-0-1), 2018 (1-0-2) and 2021 (2-0-1) clubs.

• As of Friday morning (Oct. 4), the Falcons were tied for fourth in the nation in winning percentage (.850).

BRACE TERRY: TRACE SCORES TWO GOALS IN BACK-TO-BACK GAMES
• Junior Trace Terry scored both BGSU goals as the Falcons downed Bradley, 2-1 (Sept. 21), then had two more goals vs. Eastern Illinois three days later (Sept. 24). 

• The EIU game was the fourth two-goal match of his BGSU career, the highest total among current Falcons. And, it marked the second time in his career that he has had back-to-back braces. Last season, Terry had two goals against both Bradley (Sept. 23, 2023) and Evansville (Sept. 30, 2023).

• Terry scored the lone goal of the Belmont match last Friday night (Sept. 27), giving him six goals in his last four games and nine goals this season to date.

TRACE SETS THE SCORING PACE
• Junior Trace Terry, as mentioned, now has nine goals on the season, the highest total by a Falcon since Pat Flynn scored nine goals in the 2015 campaign. The last player with a double-digit single-season goal total was Flynn, who found the back of the net 14 times in 2014.

• Terry has scored at least one goal in four consecutive games. He is the second Falcon in as many seasons to do so, joining Alberto Anaya, who had a four-game goal-scoring streak late in 2023. Prior to Anaya's feat, no Falcon had had a longer streak since Omari Aldridge scored in five-straight contests in 2005.

• Terry had the game-winning goal in both the EIU and Belmont matches. As of Friday morning (Oct. 4), he was tied for first in the nation in GWG, with four.

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

• On the season, Anaya has 11 points on two goals and a BG-best seven assists. He has moved into a tie for 13th on the BGSU career assists list, with 21, and is 23rd on the school list for career points (49).

WITH WINS COME AWARDS
• Trace Terry and Brendan Graves each earned Missouri Valley Conference Player-of-the-Week honors on Tuesday (Oct. 1). Terry was named the MVC's Offensive Player of the Week, with Graves earning Defensive Player-of-the-Week accolades. Each player earned their respective honor for the second time this season, with Terry being honored for the second-straight week.

• Earlier that same day (Oct. 1), Alberto Anaya earned honorable mention on the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week.

RHYMES WITH SAVES
• Fifth-year Falcon Brendan Graves had a pair of shutouts last week, making a total of seven saves in BG's wins over Eastern Illinois and Belmont. The clean sheets were the 13th and 14th, respectively, of his BGSU career.

• Graves now has three 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 two years now, has a goals-against average of 1.00 this season, and that average drops to 0.67 in MVC matches.

• Entering the UIC match, Graves has a career goals-against average of 1.22, along with 175 saves and the 14 complete-match shutouts. He has moved into 10th place in BGSU history in career shutouts, and he is now tied for seventh on the school list for career wins, with 24.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• Bowling Green is 8-1-1 on the season, heading into the UIC match, and the Falcons are off to a 3-0-0 start in MVC play. 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.

• In non-league play, the Falcons have topped Wright State, Butler and Eastern Illinois at home – although the Eastern Illinois 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 loss this season to date came at Michigan (2-0; Sept. 2).

• The Falcons are currently receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches national poll, and BGSU is ranked sixth in that organization's West Region poll.

• The Falcons are 5-0-0 at home (including a 4-0-0 mark at Cochrane Stadium) and 3-1-1 on the road.

• 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 BGSU's first year in the MVC.

• Junior Trace Terry leads the team in scoring, with nine goals and 19 points. He has scored six goals over the last four games. Terry currently is tied for fourth in the nation in goals, sixth in goals per game (0.90) and seventh in points. As mentioned earlier, he is tied for first in the country in game-winning goals.

• Sophomore Bennett Painter has 13 points, inlcuding six goals, this season to date. Painter has three GWG, tying him for third in the country.

• Senior Alberto Anaya and junior Andrew Shaffer have 11 and eight points, respectively. Anaya has seven assists to lead the team and rank seventh in the nation, while Shaffer is also among the nation's top-20 players in that category (six assists, 17th). Fifth-year Falcon Kyle Cusimano has six points on the year.

• Another fifth-year Falcon, Brendan Graves, has played all 10 matches in goal and has 30 saves, a 1.00 GAA and three shutouts. Three of the 10 goals BGSU has allowed have come via penalty kicks.

• Graves has played all 900 minutes this season, while Cusimano has played 899. Josh Erlandson has played 885 minutes, with Painter and Shaffer at 866 and 851, 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 50 matches – a total of 4,520 minutes. No other BGSU 'keeper has been between the posts since Oct. 22, 2021.

HOME COOKIN'
• Head coach Eric Nichols and the Falcons have made Cochrane Stadium a difficult place to play for the opponents. In the last decade-plus – since the start of the 2014 season – BGSU has a record of 50-15-15 (.719) in games at the site.

• Since Nichols took the helm prior to the 2009 season, the Falcons have a record of 67-31-22 at home. That mark now includes one win at a dome in Rossford.

ROAD WARRIORS
• Before the month of August had ended, the Falcons had doubled the road win total for all of last season. BGSU went 1-6-2 away from home in 2023, but the '24 Falcons began the road portion of the schedule with a 1-0 win over Michigan State (Aug. 26), then went to IU Indy and came away with a 4-1 victory (Aug. 30-31).

• The Falcons enter the UIC match with a 3-1-1 road record this season.

THE OPPONENTS
• UIC is 5-4-0 on the season, and the Flames are 1-1-0 in MVC play. UIC has won four of the last five matches, including a 4-2 win at Northern Illinois last weekend. Rui Reis has team-best totals of four goals, four assists and 12 points, while Oren Asher and Kevin Dabrowski have split time in goal. Dabrowski has a 1.25 GAA and two shutouts in four starts. Last season, coach Sean Phillips's club went 11-5-3 overall and 4-2-2 in the MVC. The Flames were picked to finish third in the league in 2024.

• Detroit Mercy is 1-6-2 overall and 0-1-2 in the Horizon League. The Titans play a Friday match at IU Indianapolis prior to coming to BG on Tuesday. Both BGSU and UDM have scored five goals in a win over Eastern Illinois, and both have lost, 2-0, at Michigan and tied, 1-1, vs. NKU. Guershom Sylvain leads the offense with four goals and nine points, while three goalkeepers have seen time this season. Viktor Sulc as made five starts and has a 2.89 GAA for head coach Nate Kopunek, a former BGSU assistant coach.

THE SERIES
• BGSU leads UIC, 2-0-0, in the all-time series, and Saturday will mark the teams' first-ever meeting in Chicago. The Falcons captured a 3-1 win over the Flames at Cochrane last season (Oct. 18, 2023). Prior to that game, the teams had not played one another since 1991.

• BGSU leads Detroit Mercy, 19-8-3, in that series. The teams played to a scoreless draw in the Motor City last season (Oct. 3, 2023). Prior to that, BGSU had won three-straight meetings, including a 2-0 decision in the last matchup at Cochrane (Sept. 21, 2021). The Falcons are 9-4-1 at home and 10-4-2 on the road vs. the Titans through the years..

UP NEXT
• Following the UDM match, the Falcons will host Drake on Saturday, Oct. 12. Please note that the start time has been changed to 7:30 p.m. for that match 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.