SETTING THE SCENE / FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team concludes the home portion of the 2025 schedule this weekend. Head coach Chris Fox and the Falcons face the University of Akron on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 26). First touch for the Mid-American Conference match is 1:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium, and admission is free.

• Sunday's match will be Senior Day, with ceremonies taking place prior to the match. The Falcons' two-person senior class consists of Emily Hollar and Ellie Pool.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will wrap up regular-season play against the MAC's newest member. BGSU will hit the road to face the University of Massachusetts on Wednesday afternoon (Oct. 29). That match is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. at Rudd Field.

WHERE TO WATCH
• Sunday's Akron game will be streamed on YouTube and produced by WBGU-TV, with Wednesday's UMass match scheduled to be streamed via ESPN+.

STATS & SOCIAL MEDIA
• Links to live stats (as well as to any available audio/video) for all 2025 matches can always be found on the web at BGSUFalcons.com – both on the women's soccer schedule page and in the right column on the main page – on match day.

THE STARTING XI
I – The Falcons, at 8-2-7 (.676) overall, are off to one of the best starts in school history. The 2018 team had a .706 winning percentage through 17 matches, after beginning the year with an 11-4-2 record. The 2017 club, like the current team, had a .676 winning pct. through 17 contests (11-5-1). The 2025 season is the 29th in the history of the program, which began in 1997.

II – Head coach Chris Fox and Company saw a school-record 13-match unbeaten streak come to an end Sunday (Oct. 19), with a 1-0 loss to Ball State. BGSU had been 7-0-6 since a 1-0 setback against Illinois back on Aug. 17. The Falcons fell to BSU despite outshooting the Cardinals by a 16-4 count.

III – The Falcons are 3-1-6 in Mid-American Conference play, with the wins coming against Kent State (2-1), Central Michigan (4-0) and Northern Illinois (1-0). BGSU has played to 1-1 draws against Ohio, defending MAC champion Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Miami, and the Falcons have seen a pair of matches, at Toledo and Buffalo, end in scoreless ties. Overall, BG is 5-2-3 in home games and 3-0-4 in road contests.

IV – BG's most recent match was the nil-nil draw at UB Thursday night (Oct. 23). Sophomore Payton O'Malley made five saves as the Falcon defense posted shutout number seven on the season. The Bulls were shut out at home for the first time in nearly two years, since BGSU's last visit to UB Stadium (Oct. 15, 2023).

V – BGSU lost four matches in MAC play last year, falling to Ohio, WMU, KSU and CMU. Those were the Falcons' first four opponents in league action this season. BG picked up eight points in the four matches vs. that group this year, after getting zero points against that quartet in 2024.

VI – Junior Emma Stransky leads the Falcons in scoring, with seven goals and 14 points on the year. She has scored the game-winning goal in each of BGSU's last four wins. Sixth-year collegian Ellie Pool, who had the primary assist on Stransky's goal at NIU, has eight points, while juniors Lizzie Bultynck and Gabby Lamparty each have seven. Another junior, Emme Butera, has six points including four assists. She is tied with Pool for the team lead in the latter category.

VII – O'Malley has started all 17 matches in goal, and has 59 saves, a goals-against average of 0.59 and a save percentage of .855. She currently ranks second in the MAC in both GAA and save pct.

VIII – A total of 26 different players have seen action this season to date, with 21 Falcons having made at least one start. Three players – Butera, Lamparty and O'Malley – each have started all 17 games.

IX – Stransky has increased her career totals to 14 goals and 33 points, and she has moved into the top 20 on both BGSU lists. The junior is 17th in career goals and is tied for 19th in career points. With nine career game-winning goals, Stransky is tied for second in school history.

X – The Falcons have surpassed last season's win total. BGSU finished the 2024 campaign with an overall record of 7-7-4 and a MAC ledger of 4-4-3, good for sixth in the league. Fox and his staff – first-year assistants Steven Samuel and Kyle Pettican – have a total of 20 returning student-athletes, including seven starters from a year ago. Six of the top-nine scorers from '24 returned.
(Note: XI is on the web) 

XI – Akron is 4-9-3 overall, and the Zips are 1-7-2 in MAC action. UA is looking to snap a three-match losing streak. Most recently, the Zips fell, 3-0, to league-leading Western Michigan on Thursday night (Oct. 23). Addison Hall and Jordanne Oberhaus each have nine points, with Hall having scored a team-high four goals. In goal, Sara Bower has started 10 matches, while Ariana Vakos has made six starts. Vakos has 33 saves and a 1.15 GAA, while Bower has 37 stops and a GAA of 2.10. Maggie Kuhn is interim head coach of the Zips, who went 5-9-4 overall and 0-9-2 in the MAC last season.

XII (off the bench) – The Falcons lead Akron, 17-6-1, in the all-time series, and BGSU has won the last six meetings and 10 of the last 11 matchups. Last season, Emma Stransky scored the game-winning goal and Payton O'Malley made two saves in a 2-0 BG win in Akron (Oct. 27, 2024). Stransky also scored in the teams' last meeting at Cochrane Stadium, a 1-0 Falcon victory two seasons ago (Sept. 28, 2023). BGSU is 8-2-1 in home games and 9-4-0 in road games vs. the Zips through the years.

XIII (off the bench) – The 2025 and 2026 MAC Women's Soccer Championships each will take place at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. This will mark the first time in conference history that the event will be held at a neutral site. The 2025 quarterfinals are set for next Saturday afternoon (Nov. 1), with the semifinal matches taking place on Nov. 4 and the championship match held on Nov. 7.

BGSU WSOC FEATURES & LINKS
Oct. 1 - BG Falcon Media - Global Game, Local Impact: How International Recruiting Shapes BGSU Women's Soccer
Sept. 30 - BG Falcon Media - Tailgates, Team Spirit & Big Saves: The O'Malley Effect at BG
Sept. 29 - Inside The Game - ITG Interview: Chris Fox
Sept. 28 - BG Falcon Media - Adapting Across Cultures: Evie Underhill's Journey to BGSU
Sept. 8 - BG Falcon Media - Zig Zone One on One: Taylor Green
Aug. 15 - BG Falcon Media - Searles' Spotlight: Fourth-Year Falcon Earns First Collegiate Start
Aug. 9 - BCSN - Pool Returns to the Pitch for Final Season as a Falcon

FOR MORE INFORMATION...
• For more information on the women's soccer program, follow the Falcons on Twitter/X (@BGSU_Athletics and @BGSU_WSoccer), Instagram (bgsu_wsoccer) and Facebook (bgsuwsoc), and on the web at BGSUFalcons.com.