BGSU at CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Friday, Oct. 18 | 7:00 p.m.
CMU Soccer Complex | Mt. Pleasant, Mich.
Video/Web Stream: CMU All-Access
Live Stats: CMUChippewas.com

• The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team ends the 2024 regular-season schedule by playing three of four games on the road, beginning with a trip to mid-Michigan this weekend. Head coach Chris Fox and the Falcons venture to Mount Pleasant for a Friday (Oct. 18) meeting with Central Michigan University. First touch is set for 7:00 p.m. at the CMU Soccer Complex.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Friday's CMU match will be streamed via CMU All-Access. Live stats and periodic Twitter updates (@BGSU_Wsoccer) will also be available during the match.

• Links to live audio/video/stats for all 2024 matches can be found on the web at BGSUFalcons.com (on the women's soccer schedule page and in the right column on the main page) on match day.

LAST TIME OUT
• The Falcons battled Buffalo to a 1-1 draw on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 13) at Cochrane Stadium. UB took the lead in the 74th minute, but the Orange and Brown equalized on an Emily Hollar goal less than three minutes later.

• Freshman Payton O'Malley made six saves, including several spectacular stops, in goal for the Falcons.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the CMU match with an overall record of 6-4-3, and BGSU is 3-2-2 in MAC play. BG currently sits in fourth place in the 12-team league. The Falcons have conference wins over Toledo and Northern Illinois at home and Ball State on the road.

• BGSU's league losses have come to the teams currently tied at the top of the table, Ohio and Western Michigan, and the Falcons have battled Miami and Buffalo to 1-1 draws.

• BGSU had opened the regular-season schedule with home wins over Detroit Mercy and Findlay, outscoring those foes by a combined 6-1. The Falcons went on the road and suffered losses to Duquesne and Loyola Chicago, but then picked up a road victory at Cleveland State, before closing the non-league slate with a scoreless draw vs. Oakland.

• The Falcons are 4-1-2 at home and 2-3-1 on the road this season to date. In MAC play, BGSU is 2-1-1 at Cochrane Stadium and 1-1-1 away from home.

• BGSU's balanced scoring has seen seven different players register at least one goal. Lexi Czerwien leads the way with four goals and nine points this fall. Czerwien is tied for the team lead with two game-winning goals.

• Sophomore Emma Stransky is second on the team with seven points, and like Czerwien, has two GWG on the year. Redshirt soph Emily Hollar has three goals to tie Stransky for second on the team in that category, and she is third on the club with six points.

• Three Falcons have five points apiece, as Alaina Uncapher has two goals and an assist, while Emme Butera and Brynn Gardner each have a goal and three assists. 

• Freshman Lauren Mahoney has two goals, while Michelle Hochstadt also has four points, on a team-leading four assists.

• In goal, Madison Vukas has started nine of the Falcons' 13 matches, and has 33 saves, a goals-against average of 0.89 and four clean sheets. She made a career-high nine saves in the Ohio game.

• Freshman Payton O'Malley made her collegiate debut in the Miami match, and now has started four matches. She has 20 saves and a 1.75 GAA to date. O'Malley had a seven-save performance against Northern Illinois and made six stops against Buffalo. 

• Butera is the lone Falcon who has played all 1,170 minutes this fall, while backs Isabelle Gilmore and Taylor Green have been on the field for 1,158 and 1,155 minutes, respectively. The only time Gilmore and Green have come off of the field was during the Findlay match on Aug. 22.

• In MAC games, Czerwien has BG-best totals of three goals and seven points, while Stransky and Hollar each have amassed four points on two goals to date.

• The Falcons returned 17 letterwinners, including seven starters, from last season's club. The 2023 team went 10-6-2, and BGSU finished in second place in the MAC with a league ledger of 8-1-2.
 
• Chris Fox is in his first season at the BGSU helm after two highly-successful seasons leading Morehead State, with one of his former MSU players, Kate Larbes, joining him on the Falcon coaching staff.

• The Falcons lost seven letterwinners from last year's squad, but the returning players combined to score 19 of the team's 26 goals last season.

• A total of 24 different players saw action in at least one match last season, with 18 players starting at least once. This season, a total of 22 Falcons have played, and 19 of those 22 have made at least one start in 2024.

• Six Falcons – Butera, Czerwien, Gardner, Gilmore, Green and Stransky – each have started all 13 matches, while Hochstadt has made 11 starts and Vukas and Christine Erdman nine apiece.

THE OPPONENT
• Central Michigan is 4-6-4 on the season, and the Chippewas will take a 2-2-3 MAC record into Friday's match. Central, picked to finish 12th in the MAC in the preseason poll, currently sits in sixth place in the league standings. The Chippewas are coming off narrow one-goal losses to Ball State at home (1-0; Oct. 10) and Kent State on the road (3-2; Oct. 13) last week. The BSU match snapped a six-game unbeaten streak for CMU. Claudia Meussig leads the Chippewas in scoring, with four goals and nine points, while Lauren Walker has eight points, including three goals. In goal, Allison LaPoint has started all 14 games and has 75 saves, three shutouts and a 1.29 GAA. Head coach Jeremy Groves and the Chippewas went 2-8-6 overall and 1-7-3 in the MAC in 2023. The '24 club has 15 seniors on the roster, the highest total in NCAA Division-I women's soccer.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons trail Central Michigan, 14-12-2, in the all-time series, but BGSU has won seven-straight meetings. Last season, the Falcons posted a 5-1 win at Cochrane Stadium (Oct. 19, 2023). The last visit to Mount Pleasant saw the Orange and Brown pick up a 2-0 victory (Sept. 29, 2022). Prior to BG's current seven-game winning streak, CMU had won 11 consecutive series meetings. BGSU is 5-7-1 at home, 6-7-0 on the road and 1-0-1 at neutral sites vs. the Chippewas.

UP NEXT
• Following the CMU match, the Falcons will close the home portion of the regular-season schedule next Thursday (Oct. 24), taking on Eastern Michigan. First touch is 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium, and admission is free.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will make back-to-back trips to Northeast Ohio, meeting Akron (Sunday, Oct. 27) and Kent State (Thursday, Oct. 31).

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