BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team went on the road and earned a result against the second-place team in the Mid-American Conference Thursday evening (Oct. 23). The Falcons battled the University at Buffalo to a scoreless draw at UB Stadium.

BGSU sophomore Payton O'Malley and UB's Lexie Thompson each made five saves on the night en route to a shutout. For the Falcons (8-2-7, 3-1-6 MAC), junior Emma Stransky hit the crossbar with a first-half shot, and freshman Quinn O'Neil was thwarted on a second-half shot that was arguably Thompson's best save of the night.

BG had advantages in total shots (10-7), shots on goal (6-5) and corner kicks (5-1), and the Falcons also had the lion's share of possession time in the 90 minutes against the Bulls (11-3-2, 7-2-1 MAC).

O'Malley's final save of the night may have been her most difficult, as she stopped a redirection by UB's leading scorer. With roughly 15 seconds left, O'Malley was in position to make a save on Jasmine Guerber, and did not give up a rebound.

The clean sheet was the Falcons' seventh of the season. For O'Malley, it was her sixth complete-match shutout of the season (she played 78-plus minutes in the other shutout) and the eighth of her career.

NOTE OF THE NIGHT
• Entering Thursday's match, the Bulls were undefeated at home in 2025, while the Falcons were unbeaten on the road. Both of those streaks continue, as UB is now 6-0-1 at UB Stadium, while BG is now 3-0-4 away from home this season.

ALSO NOTEWORTHY
• The Bulls were shut out at home for the first time in nearly two years, since ... the last time the Falcons traveled to UB Stadium. The teams played to a scoreless draw on Oct. 15, 2023.
• Each of the teams' last four meetings has ended in a drew.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• On a wet, blustery night at UB Stadium, Payton O'Malley was tested nearly nine minutes into the contest, going to the ground to grab a shot from distance by Carolyn Hinkle.
• In the 12th minute, Quinn O'Neil won a corner kick, and after that short corner, Emme Butera crossed the ball into the box from the left side. Gabby Lamparty fired a hard shot, but it was blocked by a UB defender.
• With just over 11 minutes remaining in the half, BGSU won the ball near midfield, and Audrey Oliver slid a pass to Emma Stransky. Stransky made a run past several would-be defenders and, from outside the 18-yard box, blasted a shot that eluded leaping UB goalkeeper Lexie Thompson, but rang off the crossbar.
• With five minutes to go before halftime, Stransky ran onto a long pass by Jayna Searles, and hit a shot from the right side of the box that was blocked over the line for a corner.
• In the dying seconds of the opening half, Butera played a long ball forward, and Stransky got her head on it, but the shot went just wide left.
• Just past the hour mark, Butera knocked a UB throw-in back toward the hosts' defensive third of the field. O'Neil took advantage of a missed header by a Buffalo backliner. The freshman hit a hard shot, but Thompson made a nifty kick save.
• With 15 seconds left in the match, a pass – seemingly out of nowhere – found UB's leading scorer, Jasmine Guerber, in front of the net. Guerber quickly fired a shot from approximately eight yards out, but O'Malley was there to make her fifth save of the night.

A FEW MORE FALCON NOTES
• With Thursday night's clean sheet, sophomore Payton O'Malley lowered her goals-against average to 0.59 and raised her save percentage to .855. She ranks second in the league in both categories.
• The Falcons' total of seven ties this season is a school record. Prior to this year, the old record was five draws in 2022.
• BGSU never had played more than three draws in MAC regular-season play prior to this year, but the 2025 team has doubled that total, with six ties in 10 conference matches to date.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons close the home portion of the schedule on Sunday (Oct. 26), taking on Akron in a 1:00 p.m. start at Cochrane Stadium. Admission is free, and it will be Senior Day for the BGSU women's soccer program, with Emily Hollar and Ellie Pool recognized in ceremonies prior to the match.
• Then, the Orange and Brown will end the regular-season slate with a trip to Amherst, Mass., taking on Massachusetts on Wednesday (Oct. 29). That match is also set for a 1:00 p.m. start.
• The top six teams in the final regular-season standings will head to Columbus for the MAC Tournament, which begins on Saturday, Nov. 1.

REMAINING REGULAR-SEASON SCHEDULE
(all times Eastern [ET]; home matches in CAPS)
Sun., Oct. 26 – AKRON – 1 pm
Wed., Oct. 29 – at Massachusetts – 1 pm

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

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