BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Ella Kane scored early in the second half, and the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team protected that lead for the remainder of the evening, as the Falcons recorded a 1-0 win over Oakland University on Thursday (Aug. 14) at Cochrane Field. The non-conference match was the regular-season opener for both teams.

Isabella Mazzaferro found Kane for the goal, beating her defender down the right side of the field and playing a cross through the box for Kane to knock home at the far post. The two junior transfers gave the Falcons (1-0-0) the lead in the 53rd minute.

BGSU kept the Golden Grizzlies (0-1-0) off of the scoreboard for the remainder of the night. Sophomore Payton O'Malley made three saves, all in the first half, to earn the clean sheet.
 

Bella to Ella for the winner!#AyZiggy 🟠⚽️🟤 pic.twitter.com/Y43DvVRa4j

— BGSU Women's Soccer (@BGSU_WSoccer) August 15, 2025

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Falcons seemed to control the play for much of the first half, but the teams were scoreless at the break. The first shot of the match came from redshirt freshman Minah Syam in the 12th minute. Kane played a ball into the center of the box from the left side. It went past several players, but Syam tracked it down and fired the ball back toward the far post. But, the low shot was knocked away from the post by an Oakland defender.
• With just over eight minutes to go before halftime, Michelle Hochstadt stole an OU pass in the Golden Grizzlies' defensive end of the field, and quickly played a pass to fellow junior Lizzie Bultynck. Bultnyck in turn found another junior, Lexi White, who was heading into the box with two defenders on her. White was able to take a touch with her right foot and quickly fire a shot with her left, but the ball went directly to goalkeeper Maryn Weiger.
• Moments later, Bultynck took a pass from freshman Quinn O'Neil and hit a shot from the right side of the box that was knocked out for a corner.
• All four of Oakland's first-half shots came in the final four-plus minutes of the period, and three of those four shots were on goal. Falcon 'keeper Payton O'Malley saved a header by Mia Tuka off of a free kick, then stopped a redirection off of the head of Kimee Liu just over one minute later.
• Early in the second half, Oakland had a counterattack that saw Anuhea Aluli play a ball forward to Isabella Bierod, who made a run behind the BG defense. As Bierod collected the ball and headed into the 18-yard box, however, Jayna Searles tracked her down and made a tackle that prevented a shot. Both players went to the ground, with Searles the first to get up, and the senior cleared the ball away.
• In that second half, Mazzaferro repeatedly beat her would-be defenders down the right side of the pitch and played dangerous-looking crosses into the box. One of those crosses led to the winning goal.
• Just over a minute after the defensive play by Searles, she knocked a ball forward into the OU defensive end. A defender headed the ball back toward midfield, but Mazzaferro picked it up in front of the BGSU bench. She made a long run, and hit a cross from the right side of the box. The ball found Kane at the far post, and Kane's shot from a difficult angle found the frame. Weiger was able to get a piece of the ball, but could not keep it from going into the net.
• The Falcons put the ball into the net once again, midway through the period, as Ellie Pool got her head on a Lilly Boebel diagonal ball, but the assistant referee's flag was raised, and the play was nullified due to an offside call.
• Oakland's only shot attempt of the second period came with 17 minutes left, but that Alli Leonard effort from the left side of the box was blocked out of play by Gabby Lamparty, and the Falcons successfully defended the ensuing corner kick as well.

FALCON FIRSTS
• The Falcons' lineup included six players who did not see action for BGSU last season. That group included transfers Isabella Mazzaferro, Ella Kane and Gabby Lamparty, as well as three players (Ellie Pool, Jayna Searles and Minah Syam) who missed the 2024 season due to injury.
• Five players – Kane, Lamparty, Mazzaferro, Searles and Syam – made their first starts at BGSU.
• For Syam, a redshirt freshman, the opening kickoff marked the first time she had seen action in a regular-season match. Other Falcons to make their respective collegiate debuts on Thursday night were freshmen Mia Gatz and Quinn O'Neil.
• Kane's goal, of course, was her first as a Falcon, while Mazzaferro's assist was her first in a BG uniform.

ADDITIONAL FALCON FACTS
• Kane now has two career goals, having found the back of the net once as a freshman at Kentucky in 2023.
• Mazzaferro's assist was the eighth of her career. She had nine goals and seven assists (25 total points) in two seasons at Niagara.
• Sophomore Payton O'Malley made three saves in recording the third shutout of her collegiate career.
• A total of 21 different players saw action in Thursday night's win.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons will be back in action on Sunday (Aug. 17), as the University of Illinois comes to Cochrane. First touch for that match is set for 1:00 p.m.
• Then, BGSU's three-match, season-opening homestand concludes next Thursday (Aug. 21), when the Orange and Brown will face Cleveland State University. That contest, the first half of a Falcon soccer doubleheader at Cochrane, will begin at 4:00 p.m.

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.