BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team held visiting Eastern Michigan University to just one shot on goal in 90 minutes of play Thursday evening (Oct. 24), as the teams battled to a scoreless draw. The Mid-American Conference match was held at Cochrane Stadium.

The Falcons (6-5-4, 3-3-3 MAC) dominated the possession time in the match, particularly in the first half, when the BGSU defense held the Eagles (5-6-5, 1-3-5 MAC) without a single shot attempt.

For the game, BG had advantages of 10-4 in total shot attempts and 3-1 in shots on goal.

Freshman Payton O'Malley earned the first shutout of her young collegiate career, making one save and helping keep her own penalty area clean by breaking up numerous EMU crosses.

Ella Holland had three saves for the visitors.

The Falcons' shot total included a blast from distance by sophomore Emma Stransky that hit the right goalpost, just under the crossbar, in the 72nd minute of the match.

With two matches left in the regular season, the Falcons are part of a four-way tie for fifth place in the league standings (scroll down for updated MAC standings). The top six teams will advance to the MAC Tournament.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• BGSU possessed the ball for roughly two-thirds of the first half, and had a 5-0 advantage in shot attempts in that time.
• The Falcons' first shot of the night came after sophomore Emma Stransky sent a ball ahead to junior Brynn Gardner. Gardner ran into the box and chipped a ball toward the center. The ball bounced twice before the onrushing Lexi Czerwien hit a volley that was blocked with nearly four minutes gone.
• In the 17th minute, a throw-in by freshman Haley Wolf found the head of Gardner. The junior, facing away from goal, nodded the ball into the path of Stransky. The sophomore hit a hard shot from the top left corner of the 18-yards box, forcing EMU goalkeeper Ella Holland into a diving save.
• With nine minutes to go before halftime, freshman Lilly Boebel took a pass from senior Isabelle Gilmore after Gilmore made a long run downfield. Boebel's left-side cross was just over the head of the leaping Gardner near the six-yard line, and an EMU defender blocked the ball away before it could reach sophomore Lizzie Bultynck.
• Less than two minutes remained in the period when senior Jaden Frigerio served the ball into the box from the right side. Gardner got her head on the ball in traffic near the left post, and it caromed up into the air. Both teams vied for the ball, before an Eastern defender finally cleared it out of the goalmouth.
• Arguably the best chance for the visitors came off of a corner kick in the 56th minute. Kate Robinson put that corner kick into the penalty area, and Meagan Lukowski redirected it on frame with a left-footed shot. But, goalkeeper Payton O'Malley was in perfect position to make the save.
• With 27 minutes to go, Czerwien stole the ball near midfield and quickly slid a pass to sophomore Michelle Hochstadt on her right. Hochstadt took one touch and fired a shot from distance that whizzed just past the left goalpost and over the end line for a goal kick.
• In the 72nd minute of the match, Stransky took a pass from Alaina Uncapher on the right side of the field. She faked a pass to an teammate who was making an overlapping run, then uncorked a shot that went over the outstretched arms of Holland. The shot hit the right post, bounced off of Holland's hands and went out of bounds for a BG corner kick.
• Off of that corner kick, the ball went toward the far side of the 18-yard box. Sophomore Taylor Green tracked it down and put the ball back into the center, where Czerwien got a head on the ball. But, Holland was able to grab it out of the air.
• Only 30 seconds left, the Eagles had a counterattack after Holland's punt. Maddie O'Farrell brought the ball toward the BG penalty area and fired a shot, but the ball sailed high.
 

Gallery: (10-24-2024) 102424 wsoc v EMU - Drake Harlett

MAC STANDINGS & SCHEDULE
Team (Overall)              MAC  Pts.  Remaining Schedule (Sun., 10/27 & Thu., 10/31)
 1. Western Mich. (9-1-6)  6-0-3  21   v Ball State, v Northern Ill.
 2. Buffalo (10-1-5)       5-1-3  18   at Miami, at Central Mich.
 3. Ohio (9-3-4)           4-2-3  15   v Central Mich., at Miami
 4. Kent State (7-5-3)     4-3-2  14   at Eastern Mich., v BGSU
 5. Bowling Green (6-5-4)  3-3-3  12   at Akron, at Kent State
    Northern Ill. (9-4-4)  3-3-3  12   v Toledo, at Western Mich.
    Miami (7-4-5)          3-3-3  12   v Buffalo, v Ohio
    Central Mich. (5-7-4)  3-3-3  12   at Ohio, v Buffalo
 9. Toledo (6-7-3)         3-4-2  11   at Northern Ill., v Ball State
10. Eastern Mich. (5-6-5)  1-3-5   8   v Kent State, at Akron
    Ball State (7-7-2)     2-5-2   8   at Western Mich., at Toledo
12. Akron (5-7-4)          0-7-2   2   v BGSU, v Eastern Mich. UP NEXT

• Then, the Orange and Brown will end the regular season with a game at Kent State next Thursday afternoon (Oct. 31). That match will begin at 3:00 p.m. at Zoeller Field at Dix Stadium.

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.