BGSU at OREGON STATE
Wednesday, Nov. 6 | 10:00 p.m. ET
Lorenz Field | Corvallis, Ore.
Video/Web Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: OSUBeavers.com

• The Bowling Green State University men's soccer team steps outside of Missouri Valley Conference play, facing a top-25 opponent on the road. Head coach Eric Nichols and the Falcons meet Oregon State University on Wednesday evening (Nov. 6), with first touch set for 7:00 p.m. local time (10:00 p.m. ET) at Lorenz Field.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Wednesday's OSU contest will be streamed via ESPN+. Live stats and Twitter/X updates (@BGSUMSoccer), as always, will also be available.

• Links to any available live audio/video/stats for all 2024 matches can be found on the web at BGSUFalcons.com on game day.

TOP-25 TOURNAMENT TUNEUP
• The Falcons have clinched a berth in the MVC Tournament, which begins with first-round matches on Sunday (Nov. 10). BG plays the lone non-league match on Wednesday night, as the other eight MVC schools play conference contests on Wednesday.

• BGSU's matchup with Oregon State should provide good preparation for the league tourney, to say the least. The Falcons and Beavers have combined to win 19 matches this season to date, and both teams are in the top 25 in the nation in scoring offense (OSU 18th, 2.07 goals per game; BGSU 25th, 2.00 gpg).

• Oregon State is currently 26th in the nation in RPI, and the Beavers are 23rd in the country in the latest Top Drawer Soccer poll, released Monday (Nov. 4).

A B!G-TIME WIN
• The Falcons are coming off arguably the team's biggest win of the season. BGSU toppled then number-14 Western Michigan on Friday night (Nov. 1) at Cochrane Stadium, ending the Broncos' epic 37-match unbeaten streak.

• Alberto Anaya, Trace Terry and Bennett Painter scored for the Falcons, while Brendan Graves made four saves en route to the shutout.

• The Broncos had been the only remaining undefeated team in NCAA Division I. Western lost for the first time since the 2023 season opener (Aug. 24, 2023, at then No. 12 Vermont).

• With the win – BGSU's first over WMU in exactly 10 years – the Falcons moved into third place in the MVC standings.

UNBEATEN AT HOME
• With the win over Western Michigan, the Falcons finished the home portion of the regular-season schedule unbeaten. BGSU is 7-0-1 in home matches, including a 6-0-1 mark at Cochrane Stadium and an additional win in a match that was moved indoors due to weather and field conditions.

• The Falcons last went unbeaten at home during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, actually played in the spring of 2021. BGSU was 3-0-1 inside Cochrane Stadium that season.

• BGSU posted unbeaten home records in 1965 (2-0-1), 1973 (5-0-0), 1974 (4-0-0), 1978 (7-0-0), 1992 (8-0-0), 1994 (9-0-0), 1996 (9-0-1) and 2016 (5-0-4), in addition to 2020(-21).

• There remains the possibility that the 2024 Falcons could play one more match at Cochrane Stadium this weekend. Read on...

THE FALCONS AND THE MVC TOURNAMENT
• BGSU, as mentioned earlier, has clinched a spot in the MVC Tournament, and the Falcons will play a first-round match at a site to be determined on Sunday (Nov. 10). The top-two teams in the final standings will earn first-round byes, with seeds three through six all playing in the first round.

• The Falcons have a chance to finish as high as the third seed or as low as the fifth.

MVC STANDINGS AND SCHEDULE
Team (Overall)             MVC   Pts. Seed Range  Wednesday        
1. Missouri St. (11-2-2)  6-0-1   19     1-2      at Drake         
2. Drake (9-3-3)          5-0-2   17     1-2      v Missouri St.   
3. Bowling Green (10-4-2) 4-3-1   13     3-5      (at Oregon St.)  
4. Evansville (8-6-2)     4-3-0   12     3-5      v Belmont        
5. Western Mich. (10-1-6) 2-1-4   10     3-6      v UIC            
6. UIC (7-8-0)            3-4-0    9     4-6      at Western Mich. 
7. Bradley (4-8-3)        1-5-1    4     out      v Northern Ill.  
   Belmont (5-8-3)        1-5-1    4     out      at Evansville    
9. Northern Ill. (3-12-0) 1-6-0    3     out      at Bradley       
Teams earn 3 pts for a win, 1 for a tie                            

• Missouri State and Drake have clinched the top-two seeds for the tournament. The two teams play one another on Wednesday night, with the winner capturing the regular-season title.

• BGSU's seeding hinges on the outcomes of two other matches: Belmont at Evansville and UIC at Western Michigan. All of the scenarios can be found elsewhere in these notes, but to summarize... the Falcons will clinch a top-four seed and a first-round home game UNLESS BOTH OF THE FOLLOWING OUTCOMES OCCUR:
    • Evansville and Belmont play to a draw, AND
    • WMU defeats UIC by four goals or more.

• The complete list of possibilities can be found on page 6 of the PDF version of these very notes.

DOUBLE THE DOUBLE-DIGIT SCORERS
• Junior Trace Terry scored his 11th goal of the season in the second half of the Falcons' win over Western Michigan on Friday (Nov. 1). Eight minutes later, sophomore Bennett Painter scored his 11th goal of the year.

• As of Tuesday morning (Nov. 5), BGSU is one of only two teams in the nation – joining Duke – with a pair of double-digit goal scorers this season.

TOUGH CROWD!
• The Falcons definitely have played a difficult schedule down the stretch. BGSU's last four matches of the regular season include three opponents listed among the top 26 teams in the latest RPI rankings.

• BGSU faced Missouri State, ranked 11th in the RPI and 15th in the United Soccer Coaches Top-25 poll at the time of that match. The Bears are currently 12th in the RPI. The Falcons then met Evansville (currently 81st in the RPI) and Western Michigan (currently 21st in the RPI, 14th in the USC poll at the time of the match).

• And, the Falcons now meet Oregon State, currently 26th in the RPI and 23rd in the latest Top Drawer Soccer poll.

• BGSU has already played seven teams ranked in the top-100 of the RPI this season. That list includes Missouri State, WMU, Michigan (30th), Drake (33rd), Michigan State (82nd), Evansville and UIC (91st), with Oregon State still to come.

DYNAMIC DUO
• Junior Trace Terry and sophomore Bennett Painter each have had a knack for finding the goal this season. A few facts about the Falcons' dynamic duo...

• Entering Wednesday's OSU game, both players have 11 goals on the season. The 2024 campaign marks the first time BGSU has had two players with 10 goals or more since 1996, when Steve Klein scored 18 times and Dave Kindl 11.

• Painter and Terry have 25 and 23 points, respectively, this fall. BGSU has not had two 20-point scorers in a season since the aforementioned '96 campaign. That year, the Falcons actually had three players with over 20 points, as Klein had a whopping 50 points, with Dave Kindl and Jason Began adding 29 and 26, respectively.

• Each player has four game-winning goals in 2024, tying them for eighth in the nation in that category. This season marks the first time two Falcons have each had four GWG in the same year since 1991 (Rob Martella five, Tom Kinney four).

• In addition to GWG, both Painter and Terry are ranked in the top-40 in the nation in six other categories. Each are listed among the country's leaders in total goals, goals per game, total points, points per game, shots per game and shots on goal per game.

ALOTTA ASSISTS FOR ALBERTO
• Senior Alberto Anaya had four assists in the Falcons' win over Eastern Illinois (Sept. 24) , tying the school record. Anaya matched the mark set by Brian Ferguson in a 6-1 win over Eastern Michigan on Sept. 20, 1989.

• Anaya also had the assist on Bennett Painter's goal at Missouri State. On the season, he now has 15 points on three goals and a BG-best nine assists. As of Monday morning (Nov. 4), Anaya was 10th in the country in total assists and 15th in the nation in assists per game.

• Anaya now has career totals of 23 assists and 53 points. He has moved into a tie for ninth place on the BGSU career assists list, and is tied for 19th in career points.

RHYMES WITH SAVES
• Fifth-year Falcon Brendan Graves had four saves, including a pair of impressive second-half stops, in BGSU's win over Western Michigan on Friday (Nov. 1). He now has kept 16 clean sheets in his BGSU career.

• Graves has a total of five shutouts this season, including a spectacular performance in a 1-0 win at Michigan State (Aug. 26). Graves made six saves vs. the Spartans, with arguably no routine stops among them.

• Graves, who has been in goal for every second of every match for more than three years now, has a goals-against average of 1.06 this season, and that average drops to 0.88 in MVC matches.

• Entering the OSU game, Graves has a career goals-against average of 1.21, along with 202 saves and the 16 complete-match shutouts. He has moved into a tie for seventh place in BGSU history in career shutouts, and he is in sole possession of seventh place on the school list for career wins, with 26.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• Bowling Green is 10-4-2 on the season, and the Falcons went 4-3-1 in MVC play. BG currently sits in third place in the nine-team league, and the Falcons will be anywhere from the third through the fifth seed for the upcoming MVC Tournament.

• The Falcons are coming off of a 3-0 win over then-No. 14 Western Michigan on Friday night (Nov. 1) at Cochrane Stadium. BGSU snapped the Broncos' 37-match unbeaten streak which dated to August of 2023.

• BGSU's other three conference wins came by a single goal, with 2-1 victories over Northern Illinois at home and Bradley on the road, and a 1-0 home win against Belmont. The Falcons lost in league play for the first time on Oct. 5, falling at UIC by a 2-1 final.

• The Falcons' other league losses came against No. 15 Missouri State (2-1; Oct. 20) and Evansville (1-0; Oct. 25), and BG battled Drake to a scoreless draw (Oct. 12).

• In non-league play, the Falcons have topped Wright State, Butler, Eastern Illinois and Detroit Mercy at home – although the EIU match was moved indoors due to inclement weather and field conditions – and BG has beaten Michigan State and IU Indy on the road. The Falcons played host Northern Kentucky to a 1-1 draw, and BG's lone non-league loss this season to date came at Michigan (2-0; Sept. 2).

• The Falcons are ranked 10th in the United Soccer Coaches West Region poll, as of last Tuesday (Oct. 29). BGSU is 7-0-1 at home (including a 6-0-1 mark at Cochrane Stadium) and 3-4-1 on the road.

• The Falcons welcomed back 17 of the 20 players who saw action last year. That group includes nine starters from a 2023 club that went 7-8-3 overall and 4-4-0 in BGSU's first year in the MVC.

• Sophomore Bennett Painter and junior Trace Terry are leading the way in scoring, with 25 and 23 points, respectively. Both players, as mentioned earlier, have 11 goals to rank among the national leaders. Both Painter and Terry have four game-winning goals this season to date.

• Senior Alberto Anaya and junior Andrew Shaffer have 15 and 10 points, respectively. Anaya has nine assists to lead the team and rank 10th in the nation, while Shaffer is also among the nation's top-30 players in that category, with eight assists. Fifth-year Falcon Kyle Cusimano has six points on the year.

• Another fifth-year Falcon, Brendan Graves, has played all 16 matches in goal and has 57 saves, a 1.06 GAA and five shutouts. Three of the goals BGSU has allowed this season have come via penalty kicks.

• Graves has played all 1440 minutes this season, while Cusimano has been on the field for 1439 of those 1440 minutes. Josh Erlandson has played 1410 minutes, with Shaffer, Anaya and Painter at 1342, 1314 and 1299, respectively.

• Anaya and Terry, BGSU's top-two scorers from a year ago, each were named to the Preseason All-MVC Team in 2024. Both players had 14 points on four goals and six assists last season. Anaya was named to the 2023 All-MVC First Team, with Terry earning all-league second-team honors.

• In all, BGSU returned six of last year's top-seven scorers.

• Graves is back in goal in '24 after starting every match a year ago. In fact, Graves has played every second of the Falcons' last 56 matches – a total of 5,060 minutes. No other BGSU 'keeper has been between the posts since Oct. 22, 2021.

THE OPPONENT
• Oregon State is 9-3-3 on the season, and the Beavers are 5-1-1 in West Coast Conference play. OSU is coming off of a 1-1 draw vs. San Francisco on Sunday (Nov. 3), three days after a 5-1 win over Loyola Marymount. The Beavers, 5-1-2 at home and 4-2-1 on the road this season to date, are ranked 18th in the nation in scoring, with 2.07 goals per game. Sergi Solans leads the way with 12 goals and 25 points, while Arnau Farnos and Fabian Straudi have 18 and 15 points, respectively. Solans is seventh in the nation in goals and 15th in points, while Straudi is tied for second in the country in assists. On Tuesday morning (Nov. 5), Solans was named the national player of the week by Top Drawer Soccer. In goal, Ghandi Cruz has started nine matches and John Nicolson six. Cruz, a transfer from DePaul who has played against the Falcons before, has 22 saves, two shutouts and a 1.00 GAA. Nicolson has one clean sheet, 11 saves and a 1.17 GAA. Head coach Greg Dalby guided last year's team to records of 11-6-5 overall and 4-1-5 in the Pac-12. The 2023 squad advanced all the way to the semifinal round of the College Cup.

THE SERIES
• BGSU and Oregon State are meeting for the first time in men's soccer. The Falcons have a 2-0-1 record against teams currently in the WCC, including a 1-0-0 mark vs. Gonzaga and a 1-0-1 mark vs. Saint Mary's.

UP NEXT
• Following the Oregon State match, the Falcons will prepare for MVC Tournament action. BGSU will play a first-round match on Sunday (Nov. 10) with opponent, start time and location to be determined.

• The MVC Tournament semifinals are scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 13, with the final set for three days later (Saturday, Nov. 16).

FOR MORE INFORMATION...
• For more information on the BGSU men's soccer program, follow the Falcons on Twitter/X (@BGSU_Athletics and @BGSUMSoccer), Instagram (bgfalcons and bgsumsoccer) and Facebook (BGMensSoccer), and on the web at BGSUFalcons.com.