BGSU women's soccer team earns MAC three-peat

Apr. 18—BOWLING GREEN — The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team made history with a three-peat on Saturday night while navigating a season of unprecedented challenges.

The Falcons won a third consecutive Mid-American Conference tournament title with a 2-1 win over Ball State on their home turf at Cochrane Stadium.

With the soccer season shifted from its normal fall schedule to the spring due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Falcons did not miss a beat.

Bowling Green (6-1-0) became the first team in MAC history to win the regular-season and the conference tournament titles three years in a row.

"To get the three-peat is such a relief because we've been working for over a year for this," said sophomore midfielder Katie Cox, who scored the match-clinching goal with 29 minutes left in regulation. "It feels awesome because we've been waiting for this since August."

Bowling Green out-shot Ball State 7-3 and maintained control possession for much of the match. BG also had an 18-10 edge in overall shots on frame, while the Falcons also had a 8-2 advantage in corner kicks.

"This has been the toughest year of my life as a coach," first-year coach Jimmy Walker said. "But it's so worth it in the end for this moment. It's a special moment to be the first team to win three regular-season and three conference tournament wins in a row."

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Sixteen minutes into the second half, Bowling Green — which won the MAC East Division title — was tied at 1 with MAC West champ Ball State (6-3-1).

Cox's perfectly placed rocket then found the upper right corner of the net.

"I had an open shot and I just went for it. And I hit it good. I was really happy about that," Cox said. "I've been working so hard. It's kind of like a relief to get that goal."

Ball State keeper Maitane Bravo had no chance to make the save.

"You are not going to get a better goal than that to win a championship," Walker said. "That is deserving of winning a championship, that goal. It's a special moment for her. She's been fantastic all season and couldn't have stepped up in a bigger moment for us."

Bowling Green grabbed a 1-0 lead just 9:35 into the game. Sophomore forward Kennedy White got the Falcons on the board. Jasmijn Dijsselhof sent a great long lob pass from midfield, hitting White in stride, whose shot deflected in.

"After I came off, I was questioning whether it actually happened," White said. "I was like, 'Am I making this up?' But it was unreal. We kept the momentum up even though they scored. We finished strong. There were a lot of nerves. At this point, at least I can finally breathe again. So we're good."

BG sophomore goalkeeper Lili Berg (two saves), who allowed only two goals during the regular season, made the lead stand up with a solid stop with 12:51 left in regulation and made one final save with 47 seconds left to seal it.

All 48 women's teams that qualify for the NCAA national tournament will compete at one site in Cary, N.C. The selection show will be Monday at 1 p.m.

The first round will be played April 27-28.

Walker credited BG's former coaches for putting the program in position for the three-peat.

"It feels really good," he said. "They developed the winning culture here, and I've inherited a great program and a great group of women. I just didn't want to mess it up, really. It's taken a lot of work to get to this point."

On Kennedy's goal, Bravo partially blocked the shot but it trickled in for the early 1-0 cushion.

Ball State answered a little less than four minutes later when Tatiana Mason scored off a nice cross pass from Shelby Kean.

BG held a slim 4-3 edge in shots on frame in the first half. However, the Falcons put 14 shots toward net to five for the Cardinals. BG forward Madi Wolfbauer had five of those shots toward goal.

BG carried the play for much of the first half, maintaining possession. The Falcons earned five corner kicks to two for Ball State.

"It was a really good game. Ball State is a heck of a team," Walker said. "They gave us one of our toughest games, if not the toughest we've had all season. Credit to them.

"They made it very difficult on us. I thought we had the better of the play in the first half and then toward the end they came at us a bit more."

The Falcons had their last four regular-season games canceled due to coronavirus contact-tracing protocols.

They had not played since March 28.

"It's such an unreal feeling because we know that every single person worked so hard and everyone deserved this," Cox said. "It's unreal to be able to win this for the third year in a row. Everyone put 110 percent into this game, so we couldn't ask for anything more."

Berg had to be solid in net with three saves in a span of just over two minutes late in the first half.

"All the girls have worked all season and, in the end, deserved to win," Walker said.

First Published April 17, 2021, 10:26pm