Nov. 4, 2005
Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - In their first appearance in the Mid-American Conference Tournament Semifinals since 2002, the fourth-seeded Miami University women's soccer team (9-9-0, 6-5-0 MAC) dropped a 2-0 decision to the top-seeded Bowling Green Falcons at Cochrane Field.
Bowling Green scored the game winner in the 23rd minute and added an insurance tally in the 70th minute as the RedHawks ended the season one win short of qualifying for the MAC Championship. Miami's offense failed to get on track after intermission as the RedHawks posted only one shot on goal in the final 45 minutes. Miami ends the season with a .500 record or better for the fifth time in the past eight seasons and the first time since 2002.
In an action-packed first half, Bowling Green was on the offensive early as the Falcons tallied three shots in the first four minutes of the game. The Falcons nearly scored on the first shot of the game in the 2nd minute off a corner kick, but a Falcon header glanced off the crossbar. Less than 90 seconds later after another Bowling Green corner kick, senior keeper Leigh Terry (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven) made a save on a shot from point blank range to keep the match scoreless.
On the RedHawks' first offensive opportunity in the 10th minute, junior Katie Boyd (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) boomed a shot from 15 yards out that was curling towards the far post, but Falcon keeper Ali Shingler dove to her left to make an athletic save. Less than five minutes later in the 15th minute, Boyd launched another shot on goal which sailed high just over the crossbar.
Junior Kathleen Vistica (Monrovia, Md./Urbana) also had an opportunity to score the game's first goal in the 20th minute when a pass from Boyd deflected to her in front of the net, but Shingler made a sliding stop and deflected the ball out of bounds over the endline.
The Falcons took a 1-0 lead at the 22:43 mark when Danielle Cygan's shot from 15 yards out glanced off the near post and over the arms of a diving Terry. Despite allowing the goal, Terry ended the half with three saves on six Bowling Green shots.
After intermission, the Falcons tested the Miami defense with a pair of shots in the first three minutes of the second half. With sophomore Shannon Chew (Mason, Ohio/Mason) in goal, a Bowling Green shot in the 46th minute went wide outside the near post, while Chew sprawled out to save a Britt Anderson shot in the 48th minute that was headed for the far post.
After posting five shots in the second half, Bowling Green broke through on its sixth chance when Corbie Yee gave the Falcons a two-goal lead at the 69:46 mark.
Miami struggled to find offensive chances in the second half as Bowling Green's defense held the RedHawks at bay. Miami did not manage a shot until the 78th minute in the second half when sophomore Jennifer Rush (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) fired a shot off a failed clear that went wide of the near post. The shot would be the only one the RedHawks would manage in the second half.
Bowling Green will face Kent State University in the MAC Tournament Championship with an NCAA Tournament berth on the line. In Friday's first semifinal game, the Golden Flashes dropped the Central Michigan Chippewas, 1-0, in overtime.
