Bowling Green Wins MVC Soccer Crown on Penalties After Equalizer With 64 Seconds Left

It took 110 minutes, an equalizer with 64 seconds left in regulation and 10 rounds of penalty kicks, but Bowling Green won the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship on Saturday night, advancing past Western Michigan 7-6 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Cochrane Stadium to claim the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, Bowling Green State University Athletics reported.

For the Falcons (10-6-3), it is the program’s first MVC Tournament championship in its fourth season in the conference — and its first conference tournament title of any kind since 1997, when Bowling Green won a third consecutive Mid-American Conference Tournament crown, according to BGSU Athletics.

Western Michigan (7-8-6) struck first and nearly made it stand. Joseph Min scored off a scramble in the penalty area with just under a half hour gone, and the 1-0 lead held for more than 60 minutes as the Broncos — playing in their third MVC Tournament final in four years — closed in on the title, BGSU Athletics reported.

The season turned on one sequence in the final minute of regulation. Freshman Joshua Pedersen played a cross into the penalty area from the right side, and sophomore Tyson McCoy was taken to the ground going for the ball near the six-yard line. A penalty kick was awarded, and senior Aiden Ptacek buried his shot — Western Michigan goalkeeper Alex Lindewirth guessed correctly but could not stop it — to tie the match 1-1 with 64 seconds remaining, according to the university’s game report.

Two scoreless overtimes sent the final to penalties, and the shootout became a duel between two goalkeepers. Senior Jason Ball, the MVC Goalkeeper of the Year, made six saves during the match and then stopped three Western Michigan attempts in the shootout on his way to the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award, BGSU Athletics reported. Lindewirth matched him save for save for long stretches, also finishing with six saves in the run of play.

The rounds swung back and forth: Bowling Green’s third kick sailed high, but Ball saved Sahel Yessen’s attempt to level it again; Saul Rios, who had not played a minute of the 110, stepped up in the sixth round and converted for the Falcons; Ball denied Vitor Geromel in the seventh and Neo Heyral in the ninth, only for Lindewirth to answer with saves of his own, according to the game report. In the tenth round, Western Michigan’s Braden Stevanovic hit the crossbar — and sophomore Sawyer Wilbanks converted the walk-off kick that set off the celebration at Cochrane Stadium.

The title caps a turnaround few programs match. Bowling Green, the MVC regular-season co-champion and the tournament’s top seed, is unbeaten in its last 10 matches at 9-0-1 — a streak that began right after a September 25 loss to this same Western Michigan team left the Falcons at 1-6-2 on the season, BGSU Athletics reported. The Falcons finished with a 22-19 edge in shots, both teams put seven shots on goal, and Bowling Green held a 7-1 advantage in corner kicks. Ptacek, Mads Christensen and Joshua Saavedra joined Ball on the All-Tournament Team, and Caue Ramos received the MVC’s Elite 18 Award, the university reported.

What we know — and what we’re still waiting on

What we know: Bowling Green is the MVC Tournament champion and holds the conference’s automatic bid to the 48-team NCAA Championships; Ball is the tournament MVP; and the Falcons have not lost since September 25. What we’re still waiting on: Bowling Green’s first-round opponent, site and kickoff — the one open question the trophy left behind. The Falcons’ season continues on the same campus where their basketball team improved to 3-0 earlier Saturday.

What happens next comes Monday: the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Selection Show streams on NCAA.com at 1 p.m. Monday, November 16, when Bowling Green learns its opponent and destination. Sixteen teams earn first-round byes; the other 32, a group the Falcons expect to join, open play Thursday, November 19 at campus sites, according to BGSU Athletics. Game details in this report are from Bowling Green State University Athletics.

Photo: Mbrickn, CC BY-SA