BGSU men's soccer gaining national attention with strong start to season

BOWLING GREEN — Bowling Green State University’s men’s soccer team has done a remarkable amount of winning to start the 2024 campaign.

The Falcons are enjoying every second of it, and certainly don’t want it to slow down anytime soon.

BGSU’s 7-1-1 record so far this year is tied with the 2021 squad for the best nine-game start to a season since 1995. An experienced group has helped the Falcons gain national attention as well with rankings and votes in the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I top-25 poll.

“It’s been very exciting. This is a very important year for this program, I think, and everyone on our team is motivated,” BGSU junior forward and leading scorer Trace Terry said. “We want to win and keep on winning and win trophies, and right now, I think we’re moving in the right direction.

“I just think this year, we know winning is important. I think we’re addicted to winning right now. We need to keep that up, and from this team to last year, we’ve grown so much and we want to keep on growing.”

With a veteran squad that only lost a handful of players and brought back 17 letterwinners from last season, BGSU has already matched its win total from 2023 when the Falcons finished 7-8-3. BGSU also surpassed its 2022 total when it went 6-5-5.

The Falcons received their first national ranking since being tied for 25th in the 2022 preseason poll when they were tabbed No. 24 last week. Although BGSU wasn’t ranked this week, it still received a handful of votes.

BGSU is also 42nd out of more than 200 teams in the NCAA men’s soccer RPI.

“We’ve been ranked before, but some of the younger guys haven’t. So I’m happy for them that they get to experience it,” BGSU fifth-year senior goalkeeper and Perrysburg High School graduate Brendan Graves said. “You can’t deny that it’s cool; it’s pretty cool stuff.

“But at the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter. We’re just out here trying to win games and get results. But [it’s] still cool nonetheless.”

Being able to adjust to challenges thrown its way, like Tuesday night when BGSU took on Eastern Illinois, is a big reason why the Falcons are off to their excellent start.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms pushed back the Falcons’ nonconference tilt with the Panthers one hour to 8 p.m., and the match was moved up I-75 and indoors from Cochrane Stadium to the TOCA Soccer and Sports Center in Rossford.

The change of scenery and later start didn’t impact the Falcons, who dominated in a 5-0 victory.

“One of the things that we really pride ourselves on in this program is being able to deal with adversity. We know it’s coming; we just don’t know when and where,” said BGSU coach Eric Nichols, who is 126-114-43 in 16 seasons leading the Falcons. “Honestly, we kind of look for it now. We say ‘All right, what’s the challenge?’ We love it.

“... I think it’s a great lesson in life. We want it to be a certain way and we have our routines and what not, but at least half the time, we’re going to be knocked out of our routine and is that going to throw us off or are we going to still control what we can control.”

A blend of speed and size on offense, as well as Graves’ presence in goal, has been key to the Falcons’ success. BGSU has outscored its opponents 21-10 this season, including a 1-0 win at Michigan State in late August.

Trace has scored a team-high eight goals, including two in each of his last two games, while sophomore Bennett Painter has chipped in six goals. Senior Alberto Anaya, a first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection a year ago, has a team-high seven assists to go with two goals.

Meanwhile, Graves has played every second of every match since the start of the 2022 season. He was the Mid-American Conference’s co-goalkeeper of the year in his first full season as a starter after he and his teammates set a school record for fewest goals allowed in a season with 10.

Graves’ 1.11 goals against averages ranks tied for third in the MVC. He has two shutouts this year and shined in BGSU’s victory at Michigan State with a season-high six saves.

“I’ve been around some incredible leaders in my time here, and I’m not sure I’ve had one better than Brendan,” Nichols said. “First of all, he starts on the field, he’s just such an accountable hero in goal.

“But then he’s got a charisma and he’s got a drive and he’s got a focus. If I was on the team, I would want to play for Brendan. He’s been magnificent.”

Graves said his decision to return for a fifth year was a “no-brainer” due to the culture established within the program.

“I’m not looking forward to leaving, man. It’s going to choke me up right now,” Graves said. “These guys are awesome. The community of BG, the community of greater Toledo in general, it’s awesome. Being from here, playing for arguably like a hometown team, it’s awesome.”

As BGSU looks to sustain its success, the Falcons will have to do so against some tough teams in its second year in the MVC. Western Michigan (6-0-3) is ranked No. 11 in the national poll, while Missouri State (5-2) and Drake (5-2-1) are also above the Falcons in the RPI.

BGSU will face all three of those teams in a four-game span toward the end of the regular season.

“Every game you could win, every game you could lose. There’s just a lot of fight, a lot of passion in those games, a lot of emotion,” Graves said of MVC contests. “So we’re just going to keep looking down the line and keep trying to right what we made wrong last year.”