BGSU men's soccer team to play Monmouth in NCAA opener

Apr. 20—BOWLING GREEN — In a moment 24 years in the making, the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team learned it will play Monmouth University in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

The Falcons (7-4-1) qualified for the national tournament for the first time since 1997. Bowling Green defeated Northern Illinois 2-1 in overtime at home on Sunday to win the Mid-American Conference title and earn an automatic berth in the NCAA bracket.

"I've thought about this day for a long time," veteran BG coach Eric Nichols said. "Every preseason you dream about getting your team together in front of the TV and watching your name came up. I'm overwhelmed with joy for [the players]."

Monmouth (5-2-1) won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship with a 1-0 win over Quinnipiac on Saturday.

The teams will meet in first-round action on Thursday, April 29, at 6 p.m. at Bryan Park in Greensboro, N.C.

The first round of the 48-team NCAA tournament will take place at various venues in the state of North Carolina on April 29.

This is the seventh NCAA appearance for the BG men's soccer program. The Falcons have an all-time record of 4-6-0 in tournament play. The program's wins have come at home against Davidson (1995), Detroit (1996), and Colgate (1997), and on the road against Marquette (1997).

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This will be the first-ever men's soccer meeting between BG and Monmouth.

The NCAA held its men's soccer tournament selection show on Monday. Clemson (13-3-2) is the No. 1 overall seed.

If Bowling Green defeats Monmouth, the Falcons would advance to face No. 2 overall seed Pittsburgh (13-3-0) in the second round. The Panthers, who are scoring an average of. 2.5 goals per game, have a first-round bye.

Nichols said his players battle through the adversity of having the fall season moved to the spring and always remained focus on winning the MAC title and earning an NCAA berth.

"It's surreal," Nichols said. "It's a lot of relief. I really wanted our players to get what I felt they deserved. They've been tremendous throughout this whole ordeal. They were absolute troopers."

The Falcons are led offensively by Chris Sullivan, who has 13 points with four goals and five assists this season. Sullivan scored the Falcons' first goal in the MAC-clincher on Sunday. Jacob Erlandson ranks second on the team in scoring with 8 points (3 G, 2 A).

Goalkeeper Logan Kowalczyk (6-4-1) has a 0.70 goals-against average and a .771 save percentage. Kowalczyk has five shutouts this season. Kowalczyk finished with six saves in Sunday's MAC clincher.

Monmouth won its seventh conference tournament championship in program history, including six under current head coach Robert McCourt. The Hawks have qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2014.

Monmouth, which was playing its sixth road game in eight contests on Saturday, defeated the top three seeds in the MAAC tournament to win the title.

"This was an amazing championship," McCourt said after Saturday's win. "The team stayed so committed throughout it all. The odds were against us, and we were true road warriors this year. The guys never complained about the miles on the bus, they just stayed focus and played as a team. I'm just so happy to see these guys get the reward."

Sophomore forward Julian Gomez, who was named the MAAC tournament MVP, leads the Hawks with five goals.

Chris Schneider, chairman of the NCAA tournament selection show, said the seeding, selections, and match-ups were based on a multitude of factors.

"The committee looked at input from info from our regional advising committees," he said. "Just as difficult as it was to select those at-large teams, it was almost just as difficult to do comparisons for seeding and placement."

But Snyder also said due to the centralized location of the tournament, the committee was able to field a true national pairing with matchups that may not have been possible in the past due to travel restrictions.

Every team in the field has made at least one appearance in the NCAA tournament.

"You are seeing a lot of depth across the country in men's college soccer," Schneider said.

First Published April 19, 2021, 12:50pm