NKU men’s soccer hosted No. 24 Bowling Green State University Tuesday night for Pups at the Pitch Night.
Pups at The Pitch Night allowed Norse fans to bring their dogs to the game and receive a frisbee and a treat bag for their pets, courtesy of PetSuites.
The Norse held their own on defense for the first 30 minutes of play, only allowing two shots to the Falcons, one by Bennett Gerak and one by Anthony Hernandez. After a scoreless 34 minutes, Bowling Green’s Trace Terry got his fourth goal of the season, assisted by Alberto Anaya to put the Falcons up 1-0. The Falcons would carry this lead into the half as their strong defensive performance allowed not one shot to the Norse all half.
After the slow offensive start, the Norse came out of halftime ready to compete. After a missed shot by Ali Taleb in the 55th minute, Taleb quickly found the net 40 seconds later with his second goal of the season, assisted by Yonatan Cohen. Not only did Taleb tie the game 1-1, he also now leads the Norse in shots with 10.
The tension between the Norse and Falcons escalated as the game came to a close. As both teams were fighting for the win, Bowling Green’s Anthony Hernandez picked up the first and only yellow card for the Falcons in the 76th minute. Only three seconds later, Northern Kentucky’s Wade Stinson picked up a yellow card. Douglas Fajardo then picked up another yellow card for the Norse in the 87th minute.
In the 88th minute, the Falcons had a late opportunity to get the win over the Norse with a corner kick but ended with a missed shot by Garek.
The Falcons’ defense slowed down in the second half as they allowed five shots from the Norse.
While the Norse did allow six shots in the half from the Falcons, they were able to hold off Garek, who led the Falcons in goals from scoring.
After both teams fought hard all night, the Norse had many opportunities cut short from seven offside penalties, compared to the Falcons’ zero. No one could find the net late in the game, leaving the match to end in a 1-1 draw, giving Bowling Green their first draw of the season and NKU their fourth.
The men’s soccer team will host Oakland on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 1 p.m., where the Norse look to get their first Horizon League win of the season.