BOWLING GREEN — There will be a small but notable addition to Bowling Green’s department of athletics budget for the next school year.
The signs along Cochrane Stadium that list the 2005 season as the Falcons’ last berth in the NCAA women’s soccer tournament became out of date as of 3:37 p.m. Sunday.
Bowling Green is headed to back to the tournament after a nerve-rattling Mid-American Conference tournament championship game against Ball State that played to a 1-1 draw and came down to penalty kicks, which the Falcons won 5-4 after six rounds.
The Falcons trailed 3-1 in the penalty shootout and faced three do-or-die penalties, all of which went their way. Forward Nikki Cox scored a penalty in the fourth round to earn another round, goalkeeper Kathleen Duwve extended the shootout with a save in the fifth round, and defender Morgan Abbitt tied it at 4 to keep Bowling Green’s season alive.
Elisa Baeron, the German defender who committed to BG when it was 0-15-2 in 2013, clinched the victory after the Cardinals missed their sixth spot-kick moments earlier.
“I can’t even put it in words,” Baeron said. “Just having that experience of not winning a game to now winning the MAC tournament — regular-season too — and going to NCAAs, it’s incredible. It’s such a journey, especially for us seniors knowing what we were and now where we’re at.”
The Falcons’ NCAA tournament matchup will be decided Monday.
Top-seeded Bowling Green (14-4-3) controlled the run of play for most of the afternoon against the No. 2 Cardinals, but couldn’t find the elusive second goal despite plenty of chances.
After two 10-minute extra time periods without a goal, the tournament title came down to the shootout.
“It’s a pretty horrible way to lose and it’s not the ideal way to win,” second-year BG coach Matt Fannon said, “but obviously at this point, I’d much rather be on our side of it.”
Chances were at a premium in the first 20 minutes, but the Falcons took hold of the game in the 27th minute. Off a giveaway, Cox won a penalty, which defender Maureen Kennedy converted from the spot for a 1-0 lead.
Ten minutes later, the Cardinals appeared to have tied the game off a corner kick, but the match official disallowed the goal, signaling Duwve had been fouled as she tried to play the ball near the top of the 6-yard box.
BG narrowly survived another close call off a corner in the 50th, but wasn’t as lucky four minutes later. Another corner kick led to a scramble in front of the goal line, and after the official stopped play, he ruled the Cardinals had scored. Defender Emily Simmons was given credit for the goal.
“The game, at that point, wasn’t up to us,” said Duwve, a Northview graduate. “The call didn’t go our way, but we continued to fight and there was never a doubt in our minds that we were going to walk away with a win.”
The Cardinals dominated possession for the next 10 minutes, but the rest of regulation yielded no more goals.
Bowling Green attempted eight shots in regulation but attempted six in the first five minutes of extra time, including one sequence during which the Falcons fired three point-blank shots, including one that hit the post, but didn’t score.
The Falcons again dominated the second 10-minute overtime period and again hit the post, but didn’t find the winner.
Fannon said the Falcons had done well practicing penalties, but falling behind 3-1 wasn’t exactly the ideal start.
“I might not have been as confident in that moment,” he said, smiling. “Overall, I think we’ve spent a lot of time working on our composure and being calm, and I think that’s probably shown through in the end.”
A packed Cochrane Stadium that featured most of the Falcons’ other athletic teams in support saw fans flood the field after the winning penalty.
With the scene to match, Bowling Green’s place in the NCAA tournament became a reality in an instant.
“These are the moments we dream about and the moments that we practice every day for, the practices in the spring that [we] go after it every day,” Duwve said. “They all lead us up to get ready for this moment, and it’s awesome.”
First Published November 4, 2018, 10:35 p.m.
