BGSU beats Toledo in shootout 3-2

Bowling Green State University s Julie Trundle is mobbed by teammates after she made the winning kick against Toledo. It was the senior s third successful penalty kick this season.

BOWLING GREEN Senior Julie Trundle created a nice bookend to her Bowling Green State University career yesterday.

Three years after she made a penalty kick to win a Mid-American Conference tournament game, Trundle repeated the feat against the University of Toledo.

After the Falcons and Rockets played scoreless through regulation and two overtimes, BGSU advanced to the MAC semifinals 3-2 on penalty kicks. Trundle, from Medina, Ohio, sent the winning goal off UT goalie Jen Whipple s hand and into the left side of the net.

She s worth her weight in gold and she s proved it once again, Falcon coach Andy Richards said.

The top-seeded Falcons will play Miami in the semifinals on Friday at 2 p.m. at BGSU s Cochrane Field.

Prior to Trundle, BGSU s other shootout goals came when senior Britt Anderson got past Whipple on the Falcons second kick, as did Lindsay Carter on their third kick. Senior Kelly Langenbeck and freshman Rachel White made the Rockets goals in the shootout, on the team s second and fourth kicks.

On the Rockets third kick, from senior Jessica Kluesener, BG senior goalie Ali Shingler got enough hands on the ball to cause it to ricochet off the crossbar.

I had a lot of confidence that I would make at least one save, and after that people would put it away, Shingler said.

Whipple had two saves but that wouldn t be enough for the Rockets. The last player she faced was Trundle, the Falcons No. 1 choice for penalty kicks, making 2 of 2 this season coming into the game. Her freshman year Trundle won a MAC quarterfinal game, the most recent hosted at Cochrane Field before yesterday, in the second overtime on a penalty kick.

When I was walking up there I was just praying that it was going to go in, Trundle said. We take these all the time in practice, so all I did was replay practice through my mind.

Trundle made it to advance the Falcons again. The Rockets end their season at 10-7-2.

I told my team afterwards, there s nothing they could have done differently, UT coach Brad Evans said.

Sometimes you do everything right and the ball still doesn t go your way.

UT had the advantage in the first half of regulation, with the Falcons getting just one shot to the Rockets four. In the second half BGSU (13-6-1) had more offense with 10 shots.

The best chance for either team to score was early in the first overtime when BGSU senior Samantha Meister missed with an open goal after Whipple had already dived for a save chance.

BGSU maintains its momentum with its ninth game without a loss and recorded its sixth consecutive shutout at home.

We have a lot of seniors who have played a lot of games; they ve been in these situations before, Richards said. When luck is going for you, it just has a habit to keep going.

Contact Maureen Fulton at:mfulton@theblade.com or 419-724-6160.