BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Sophomore Xavier Sims scored early in the second half to give the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team the lead, and senior goalkeeper Jason Ball and the Falcons' back line made that lead hold up Wednesday night (Nov. 11). The Falcons posted a 2-1 win over UIC in a Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Semifinal match at an electric Cochrane Stadium.

The Falcons (10-6-2 [5-1-0 MVC]), the MVC regular-season co-champions and the number-one seed for the league tournament, advance to the final. BGSU will host third-seeded Western Michigan in the championship match.

The Flames (5-8-4 [1-3-2 MVC]), the number-five seed for the tournament, took the lead on a penalty kick by Artem Grinblat with just over 23 minutes gone, but the Falcons equalized on a PK from senior Aiden Ptacek just over eight minutes later.

The score remained 1-1 through the remainder of the first half, but Sims and the Falcons took the lead just over two minutes into the second half.

Diego Ramirez took a pass from Ptacek on the left side of the field, and the sophomore worked his way into the penalty area. Ramirez hit a curving ball with the outside of his right foot, and Sims ran onto the short cross, knifing between a pair of defenders and hitting a one-timer from the six-yard line. That shot found the near side of the net, giving the Falcons the lead.

But, the Falcons were not out of the woods. Ball made four of his seven saves in the second half to keep the Flames from tying the score. The senior made a tremendous diving stop on Martin Montoya in the 58th minute, then denied an open Sebastian Khoury on a shot from near the top of the 18 with just over 16 minutes to go.

For the match, the Flames had advantages of 24-14 in shot attempts, 8-7 in shots on goal and 10-3 in corner kicks.

BGSU has won nine consecutive matches, the program's longest such streak in nearly three decades.





NOTEWORTHY
• The Falcons are advancing to the MVC Tournament championship match for the second time in three seasons. BGSU advanced to the final in 2024 as the number-three seed, defeating UIC in the quarterfinal round and Drake in the semifinals, before falling to Evansville in overtime in the championship match.
• BGSU is now 3-2-0 in MVC Tournament matches in the Falcons' brief time in the conference, including 2-1-0 at Cochrane Stadium.
• After starting the season with a 1-6-2 record, the Falcons have won nine consecutive matches – BGSU's longest winning streak since 1997.
• The Falcons scored the first goal of the match just once in this season's first 10 games, then took a 1-0 lead in each of the next seven matches. That streak came to an end on Wednesday night as the Flames scored first. But, BGSU posted the second come-from-behind victory of the 2026 season.
• Senior Jason Ball saw his four-match shutout streak come to an end with UIC's penalty kick on Wednesday evening. But, Ball has now gone 353:17 without allowing a non-PK goal. The last time an opponent scored against him from the run of play was in the final minutes of BGSU's 3-1 win over Drake on Oct. 10.
• Ball entered the UIC match ranked first in the entire nation in save percentage, second in goals-against average and seventh in saves per match. His save percentage dropped slightly, from .922 to .915, and his GAA rose from 0.44 to 0.50, but his saves-per-game average rose to 5.40.
• Ball is now 8-1-1 on the season.
• Senior Aiden Ptacek scored his third goal of the season on Wednesday, and added an assist. He is tied for second on the team in scoring, with 10 points.
• Sophomore Xavier Sims scored his fourth goal of the season, tying him with classmate Tyson McCoy for the team lead. Sims has now scored three game-winning goals this season to date.
• Soph Diego Ramirez picked up his second assist of the season with the primary helper on the Sims GWG.
 
UP NEXT
• The Falcons, as mentioned, will host Western Michigan on Saturday night (Nov. 14). First touch is set for 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium, and admission is free.
• The BGSU-WMU winner will earn the MVC's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.

FOR MORE INFORMATION...
• For more information on the BGSU men's soccer program, follow the Falcons on Twitter/X (@BGSU_Athletics and @BGSUMSoccer), Instagram (bgfalcons and bgsumsoccer) and Facebook (BGMensSoccer) as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.