BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - A stingy, unrelenting IUPUI defense led the Jaguars to a result on the road to open the 2021 campaign on Thursday night (Aug. 26) as head coach Brian Barnett's squad played Bowling Green to a scoreless tie. IUPUI was outshot by a 24-4 count, but stayed organized and unfazed in earning a draw against the reigning Mid-American Conference champs. 

"I completely have nothing but love and admiration for the performance we got from our team tonight," Barnett said. "Grit and the will to compete are fantastic assets as we continue to find ourselves."

And while the IUPUI goalkeeping duo of Quinn McCallion and Lucas Morefield combined to make eight stops in the shutout, the key play of the night came in the 105th minute when Tommy Patacca cleared a shot off the endline after getting past Morefield. Morefield and a Bowling Green attacker collided going for a loose ball resulting in an attempt headed for paydirt. However, Patacca, an Ohio-native, was able to sprint to his left and redirect the shot off target in front of a rabid group of BGSU fans in the endzone, preserving the clean sheet. 

"Opening the regular season with a shutout was a great result for our squad," Patacca said. "We hold our defensive organization to a high importance so it was rewarding to see it executed in the run of play. This team is motivated and always willing to compete. We're looking forward to the next competition on Sunday."

While IUPUI (0-0-1) didn't muster much offense and rather absorbed the Falcons' attack for much of the opening 45 minutes, the Jags did challenge in the final minute via a pair of long Corey Goede throw-ins. The first of the two nearly saw Patacca sneak a shot past as the final seconds ticked away. 

After the break, IUPUI was more engaged in the attack to start the second half, including a combination between Luke Liljegren and Chris Workman that resulted in a pass rolled through traffic with no recipient. In the 54th minute, sophomore Logan Finnegan got free and tried to catch BGSU goalkeeper Logan Kowalczyk off his line, but misfired right of target from just inside midfield. 

Defensively, McCallion was brilliant against the relentless BGSU attack before leaving early in the second half. He made a spectacular diving stop on a Kale Nichols attempt in the 57th minute and provided an encore in the 59th minute when he dropped to his knees to defend a Joey Akpunonu blast. However, that would be his final stop of the night as the Jaguars' ace went to the sidelines with an injury suffered just moments prior. 

Morefield came on in relief and was immediately tested. He immediately saw Alberto Anaya blast a restart from just beyond the 18-yard box high of frame. In the 72nd minute, Morefield made a diving stop of a Roberto Garrido attempt, pushing the scoring attempt just wide of target. 

The Jaguars put some pressure on the BGSU defense late in regulation, repeatedly getting flank service which resulted in shot attempts from Anthony Saporito and Tylin Broaders. Neither got on target as Kowalczyk made just one save in his shutout. 

Jacob Erlandson led the Falcons with four shot attempts. McCallion made five saves in his 59 minutes of work while Morefield added three over the final 51 minutes. 

IUPUI will return to action on Sunday (Aug. 28) when it treks to Xavier for a 6:00 p.m. kickoff in Cincinnati. That contest will be broadcast on FloFC.