Freshman Emma Stransky scored late in the first half, lifting the Bowling Green State University womens soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Northern Illinois University Thursday afternoon in a Mid-American Conference game, the final regular-season contest for both teams, at Cochrane Stadium.

With the win, the Falcons (10-5-2, 8-1-2 MAC) end the regular season in second place in the 12-team conference, just one point behind Western Michigan.

BGSU earns a quarterfinal-round bye, and the Falcons will face a team to be determined in the semifinal round. The semifinal matches will take place next Thursday (Nov. 2) in Kalamazoo, Mich.

The Falcons, the second seed for the six-team tournament, will face either third-seeded Ball State or sixth-seeded Ohio in an 11 a.m. start.

The Huskies (8-7-3, 6-4-1 MAC) saw a three-game winning streak snapped. NIU had won six of seven matches heading into Thursday’s match.

Madison Vukas and Lili Berg each played 45 minutes in goal, and each made two saves to share the shutout. It was BGSU’s seventh clean sheet of the season and the sixth in MAC play.

The first shot of the match came just under nine minutes in, as Lexi Czerwien put Brynn Gardner through the NIU defense, but Gardner’s hard shot was saved by NIU goalkeeper Sadie McGill.

At the 15-minute mark, the Huskies countered after a McGill save on a Makenzie Ortman shot. McGill’s punt began a foray into the BG end for the Huskies, and Edith Delgado’s pass put Isabel Struble into the box. But, Struble’s shot was stopped by Madison Vukas.

Several minutes later, the Huskies’ Tyra King took a pass from Abby McHugh and fired a shot that glanced off of the near goalpost.

BGSU threatened at the other end of the field midway through the first half, as after a foul on the Huskies, Maya Dean collected a ball in the box and fired a shot that eluded McGill, but was blocked by a defender.

Five minutes later, Katie Cox won a corner kick for the Falcons. Off of that kick, Dean hit another shot that resulted in a ‘team save,’ as her effort was blocked at the far post.

In the 31st minute, the Huskies were assessed a red card and were forced to play 10 on 11 for the remainder of the match.

BGSU took the lead with five minutes remaining before halftime. Lacee Bethea took a pass from Taylor Green near the NIU bench, and made a run down the left side. Bethea cut back toward the center of the field, got past several defenders and played a cross into the box. Freshman Emma Stransky rose up and headed the ball past McGill for what would prove to be the winning goal.

Near the hour mark of the match, Rylee Clark found Dean with a pass and headed into the box. Dean’s return pass just missed connecting with Clark as she raced past the defense.

Midway through the second period, a Dean corner kick sailed to Lizzie Bultynck in the penalty area. Bultynck redirected a shot on frame, but McGill saw the ball through traffic and made the stop.

The Falcons had a flurry in the 73rd minute, but an effort by Bultynck was stopped, and after BG put the ball back into the box, Lexi White’s header was on target, but also was saved.

Under seven minutes remained when a ball came to Bethea near the top of the 18. Her high, arcing shot forced McGill to tip the ball over the crossbar with a leaping save.

That play came several minutes after Lili Berg had made a stop on an Aubrey Robertson effort, and the BG defense did not allow a shot over the last eight-plus minutes as the Falcons sealed the shutout win.

BGSU had advantages of 17-8 in shot attempts, 9-4 in shots on goal and 6-0 in corner kicks in Thursday’s win.

Madison Vukas and Lili Berg made two saves each en route to their seventh combined shutout of the season, and their sixth in 11 MAC matches.

Vukas led all MAC goalkeepers in save percentage in conference games (.889), and she tied for the league lead in goals-against average (0.55). Berg was tied for third in GAA (0.91) and seventh in save pct. (.792) in league matches.