COCHRANE STADIUM One of the many resources available to the Falcon men’s soccer team is the ability to play on one of the Midwest’s finest fields. Mickey Cochrane Stadium, known nationally as one of the country’s outstanding soccer facilities, has become even better in recent years thanks in part to a multiple-phase project designed to enhance the current complex. The facility’s improvements included the installation of lights at the Cochrane Stadium complex, giving the BGSU men’s and women’s teams the opportunity for home games under the lights. The lights project has allowed more flexibility in scheduling, and also has enhanced the alreadyimpressive atmosphere at home matches. The money for the $400,000 project was raised through donations, with nearly all of the funds donated by men’s soccer alumni, who have a proud history of over five decades at the University. The lights project was completed in the fall of 2011, and both the men’s and women’s teams hosted night matches in late October of that year. Additionally, several Ohio High School Athletic Association girls soccer tournament games have been held at Cochrane under the lights. The men’s program played every home match under the lights during both the 2018 and ’19 seasons, and the Falcons are scheduled to do so again in 2021. In 2010, via donations raised by both the men’s and women’s programs, World Cup-style goals were added, as well as wind screens and covered benches. The athletics department also made upgrades to the scoreboard. Just prior to the debut of the women’s team, an upgrade to the field saw the construction of 700 permanent seats on the west side of the main playing area. The stadium renovation project, financed entirely with private funds,
Caroline Palmisano (center), a BGSU student and the daughter of Gary Palmisano, was on hand at the final home game of the 2008 season (Nov, 1, 2008), as the Gary Palmisano Soccer Endowment was formally announced. The late Gary Palmisano was a player, an assistant coach and a head coach at BGSU, and also was a driving force behind soccer being recognized as a MAC sport. Many former Falcon players made gifts to complete the endowment, and the first scholarship in Gary’s name was awarded in the fall of 2009. 56 • BGSU FALCONS • 2021 MEN’S SOCCER
