The Northern Kentucky University men’s soccer team will open the 2015 regular season taking on two American Athletic Conference opponents on the road facing Cincinnati on Friday at 7 p.m. and Memphis on Monday at 3 p.m. The matches are the first two of a four game road swing to start the 2015 campaign.
Friday’s match-up with Cincinnati will mark the second year in a row that NKU has opened the season with the Bearcats. Last season, the Norse and Bearcats battled to a 1-1 draw in their first-ever meeting on August 29, 2014 at the NKU Soccer Stadium. Cincinnati is coming off a 2-1 win over Bowling Green in its final exhibition match of the preseason. The Bearcats finished the 2014 season 5-10-3 overall with an AAC record of 2-5-1 under 14th-year head coach Hylton Dayes, falling in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament, 1-0.
Monday will be the first-ever meeting between NKU and Memphis. Under first-year head coach Richard Mulrooney, the Tigers finished the 2014 campaign 9-7-2 overall with an AAC record of 3-4-1, falling, 4-2, to USF in the quarterfinals of the Amercian Athletic Conference Tournament.
Under head coach John Basalyga, NKU holds a record of 7-2-3 in season opening matches. Since 2003, the Norse have only opened the season on the road three times. In those matches the Norse are 2-1 with their one loss coming to now conference-foe Green Bay (1-0) in 2012.
When the Norse take the field against Cincinnati on Friday, it will be Basalyga’s 251st game as head coach of the Norse. In his 13 years at the helm, Basalyga has amassed a record of 152-68-30. Basalyga is the third head coach in the program’s history.
The Norse defeated Kentucky 1-0 in a preseason exhibition on August 16., at the Soccer Stadium. NKU senior Gavin Colton netted the game-winner in the 33rd minute to give the Norse their first win of the preseason. Following a Wildcat penalty, Colton took a free kick from 35-yards as UK goalkeeper Callum Irving came off his line to establish the wall. Colton’s shot sailed over Irving’s head to give NKU a 1-0 advantage. The Norse and Wildcats continued to battle back and forth in the second half, with both defenses playing stiff.
Kentucky outshot the Norse 8-3 in the second frame with NKU goalkeeper A.J. Fleak notching four saves on his way to five total in recording his clean sheet. Fleak’s most impressive effort came in the 70th minute when he fended-off a Kentucky penalty kick by Ryan Creel. Creel tried to beat Fleak to the left, but the senior made a diving save to keep the ball out of the net.
A record home crowd saw the Norse defeat Kentucky during the preseason. 2,188 fans packed the stands and temporary seating at the NKU Soccer Stadium, surpassing the previous record of 1,934 set against Kentucky in preseason competition in 2014.
Following their two-game road swing to open the season, NKU travels to Hartwick College in Oneonta, N.Y. to compete in the Mayor’s Cup. The Norse will face Saint Francis (Pa.) on Sept. 4 at 5 p.m. followed by Bucknell on Sept. 6 at noon.
NKU women head to The Citadel
The Northern Kentucky University women’s soccer team (2-0-0) looks to remain unbeaten as it travels to The Citadel and Charleston Southern for matches this weekend.
NKU takes on The Citadel at WLI field at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 28 before battling the Buccaneers Sunday at 1 p.m. at CSU Soccer Field.
The Norse earned a pair of season-opening victories beginning with a 3-1 win over IPFW at home. In the match, NKU was led by sophomore forward Jessica Frey with two goals and sophomore forward Macy Hamblin who dished out an assists on each of NKU’s three goals. The Norse held a 3-0 advantage until the Mastodons spoiled the shutout bid in the 66th minute for the 3-1 result.
The second victory of the weekend came in shutout fashion against Eastern Illinois as the Norse defeated the Panthers, 6-0. Each of NKU’s six goals were scored by a different player, including three freshmen. Freshman Brianna Frondorf and senior Casey McMillan each led offensively with one goal and an assist while goalkeepers Brooke Schocker and Kelly Neumann split time in goal.
The Citadel (0-2-0) is coming off a pair of losses on the road to UNC Asheville and USC Upstate last weekend. They have been shutout in both of their matches thus far, and are led offensively by senior midfielder Andrea Davila with four shots, two on goal. The Citadel posted a 7-14-0 overall record last season and return 12 from the 2014 squad after losing its top two scorers.
Charleston Southern (0-0-1) has one regular season match under their belt after playing Wofford to a 2-2 draw despite being out-shot, 21-12. Junior forward Anna Sells scored both of CSU’s goals after firing a team-high five shots including three shots on goal. Sells paced the Buccaneer offense last season with 11 goals and a total of 23 points. The Buccaneers posted a 5-12-1 overall record last year.
Frey, a sophomore forward, was named the Horizon League Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week after scoring three goals between NKU’s opening pair of matches. Frey scored two goals in a 3-1 victory over IPFW to open the season, and netted another on the road against Eastern Illinois. The forward posted a .500 shot percentage and sits atop the League with six points. Frey totaled 11 points (five goals, one assist) last season.
Each of NKU’s six freshman field players made an immediate impact, led by Frondorf who netted her first collegiate goal and picked up an assist against Eastern Illinois. Midfielders Erin Sutton and Samantha Duwel also scored their first collegiate goals to notch two points apiece on the weekend. Rachel Conaway registered two points while Payton Naylor followed with one after dishing out an assist against IPFW. NKU’s lone freshman defender, Taylor Spaulding, leads the Norse in minutes played at 162.
In their weekend debut, the Norse set a Division I program record in shots on goal with 19 against EIU and a record in total shots with 30 against IPFW. The Norse offense also tied the Division I benchmark in single game goals with six in the shutout against Eastern Illinois. The current 2-0-0 record is NKU’s best start to a Division I season. The Norse were 1-0-1 after two games in 2014.
The Citadel and CSU are two of 10 opponents on the 17-game schedule that the NKU women’s soccer program has never faced off against before. Of the 10 new opponents, six are a member of the Horizon League. The Norse will also take on their first Big Ten team in program history when they travel to Illinois on Sept. 11.
UP NEXT: NKU returns home to host crosstown rival Xavier at NKU Soccer Stadium on Friday, Sept. 4 at 7 p.m.
NKU volleyball team opens wit three in Queen City
The Northern Kentucky University volleyball team opens the 2015 season this weekend with a trio of matches across two venues representing the Queen City Classic.
The Norse open the weekend on Friday at noon, taking on Eastern Michigan at Fifth Third Arena on the campus of the University of Cincinnati. Later that evening, the Norse will head to Xavier to take on the Musketeers at Cintas Center for a 7 p.m. first serve. The weekend concludes on Saturday with a noon first serve at Cincinnati. Links to live stats and Saturday’s broadcast are available at NKUNorse.com.
Junior all-conference honoree Taylor Snyder will return to assume the setting duties for the Norse this season. The Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky, native averaged 10.23 assists per set last season, ranking third in the A-Sun, and led the Norse to a conference-best .232 hitting percentage as a team, claiming second-team honors at the end of the year.
Keely Creamer was a foundation for the Norse offense last year, averaging 3.5 kills per set and 0.83 blocks per set to help lead the Norse to their first Division I postseason appearance in 2014.
Senior libero Mel Stewart is on pace to become the 17th member of NKU’s 1,000-dig club. She enters the season with 970 career digs after back-to-back career performances to end the 2014 season, going for 28 digs against Stetson in the A-Sun quarterfinals and 29 against Lipscomb in the semifinal round. She will be the first 1,000-dig player for NKU since Kylee Tarantino eclipsed the mark in 2012.
NKU head coach Liz Hart has brought in one of her most talented freshman classes ever for the 2015 season, beginning with NKU’s first ever Prep Volleyball Top 150 recruit in Haley Libs. Libs earned back-to-back state championships at Providence High School (Clarksville, Indiana) and was twice named an all-state competitor. Keyaira Lankheit was an all-region honoree at Newport (Kentucky) Central Catholic High School and Kelly Turner led Fort Loramie (Ohio) High School to a 2014 state championship.
From NKU Athletics