The Northern Kentucky University women’s soccer team struggled to create scoring opportunities on Sunday and fell to Toledo 2-0 at NKU Soccer Stadium despite a strong outing from goalkeeper Brooke Schocker.
Schocker hauled in a season-high nine saves and faced 23 shots in her full 90 minutes between the posts. Six of her saves were recorded in the first half alone.
In the 29th minute, Schocker came up with a big diving save when Toledo’s Italia Biondi lined a shot from the right side. Schocker forced a Toledo corner kick with the save, as the NKU defense went on to defend three corner kicks in a row to swat the ball out of the box and alleviate the scoring threat.
In the 34th minute, the Rocket offense broke through for a goal when Biondi launched a shot into the box from the close right wing. Schocker jumped out of the goal for an attempted save, but was forced back past the goal line for a 1-0 Toledo lead in the 34th minute.
NKU’s Morgan Shafer was the only Norse to manage a shot on goal in the opening half, as the offense struggled to break into the offensive third.
In the second half, Toledo increased its lead to 2-0 on a header from Kiersten Johnson in the 74th minute.
NKU managed more scoring opportunities in the second frame, posting five total shots, but struggled with offside calls, as they ended the game with four.
Overall, NKU was out-shot 23-8 and 11-2 in shots on goal. Shafer and Jessica Frey each ended the game with one shot on goal apiece.
The Norse continue their homestand on Saturday, Sept. 26 when they host Horizon League opponent UIC at 7 p.m. at NKU Soccer Stadium.
NORSE NOTES
– After totaling 30 corner kicks across the first six game this season, NKU did not record a corner kick on Sunday.
– Both of NKU’s losses this season have come when the Norse are shut out. NKU is undefeated when scoring at least one goal.
– In the last three games, Schocker has posted 17 saves. The goalkeeper has 25 on the season.
In Friday’s match, Northern Kentucky unleashed a trio of goals in the first half as it defeated Youngstown State 3-1 to win its first Horizon League match as a member of the League.
Sophomore forward Jessica Frey sparked NKU’s first-half momentum with a goal in the third minute. Frey fired her goal off the left post following an assist from Sami Rutowski.
The defenses took over play until Kelsey Laumann found sophomore Macy Hamblin who launched a shot over YSU goalie Elizabeth Balgoyen from 25-yards out for the 2-0 edge in the 25th minute.
Five minutes later, sophomore Morgan Shafer found the back of the net for her first goal of the season and third of her career after an assist from junior Sam Davis. The goal gave NKU a 3-0 advantage at the half.
NKU fired eight shot attempts in the second half but the lead remained at 3-0 until Youngstown State spoiled the shutout bid, beating the horn for a goal in the 90th minute. Kyler Lum scored the Penguins’ lone goal and tied teammate Allison Green with a game-high three shot attempts.
Overall, NKU out-shot the Penguins, 14-9, and 4-2 on goal. Frey and Aubrey Muench recorded three shots apiece.
Dayton topples Norse men
The Northern Kentucky men’s soccer team (3-3-0) fell to Dayton (4-3-0) 4-0 on Friday night at Baujan Field.
“Dayton is a good team that played well tonight,” NKU head coach John Basalyga said. “I was disappointed in our effort. We’re a young team but that is no excuse. Six games in we should be getting better. At the end of the night, Dayton was just the better team.”
The Flyers struck first in the 41st minute with what proved to be the game-winning goal, when James Haupt found the net with an assist by Amass Amankona. Amankona broke away passed to Haupt put the ball by NKU goalkeeper A.J. Fleak to right giving Dayton the 1-0 advantage.
In the second Frame, the Norse came under fire early with the Flyers forcing five corners and taking three shots in the first five minutes of the half. Fleak stayed poised in the net for NKU in the 49th minute when Dayton’s Carlos Sendin fired a shot with Fleak making a circus save to keep the score, 1-0.
Dayton tacked on a three more goals in the second half, with two coming from Amankona (56th minute) and 86th minute) and one coming from Lalas Abubakar. NKU finished the match firing nine shots with two on goal, six corner kicks as Fleak hauled in four saves. Dayton recorded 23 shots with nine on goal, 12 corner kicks and Flyer goalkeeper Justin Saliba notched two saves.
The Norse return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Wright State for their first-ever Horizon League match with kickoff set for 7 p.m. For more information on the NKU men’s soccer program and all Norse athletics please visit NKUNorse.com. You can also get updates on the team throughout the season by following @NKUNorseMSOC on Facebook and Twitter.
Norse Notes
– The Norse are now 0-2-0 all-time against Dayton and 0-4 against teams from the Atlantic 10 conference.
– Alwin Komolong returned to the pitch for the first time this season. Over the summer he captained the Papua New Guinea U-23 National Team at the Pacific Games and in Olympic qualifying.
From NKU Athletics