The Norse offense dominated the second half against Detroit to help lift the Northern Kentucky University women’s soccer team over the Titans 3-1 at Titan Field on Saturday as NKU improved to 3-0 in Horizon League play.
Overall, NKU’s record moves to 7-3, while Detroit falls to 4-6-2 overall and 1-2-1 in the Horizon League.
“We challenged our players and they challenged each other to come out in the second half and win the game and we were very pleased with their performance,” head coach Bob Sheehan said. “Obviously our goal is to try to be as successful as we can in the Horizon League. Now we have gone on the road and brought home two wins and secured six points. Any time we can go on the road and get any points at all is certainly a positive. We’re happy where we are but still have a lot of work ahead of us.”
Detroit was the first to score in the match, netting a fifth-minute goal when the Titans capitalized on a free kick opportunity for a 1-0 lead.
Senior midfielder Hanna Pateryn, who made her first start of the season and played in her hometown, countered with the equalizer in the 23rd minute to knot the game at 1-1. Sophomore Jessica Frey dished out her first of two assists on the day as the goal was Pateryn’s first of the season and second of her career.
After posting six total shot attempts in the first period, Northern Kentucky posted 11 in the second half while the defense held the Titans to four shots, three of which came in the final five minutes of action.
Frey dished out her second assist of the match in the 60th minute when she connected with sophomore Macy Hamblin who fired a shot from 18 yards out. The goal gave NKU its first lead of the match at 2-1.
Junior Katelyn Newton netted Northern Kentucky’s insurance goal in the 68th minute, launching a shot from the top of the box, through traffic and past Titan goalkeeper Claudia Eustaquio who matched NKU’s Schocker with three saves on the day.
Overall, NKU out-shot Detroit 17-12 and 6-4 in shots on goal.
The Norse return to action on Friday, Oct. 9 when they travel to take on the 2014 Horizon League Tournament champion Valparaiso. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m.
Norse men battle to 1-1 tie
The Northern Kentucky University men’s soccer team (5-3-2, 2-0-2 Horizon League) battled defending Horizon League champion Oakland (4-5-1, 1-1-1 Horizon League) to a 1-1 draw on Saturday at the NKU Soccer Stadium.
“I have to give our kids a lot of credit being such and young team,” head coach John Basalyga said. “They kept their composure against a very experienced squad. I am very proud of what they did tonight, very proud.”
The Golden Grizzlies struck first in the opening frame when Matt Dudley found the net in the 12th minute. Following a Norse foul, Dudley took a free kick from the top of the 18 yard box clearing the defensive wall and beating Northern Kentucky goal keeper Toby Frohlich to the left giving Oakland an early 1-0 lead.
Frohlich would rebound, finishing the first half with five saves on 10 shots faced, while the Norse back line held the Golden Grizzlies to just one corner kick in the frame. The Norse offense struggled taking only one shot in the first half.
In the second half, the Northern Kentucky offense stormed out of the gate with Johannes Jansen netting the equalizer in the 46th minute with an assist by Kobie Qualah. Qualah played the ball to Jansen just inside the top of the 18-yard box. Jansen booted a shot, beating Oakland goalkeeper Wes Mink to the left.
The Norse defense continued to clamp down on the Golden Grizzlies allowing only three shots in the second frame while allowing only one corner kick.
Moving to the first overtime, Oakland’s Matt Rickard took the first shot but Frohlich was there for the save. Ronald Moss returned the favor a minute later but Mink was there to save it for the Golden Grizzlies. In the 99th minute, Diego Martinez had a shot opportunity but Mink was there for his second save of the first overtime.
In the second overtime, Alwin Komolong took the lone shot for the Norse but it was blocked. Oakland took three shots in double-overtime with one on goal. Northern Kentucky finished the match taking eight shots with three on goal, while Frohlich (1-0-1) hauled in a total of seven saves in 110 minutes of work. Oakland took 20 shots with eight on goal, while Mink recorded three saves.
Northern Kentucky returns to action on Wednesday hitting the road for a league bout against Cleveland State with kickoff set for 7 p.m.
NKU splits weekend volleyball matches
The Northern Kentucky University volleyball team got another double-figure kill performance from Keely Creamer, but came up short in Horizon League action against Milwaukee, falling in straight sets.
Creamer led the Norse (6-10, 1-3 Horizon) with 10 kills while freshman Kelly Turner added nine kills on a .350 hitting percentage and Haley Libs chipped in eight. Mel Stewart led the way defensively with 13 digs.
Maggie Dunbar and Maddie Williams paced the Panthers (5-12, 3-2 Horizon) with 11 kills each. Kayla Price dished out 28 assists and added five kills of her own, while Mykie Olsen and Maddie Schmitz each had nine digs on the afternoon.
Set 1 saw the Norse take an early 6-1 advantage on the strength of a pair of Creamer kills. However, the Panthers responded, scoring 12 of the final 16 points of the set to take a 25-17 win in the opener. Again in Set 2, NKU took the early lead, this time 7-4, before Milwaukee claimed seven of the next eight points to swing the score to an 11-8 Panthers lead. Milwaukee continued to push points and maintain the advantage, taking a 25-20 set win to go up 2-0 heading into the intermission.
Another long run for the Panthers set the stage for Set 3, as Milwaukee used an 8-1 stretch to push to a 15-5 advantage that the team would not relinquish. NKU responded by claiming the next six points in a row, keyed by a block and a kill from Drew Hendricks, but the Norse would get no closer than four points the rest of the way as Milwaukee completed the sweep with a 25-15 set win.
NKU closes out the three-game Horizon League road trip on Tuesday with midweek action at Wright State. First serve from McLin Gymnaisum is set for 7 p.m., with the match set to be broadcast on ESPN3. NKU returns home on Friday for the first of three in Regents Hall, taking on Youngstown State for a 7 p.m. start.