The No. 3 seeded Northern Kentucky University women’s soccer team plays host to No. 6 seed Cleveland State on Monday for the first round of the Horizon League Championship.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at NKU Soccer Stadium and will air on ESPN3. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for kids. All students of Horizon League member institutions are admitted free.
Tournament information including the full bracket and schedule can be found at the Horizon League women’s soccer Championship Central.
LAST TIME OUT: The Norse concluded the regular season on Friday, Oct. 30 at home with a 2-1 victory over Green Bay. Two second-half goals prompted the Norse to victory, beginning with a marker from Jessica Frey in the 54th minute. Frey then teamed up with Macy Hamblin for a double assist to set up senior Maria Silbersack for the game-winning goal in the 63rd minute.
ABOUT CLEVELAND STATE: The Vikings finished the regular season in sixth place in the Horizon League after a 4-5 League campaign. Cleveland State is coming off a 1-0 loss to Valparaiso as part of a three-game skid. The Vikings’ last victory came on Oct. 17 against Northern Kentucky. Junior Kaila Sargema leads the Cleveland State offense with 14 points (six goals, two assists). Sargema is followed by senior Vicki Havas with 10 points (five goals). Junior Jamie Daniels anchors the CSU defense, clocking a total of 1626:48 minutes in goal with four shutouts. Daniels owns a 1.27 goals against average and .803 save percentage while leading the League in saves with 94.
NORSE NOTES:
— The Norse are hosting a Division I postseason match for the first time in program history while also advancing to their second consecutive conference tournament. NKU saw success in the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship last season when it defeated North Florida, 2-0, to advance to the semifinal round where the Norse fell to eventual champion Florida Gulf Coast, 3-1. The Norse enter the match sporting a 1-1 record in Division I postseason tournaments.
— Northern Kentucky’s 10 victories is the most the Norse have earned in a Division I season. The 2015 campaign began with a four-game win streak where the squad shut out three-straight opponents. NKU’s first loss of the season came at Illinois before the Norse posted a five-game Horizon League win streak that came to a halt with a loss against Cleveland State. NKU’s lone draw of the season was against regular-season Horizon League champion Milwaukee on the road.
— In the first meeting between NKU and Cleveland State earlier this season, the Norse fell 2-1 in double overtime. A penalty kick from Hamblin gave NKU a 1-0 edge that lasted until the final five minutes of regulation. CSU’s Sargema then netted an 85th minute goal to send the match into overtime. A golden goal from Sargema with 21 seconds left in the second overtime period handed the Vikings a 2-1 win despite a 36-shot effort from NKU in the match.
— After strong performances in NKU’s last match, the sophomore duo of Hamblin and Frey tied NKU’s Division I point record with a League-high 20 on the season. Hamblin set the Division I benchmark last year with eight goals and four assists. This season, Hamblin’s points are split among six goals and a team-high eight assists while Frey has a team-high seven goals and six assists. Hamblin ranks first in the lead in assists while Frey ranks second in goals. The pair leads the League in shot attempts with a combined 138 shots.
— After earning the win against Green Bay, junior goalkeeper Brooke Schocker is now eighth in program history in single season wins with 10. Schocker is tied with Sam Westerling who posted 10 wins in 2003. Meanwhile, Schocker’s 125 career saves ranks third all-time as she has moved into the all-time top-10 in single season saves for the second-straight year with 55. This season, the junior ranks in the top five in the Horizon League in goals against average (0.83), save percentage (.809) and shutouts (four).
— The Norse enter Horizon League Tournament play as the League leader in six offensive categories. NKU has fired a League-high 277 shots while also leading in points (99), goals (32), goals per game (2.00), assists (34) and assists per game (2.42). NKU’s 99 points are split among 18 different players while NKU’s League-leading 32 goals scored have helped the Norse to out-score opponents 32-14.
UP NEXT: With a win, the Norse will advance to the semifinal round on Thursday, Nov. 5 hosted by regular-season champion Milwaukee. NKU would take on the Panthers (11-3-3, 8-0-1 Horizon) at 8 p.m. at Engelmann Stadium. An NKU loss would conclude the 2015 campaign.
NKU takes Senior Day volleyball win over Green Bay
On their day, seniors Mel Stewart and Jayden Julian, accompanied by the strong performance from the freshmen Haley Libs and Kelly Turner, led the Northern Kentucky University volleyball team to a five-set win over the Green Bay Phoenix in Saturday’s Horizon League matinee (24-26, 26-24, 25-21, 20-25, 15-10).
NKU (12-13, 7-6 Horizon) finished the match with five hitters in double-digits for kills. Libs once again led the Norse in kills with 23 on the match followed by Keely Creamer with 18 kills, Julian with 13 kills, and Turner with 11. Stewart picked up 24 digs to mark her fifth-straight match with 20+ digs and added four service aces.
Green Bay (15-11, 6-7 Horizon) had standout Taylor Totka, who ended with 18 kills, six blocks and three service aces. Jessica Wolf added 16 kills followed by Megan Powers with 15 of her own. The team combined for 10 blocks and hit a combined .264.
NKU came out in Set 1 to a strong start with a 4-1 lead, but the Phoenix made a quick turnaround to take the 9-6 lead. Green Bay continued to stretch the lead, eventually getting it to 19-11 before NKU attempted a late comeback going on a 3-0 run and later, facing set point, rattled off six in a row to tie it at 24. The Phoenix, though, pulled together two straight points to take the set 26-24.
Both teams went back-and-forth in the early part of the set 2, as the Norse had the slight lead most of the frame thanks to a 3-1 start. The Phoenix kept pace and used a 4-0 run to take the lead at 19-18. NKU kept up point-for-point until another 3-0 run gave the Norse a 23-21 edge. Despite a Green Bay rally, the Norse were able to finish out the set, claiming three of the final four points for a 26-24 set to level the match.
Back-to-back kills by Keyaira Lankheit closed an early deficit for the Norse in Set 3, and a 4-0 run later gave NKU a 10-9 lead. Two kills by Julian and an ace from Stewart keyed a 9-1 Norse run to push the lead to 19-11 as the Norse took the set, 25-21.
A 10-1 run by Green Bay, marked by four kills from Wolf, gave Green Bay an 18-13 lead in Set 4. The Norse were unable to mount a comeback losing set 4, 25-20. Wolf and Powers each finished with five kills in the set for the Phoenix to send NKU to a second-straight five-set match.
Both teams exchanged points in the final set before back-to-back kills by Lankheit and Turner gave the Norse a 7-5 lead. The Phoenix turned around with three points of their own to take the lead, 8-7. The teams again traded points until NKU rattled off a 5-0 run, keyed by two kills and a block from Libs, to finish off the win.
After closing out their home schedule, the Norse hit the road for the final three matches of the regular season. NKU returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 7, taking on Youngstown State. First serve is set for 5 p.m.
From NKU Athletics