After an eight-game road swing to start the 2015 season, the Northern Kentucky University men’s soccer team (4-3-1, 1-0-1 Horizon League) hosts Belmont (1-7-1, 0-1-0 Horizon League) in a league tilt for its home-opener Wednesday with kickoff slated for 7 p.m. at the NKU Soccer Stadium.
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 with links to live stats available at NKUstats.com.
Belmont enters the match following a 2-0 loss at home to Oakland in its Horizon League opener. The Bruins’ lone win this season came against Lipscomb (2-0, Aug. 28). In Belmont’s other matches they have lost to Buffalo (Aug. 30), Drake (Sept. 4), Evansville (Sept. 6), Appalachian State (Sept. 11), Campbell (Sept. 13), Georgia Southern (Sept. 20) and tied IUPUI (Sept. 18).
Belmont is led offensively by Rashad Hyacenth with three goals. Ra Colmanette and Elliot Jones are tied in assists with two each, while goalkeeper Grayson Rector has recorded 10 saves with a goals-against average of 1.61.
The Norse and Bruins have met only one time in the regular season with Northern Kentucky getting the win 2-1 at Belmont on Sept. 22, 2012. The two teams squared off in a preseason exhibition on Aug. 23, 2014 with the match ending in a 0-0 draw.
With a Horizon League Record of 1-0-1 each Northern Kentucky, Valparaiso, UIC, and Milwaukee are in a four-way tie atop the current league standings. Johannes Jansen and Diego Martinez currently are tied for third in points (Martinez/2, Jansen/2), goals (Martinez/1, Jansen/1) and goals per game (Martinez/.50, Jansen/.50) in League matches played. Martinez is tied for first in game winning goals (1) in League matches played. Goalkeeper A.J. Fleak leads the League in saves (18) and saves per game (9.00) in conference matches.
Through the Norse’s first eight matches three have been played to double-overtime. In those matches Northern Kentucky is 1-1-1. Two of those matches came in the team’s only two League matches thus far with a win over Wright State (Sept. 22) and a draw with Detroit (Sept. 26). NKU’s only double-overtime loss came against 2014 College Cup qualifier Bucknell (Sept. 6).
The Norse are playing their first home match of the regular season against Belmont. Northern Kentucky recently completed an eight-game road swing to start the 2015 campaign. The last time Norse played eight or matches on the road before their first home match was in 2012 when they played nine during their first season of NCAA Division I. Since John Basalyga took the helm in 2003, the Norse are 7-1-4 in their home opening matches.
The Norse battled Detroit to a 1-1 draw in double-overtime on Sept. 26 to move to 1-0-1 in Horizon League play. Jansen notched Northern Kentucky’s lone goal in the 33rd minute when Detroit goalkeeper Nathan Steinwashcer misplayed a ball headed by another Titan into the box, Jansen collected the ball then finished to the right of an open net. NKU goalkeeper A.J. Fleak (4-3-1) recorded 10 saves on 26 shots faced in 110 minutes of work in the match.
The Norse will continue League play at home hosting Oakland on Saturday, Oct. 3, with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. The match will be carried live on ESPN3.
Norse women fall to Robert Morris
The Northern Kentucky University women’s soccer team recovered from a slow first half against Robert Morris but fell short as the Norse were defeated 2-1 on a soggy Monday afternoon at North Athletic Complex.
Trailing 1-0 in the second half, sophomore forward Macy Hamblin served the ball across the box past a pair of RMU defenders to pull Aubrey Muench in from the right wing. Muench attacked the ball and netted a one-touch goal for the equalizer in the 75th minute.
The game remained tied for four minutes until RMU’s Kristie Hamilton launched a long cross to set up a goal for Lauren Pietrowski. The forward tapped it in for the Colonials’ 2-1 lead in the 79th minute.
NKU (6-3) ran out of time to retaliate as they managed one shot throughout the remainder of the game, which came off the foot of Kelsey Zwergel in the 90th minute.
Northern Kentucky’s late push in the second half came after the squad posted just four shots in the opening period, all coming after the 33 minute mark.
The slow start allowed Robert Morris to take its 1-0 first-half lead when the Colonials beat the NKU defense on a throw-in that led to a goal in the 24th minute.
The Norse shifted the game’s momentum and registered 10 shots in the second period while holding Robert Morris to four shots. Despite the loss, NKU edged the Colonials in shot attempts, 14-13.
The match served as NKU’s final nonconference match of the season. The Norse return to action on Saturday, Oct. 3 when they travel to Detroit for a 1 p.m. kickoff set to air on ESPN3.
From NKU Athletics