As fall sports seasons conclude, several ONU athletes receive recognitions from OAC and from other areas. In addition, tournament action continues for some Polar Bear squads.The weekly sports round up follow:
Goalkeeper of the year – 4th consecutive year
A few days ago, Ohio Northern's Meagan Grierson (Dayton/Miamisburg) carved her name into the Ohio Athletic Conference record books becoming the first player to ever win Goalkeeper of the Year honors four consecutive years. On Sunday, Grierson's steady hand extended the Polar Bears' season.
"Going into penalty kicks, we are super confident with Meagan in goal," ONU senior Haley Moses said. "She has won games for us in PKs before, and we knew she was going to be great back there."
Northern defeated Scranton (Pa.) 4-2 in penalty kicks Sunday at Kerscher Stadium to clinch a spot in the Sweet 16. The Polar Bears will battle the winner of Carnegie Mellon (Pa.)/Swarthmorth (Pa.) — a game played at 7 p.m. Sunday — at a location that's yet to be determined.
"We are just so excited and so grateful for the opportunity," Moses said. "We love our team so much, and we love our coaches, and we can't wait to spend another week with them and hopefully more."
Grierson turned away shots from Scranton's Mazie Stiles, who shot second, and Grace Elliott, who shot third. Senior Rose Nienaber (Cincinnati/Oak Hills), sophomore Carissa Beckham (Mason/Mount Notre Dame), junior Jenna Fuller (Countryside, Ill./Lyons Township) and Moses (Mason) all made penalty kicks for ONU. Moses' kick sealed the victory, as the Polar Bears' began the shootout on offense.
"Ice in the veins," ONU head coach Mark Batman said. "The girls were great."
Scoring chances were hard to come by throughout the game, but Batman felt as though his team created more as the contest wore on. The Polar Bears finished the game with 18 shots — six on target — and 13 of those 18 shots occurred in the second half or overtime.
"Great resilience from the group," ONU head coach Mark Batman said. "I felt we got a lot more dangerous as the game went on and got more comfortable with how they were trying to play us."
Fuller finished with a game-high five shots. Nienaber logged three shots, while Moses, freshman Lauren Naso(Grosse Ile, Mich.), and junior Sydney Leshnak (Cincinnati/Mount Notre Dame) all had two shots apiece.
The Royals registered eight shots — five of which were on frame — and only four of those eight shots occurred in the final 65 minutes.
Grierson finished the game with five saves and the theatrics during penalty kicks. The shut out is the program-leading 44th of her career.
Scranton goalie Amanda Steinberg recorded five saves, as well.
This marks the second time the Polar Bears have advanced past the second round of the NCAA Tournament. ONU made it to the Elite Eight in 2017.
Women’s soccer vs. Grove City
The Ohio Northern women's soccer team took care of business in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Kerscher Stadium Saturday. The Polar Bears shut out Grove City (Pa.) 2-0 to advance to the second round and will play Scranton (Pa.) Sunday at 1 p.m. at Kerscher Stadium.
Scranton scored a 2-2 victory over Centre (Ky.) in penalty kicks in the other first-round match played Saturday in Ada.
Sophomore Carissa Beckham (Mason/Mount Notre Dame) picked a good time to score her first-career goal. She netted the game's first score in the 22nd minute off a feed from senior Rose Nienaber (Cincinnati/Oak Hills).
Junior Sydney Leshnak (Mason/Mount Notre Dame) put the finishing touches on the game during the 56th minute. She logged her third score of the season unassisted.
ONU senior goaltender Meagan Grierson (Dayton/Miamisburg) made the scores stand up. She had four saves to register her 11th shut out of the season and program-best 43rd of her career.
The Polar Bears peppered Grove City goalie Columbia Harkrader, as eight of their 20 shots were on target. The Wolverines — who entered the game on a six-game winning streak recorded nine shots only four of which were on target.
Women’s cross country
Sophomore Tessa Pitcovich (Stow/Stow-Munroe Falls) received a bid to compete as an individual at the NCAA Division III Women's Cross Country Championships on Saturdayat 11:45 am at Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, Ky.
Pitcovich qualified as the sixth-highest finisher at Saturday's NCAA III Great Lakes Regional Championships among runners not on teams that were selected for the NCAA Championships.
She was 13th of 233 finishers in 21:47.60 for the 5.7-kilometer course in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Thirty-two teams were selected to participate in each championship. The top two, seven-person teams automatically qualified from each of the eight regions, for a total of 16 teams. Sixteen additional teams were selected at-large.
This marks the 15th consecutive year that Ohio Northern has been represented at the NCAA Championships meet.
Men’s cross country
The Ohio Northern men's cross country team put a bow on the 2019 season season with a top-10 finish Saturday. The Polar Bears placed 10th in a field 38 at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional at the Gainey Athletic Complex on the campus of Calvin University.
Junior Travis Sutter (Fort Recovery) paced Northern. He ran a time of 24:53.37, which placed him 34th in a field of 255 and earned him All-Region distinction.
"Travis was tremendous to finish All-Region," ONU head coach Jason Maus said. "He bounced back from a tough conference meet. … It was our best team race of the year."
The men ran 500 meters shy of eight kilometers due to poor course conditions.
Billy Driemeyer (House Springs, MO/Lindbergh) placed second on the team and 73rd overall, clocking in at 25:40.58. Junior Jordan Green (Wooster) wasn't far behind, crossing 77th in a time of 25:42.33.
Junior Dylan McKean (Warren/Champion) took fourth on ONU and 83rd overall after recording a time of 25:46.77. Sophomore Patrick Baker (Massillon/Jackson) finished 99th overall with a time of 25:54.29. Junior Samuel Krabacher (Hamilton/Badin) and freshman Breydan Hann (Wooster) rounded out ONU's runners, placing 93rd and 108th overall in times of 25:55.75 and 26:03.57, respectively.
Calvin (Mich.) won the race, scoring 43 points. Otterbein and John Carroll rounded out the top three with 64 and 90 points, respectively.
Women’s cross country all-region honors
Sophomore Tessa Pitcovich (Stow/Stow-Munroe Falls) and senior Kathleen Colvin(Hilliard/Bishop Ready) earned All-Region honors en route to leading the Ohio Northern women's cross country team to a seventh-place finish in the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regionals at the Gainey Athletic Complex on Saturday.
"This was a great day for us," 11th-year head coach Jason Maus said. "We ran a tremendous race in tough conditions."
The 6-kilometer race was shortened by 300 meters due to unsafe course conditions.
Pitcovich was 13th of 233 finishers in 21:47.60 and Colvin was 35th in 22:29.07.
"Tessa was amazing and Kat had a really good race to be All-Region," Maus stated. The top-35 finishers are named All-Region.
Baldwin Wallace won the race with 83 points and John Carroll was second with 84 points while Oberlin was third with 110 points and Hope (Mich.) was fourth with 139 points. ONU (99-35 overall) was seventh 219 points.
ONU's seventh-place finish at an NCAA Regionals marks its best finish since it was seventh in 2012.
BW and JCU earn automatic bids the NCAA Division III Championships on Nov. 23.
If Oberlin and Hope (Mich.) earn at-large bids to the NCAA Championships, then Pitcovich will qualify as an individual. The NCAA field is expected to be announced Sunday evening.
The NCAA Championships race is Nov. 23 at 12:15 p.m. in Louisville.
Women’s swimming and diving team
The Ohio Northern women's swimming and diving team scored a road win at Wittenberg 114-67 Friday night. The Polar Bears took first in six events.
The 200-yard medley relay team — of Abby Schauer, Katey Stuart, Shelby Starkey and Lauren Shaw placed first with a time of 1:59.75.
Starkey also touched first in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:07.07, and in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:44.03.
Marissa Taylor paced the field in the 400-yard individual medley, recording a time of 4:52.95, while also taking first in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:40.65.
Schauer finished first in the 200-yard backstroke, registering a time of 2:20.12. The Polar Bears travel to the Wooster Invitational Dec. 5.
Men’s soccer season ends in first round play
Ohio Northern and St. Norbert (Wis.) played to a scoreless draw after 90 minutes of regulation and two overtimes in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament at Zuidema Field.
But in tournament play someone has to advance, and SNC edged ONU 3-2 in penalty kicks to keep its season alive.
The Polar Bears end their season at 13-6-3, while the Knights end their season at 16-4-3 advance to the second round on Saturday at 1 pm against tournament host and No. 2-ranked Calvin (Mich.)
The match officially goes as a 0-0 draw with St. Norbert advancing in the tournament on penalty kicks.
Senior Luke Fickenworth (Cincinnati/Anderson) and senior Tim Hoffman (Strongsville) each scored and sophomore keeper John Lombardo (Solon) made two saves as the shootout was tied at 2-2 entering the fifth and final round.
ONU missed and SNC scored, ending what was a solid all-around performance by the Polar Bears.
"I thought both teams played well and it was a very even game," ONU head coach Chris Matejka said. "We had several very good opportunities and St. Norbert had some good ones, too. At the end of the day we didn't take advantage of our chances and wound up being eliminated in one of the cruelest ways to lose in sports - penalty kicks."
Junior Beelal Hasan (Westerville/Thomas) hit both posts on the same shot in the 69th minute, but the ball somehow stayed out of the net. He fired a shot from the left side, which was deflected by the Knight goalie and hit the near post. It bounced across the open goal and hit the far post before kicking back out into the field of play, keeping the match scoreless.
With temperature in the upper 30s, the frozen grass surface began to thaw as the matches progressed on Friday, leaving the middle of the field muddy and difficult to navigate.
Each team had outstanding scoring chances in the first overtime period, with SNC just missing wide in the 94th minute and Hasan and sophomore Seth Gundlach (Wilmington) missing in the 96 and 97th minutes.
"We pride ourselves on shutouts and we were very good defensively from top to bottom," ONU senior John Sternasty (Akron/Revere) said. "It was a great season and I'm proud of what we accomplished this year."
"Our season started with a wonderful trip to Barcelona, Spain, in August," Matejka said. "We had some great moments during the season and it ended with a trip to the NCAA IIi Tournament. It is a season and team I will always remember."
Ohio Northern out-shot St. Norbert 25-15 and held a 10-5 advantage in corner kicks. Lombardo made three saves in goal to record his ninth shutout of the season.
ONU men’s soccer players named All-OAC
The Ohio Northern men's soccer team had quite a few players garner All-Ohio Athletic Conference honors. Junior Beelal Hasan (Worthington) and sophomore Levi King (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) each received first-team All-OAC recognition, while four other Polar Bears landed other distinctions.
Sophomore goaltender John Lombardo (Solon) and classmate Seth Gundlach (Wilmington) were named second-team All-OAC, while senior Luke Fickenworth (Cincinnati/Anderson) and junior Jimmy Walkinshaw(Plymouth, Mich./Canton) were honorable mention All-OAC honorees.
Hasan is a two-time, first-team All-OAC selection. He has appeared in 61 games at ONU and started 54 of them. Hasan has netted 24 goals, 10 assists and 58 points in his career. His 15 goals a season ago were the most of any sophomore in program history.
King has landed on the All-OAC list in each of his first two years in Ada, as he was named to the second-team as a freshman. He was also awarded the OAC Freshman of the Year award. King has appeared in 41 games at ONU and started 40 of them. He has 10 goals, 13 assists and 51 points to his name. His eight scores last season rank him third all-time for freshmen at ONU.
Lombardo garnered All-OAC recognition for the first time in his career. He has appeared in 35 games at ONU and started 34 of them. He owns a 22-10-2 overall record. Lombardo has made 115 saves and recorded 12 shut outs in his career.
Gundlach reeled in All-OAC honors for the first time in his career. He has appeared in 21 games at ONU and started 16 of them. Gundlach has logged seven goals, two assists and 16 points in his career.
Fickenworth was awarded All-OAC distinction for the first time in his career. He has appeared in 52 games at ONU and started 33 of them. Fickenworth has registered five goals, one assist and 11 points in his career.
Walkinshaw is a two-time All-OAC honoree, as he was named to the second-team a season ago. He has appeared in 38 games at ONU and started 37 of them. Walkinshaw boasts four goals, seven assists and 15 points in his career.
VB players, coach honored in Great Lakes Region
The American Volleyball Coaches Association released its All-Region Teams Thursday. A couple Ohio Northern players and their head coach were honored within the Great Lakes Region.
Senior middle hitter Chelsea Huppert (Bremen, Ind.) was awarded All-Region for the fourth consecutive year. Senior libero McKenna Hostetler (Plain City/Alder) and head coach Kate Witte were also recognized for their efforts during the 2019 season.
Huppert's name is littered all over ONU's record board. She ranks third all-time in school history with a .338 hitting percentage, third all-time with 124 solo blocks, fifth all-time with 396 total blocks and sixth all-time with 1,356 kills.
She is now a 4-time All-OAC honoree and a 3-time All-Great Lakes Region award winner.
Huppert leads the team and is third in the OAC with a 1.03 bps average and is second in the league with a team-best .338 hitting percentage. She also leads the team with 331 kills.
She is 3rd all-time in ONU history with a career .338 hitting pct. and 124 career block solos, is 4th with 396 total blocks and is 6th with 1,356 kills.
Hostetler, a first-time All-Region recipient, has also worked her way into ONU's record books. She's fourth all-time with 2,085 career digs.
Witte won Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year for the seventh time. She has compiled a 741-240 overall record in 29 years. She has guided the Polar Bears to 19 regular-season Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament titles and 21 conference tournament championships.
Northern will compete in the NCAA Tournament first round Thursday night in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Polar Bears will take on Aurora (Ill.) at 5:30 p.m.
Post-season honors for women’s soccer players
Mark Batman named OAC coach of the year
The Ohio Northern women's soccer team was well represented on postseason Ohio Athletic Conference honoree list. Nine Polar Bears were recognized following a season that saw them win both the regular-season conference title and tournament crown.
Senior Meagan Grierson (Dayton/Miamisburg) and juniors Jenna Fuller (Countryside, Ill./Lyons Township) and Sydney Leshnak (Cincinnati/Mount Notre Dame) all reeled in special recognition to go alongside their first-team All-OAC distinction. Grierson won Goalkeeper of the Year for the fourth consecutive year, Fuller was awarded Forward of the Year and Leshnak garnered Defender of the Year honors.
Seniors Rose Nienaber (Cincinnati/Oak Hills) and Haley Moses (Mason) also landed on the first-team All-OAC list. Junior Megan Breier (Plainfield, Ill./North) and sophomore Carissa Beckham (Mason/Mount Notre Dame) earned second-team All-OAC recognition, while freshman Jerzy Zito (Maumee/Anthony Wayne) garnered honorable mention All-OAC.
Head coach Mark Batman rounded out the award winners, as he was named OAC Coach of the Year.
Grierson, becomes the first goalkeeper in OAC history to win Goalkeeper of the Year four consecutive years. She has played and started in all 83 games of her ONU career. Grierson is first in program history with 42 shut outs and sixth all-time with 195 saves. She lays claim to a 49-10-3 overall record.
Fuller, is a two-time, first-team All-OAC selection. She was named second-team All-OAC her first season in Ada along with being named OAC Freshman of the Year. Fuller has appeared in all 63 matches of her career and started 59 of them. She has netted 48 goals which ties her for fourth all-time in school history. Her 20 goals scored in 2019 are the second most in a single season and the most since 1997. Fuller's 113 points ranks her sixth all-time in program history, while she has also chipped in 17 assists.
Leshnak, has won OAC Defender of the Year two straights years. She was also named honorable mention All-OAC as a freshman. Leshnak has started all in all 83 games of her ONU career. She has logged seven goals, five assists and 19 points in her career.
Nienaber, is a two-time, first-team All-OAC selection. She has appeared in 82 games at ONU with 73 starts. Nienaber has netted 23 goals, 20 assists and 66 points in her career. Her 20 assists tie her for ninth all-time in program history.
Moses, is a two-time, first-team All-OAC honoree. She was named second-team All-OAC as a freshman. Moses also garnered the OAC Midfielder of the Year honor as a sophomore. She has started all 82 games of her ONU career. Moses has logged 11 goals, 20 assists and 42 points in her career. Her 20 assists tie her for ninth all-time in school history.
Breier, has appeared in 64 games at ONU and has made 37 starts. She has registered six goals, 12 assists and 24 points in her career.
Beckham, has appeared in 31 games at ONU and has made 23 starts. She has recorded one assist and one point.
Zito, has started all 21 games of her young ONU career. She has one assist and one point.
Batman, is a two-time recipient of the OAC Coach of the Year award. He has amassed a 216-82-29 overall record in his 16 years at the helm of Ohio Northern. Batman has guided the Polar Bears to three NCAA Tournaments, four OAC regular-season titles and three conference tournament crowns.
