ONU women vs. Mt. Union on Nov. 2.
The Ohio Northern women's soccer team won the Ohio Athletic Conference Regular Season title outright with a 6-0 victory at Mount Union on a chilly Saturday night at Mount Union Stadium.
The Polar Bears extend their winning streak to 11 matches, end their regular season at 15-2-2 overall and are a perfect 9-0-0 in the OAC. ONU won its seventh OAC Regular Season title in program history and its third in the past four seasons.
The Purple Raiders end their season at 5-10-2 Overall and 1-7-1 OAC.
Senior Rose Nienaber (Cincinnati/Oak Hills) scored just 4:29 into the match off an assist from junior Siena Ward(Newport Beach, Cal./Newport Harbor). Ward drew the keeper out of the goal and fed a backward pass to Nienaber, who scored on a long shot from outside the box into an empty net.
Nienaber then scored on a penalty kick with 29:26 gone in the game after junior Jenna Fuller (South Lyon, Ill./Countryside) was fouled in the box.
Sophomore Emma Barney (Oak Harbor) scored with 9:26 left in the half on a blast from 20 yards out to put ONU up 3-0.
Freshman Lauren Naso (Grosse Ile, Mich.) made it 4-0 with 6:56 left in the half off an assist from Barney.
Fuller made it 5-0 just 1:40 into the second half with her team-leading 18th goal of the season.
Junior Abigail Mathews (Liberty Township/Lakota East) scored in the 63rd minute off assists by junior Megan Breier (Plainfield, Ind./North) and freshman Allison Contenza (Rocky River) to make it a 6-0 game.
Senior Meagan Grierson (Dayton/Miamisburg) registered extended her school record total of shutouts to 41 with a 4-save effort.
ONU out-shot Mount Union 24-7 and had a 6-1 advantage in corner kicks.
Ohio Northern will be the No. 1 seat in next week's OAC Tournament and will host a semifinal match on Thursday night at Kerscher Stadium.
ONU vs. Otterbein on Oct. 30
No. 20-ranked Ohio Northern scored twice in a 3:18 span early in the second half and held on for a 2-1 victory at No. 17 Otterbein in a battle for the Ohio Athletic Conference Regular Season title on a rainy Wednesday evening at Memorial Stadium.
With the victory, the Polar Bears (14-2-2 overall, 8-0-0 OAC) clinched at least a share of the OAC Regular Season crown and will be the No. 1 seed in next week's OAC Tournament.
The Cardinals fall to 14-2-1, 7-1-0.
Otterbein controlled much of the scoreless first half, out-shooting Ohio Northern 7-1 as a steady rain fell on the artificial surface of Memorial Stadium.
The Cardinals scored just 3:50 into the second half when Priscilla Severance headed in a cross from Myian Kelley.
Senior Rose Nienaber (Cincinnati/Oak Hills) evened the match at 1-1 with a penalty kick goal with 35:29 left in the match.
Nienaber then fed junior Jenna Fuller (Countryside, Ill./Lyons Township) for a breakaway goal with 32:11 remaining to give the Polar Bears a 2-1 advantage.
"Otterbein pinned us in in the first half and we were not really able to generate much offensively," ONU head coach Mark Batman said. "After Otterbein scored, I think it gave us to more of a sense of urgency to move forward and we were very good for the next 10 minutes or so. Fuller's goal was a great finish off a beautiful pass.
"Once we got the lead, we were able to be strong in the back again and we held off their pressure. Otterbein is a very good team and it was nice to get a win on a difficult night."
Otterbein out-shot Ohio Northern 22-5 and held a 61-39 percent possession advantage.
Senior Meagan Grierson (Dayton/Miamisburg) had eight saves to record the victory.
ONU men vs Mt. Union on Nov. 2
The Ohio Northern men's soccer team dropped a 2-0 decision to Mount Union Saturday night at Kerscher Stadium. The loss makes the Polar Bears to 13-5-2 overall and 5-3-1 in Ohio Athletic Conference play, while the win improves the Purple Raiders to 10-3-4 overall and 4-2-3 in conference.
Northern will be the No. 3 seed in the OAC Tournament and play host to No. 5 seed Mount Union Tuesday.
ONU registered more than double the shots as the Purple Raiders. The Polar Bears had 15 shots, three of which were on target, and Mount Union recorded six shots, five of which were on frame.
Northern sophomore Levi King (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) logged a team-high five shots, and junior Beelal Hasan (Worthington) had four.
ONU sophomore goaltender John Lombardo (Solon) recorded three saves, while Mount Union goalie Zach Hlas had three saves.
Both of the Purple Raiders scores occurred in the second half. Jack Erickson netted the game's first goal off a feed from Josh Lewis in the 73rd minute. Colton Priester made it a 2-0 game, unassisted, in the 81st minute.
ONU men vs. Otterbein on Oct. 30.
On the eve of Halloween, the Ohio Northern men's soccer team received quite the scare from Otterbein. After allowing the Cardinals to score a pair of goals in the opening half, the Polar Bears rallied with a trio of scores in the second half en route to a 3-2 victory Wednesday night at Kerscher Stadium.
"I think this game was a good reflection of leadership," ONU head coach Chris Matejka said. "It was a great reflection of our captains. … I liked how we bounced back after we gave up two goals. It was desperate moments there for a little bit, but we gradually found our way back into the game."
The win improves ONU to 13-4-2 overall and 5-2-1 in Ohio Athletic Conference play. The loss snaps Otterbein's three-game win streak and drops it to 11-6-0 overall and 5-3-0 in conference play.
Northern junior Beelal Hasan (Worthington) boasted two of the three goals, his sixth and seventh of the season. Senior Luke Fickenworth (Cincinnati/Anderson) had the other score, his third of the season.
Otterbein's Pau Piang and Kennedy Mensah scored the game's first two goals. Piang registered his in the sixth minute, while Mensah's occurred in the 18th minute.
Hasan cut ONU's deficit in half in the 63rd minute. He scored off a feed from Fickenworth and junior Jimmy Walkinshaw (Plymouth, Mich./Canton).
Hasan leveled the game at 2-2 in the 80th minute, as John Sternasty (Akron/Revere) and Seth Gundlach(Wilmington) were credited with assists.
Fickenworth put the Polar Bears ahead just three minutes later off a feed from Walkinshaw.
"Halftime was good to us," Matejka said. "It was a time for us to reflect, improve and change a few things. We needed to up this tempo in the second half, and we did that."
ONU sophomore goaltender John Lombardo (Solon) registered five saves, and Otterbein goalie Collin Hoffman turned away four shots. The Polar Bears recorded 22 shots on the night, seven of which were on target, while the Cardinals had 14 shots and half of them were on frame.
