Junior John Lombardo (Solon) was named the Ohio Athletic Conference Goalkeeper of the Year, leading a list of six Ohio Northern student/athletes were named All-Ohio Athletic Conference in men's soccer for 2020-21 in voting conducted by the league's 10 head coaches.
Junior Levi King (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) joined Lombardo as a First Team selection.
Senior Zach Yoder (Goshen, Ind./Northridge) and junior Caiman Moore (Linden, Mich.) were named Second Team All-Conference.
Senior Seth Gundlach (Wilmington) and junior Matt Studenic (Wadsworth) were Honorable Mention all-OAC honorees.
Lombardo is a three-year starter in goal and finished the 2020-21 season with 25 saves and a 0.97 GAA in goal.
In 46 career games, Lombardo is 26-14-1 with 143 saves and a 1.04 GAA. He also ranks fourth all-time in career shutouts with 16.
King led the OAC in scoring this season with seven goals and 14 points from his midfielder position.
He is a three-time All-Conference selection, earning First Team honors the past two seasons and Second Team honors as a freshman in 2018, when he was also the OAC Freshman of the Year.
He has 26 goals, 13 assists and 65 points in 53 career matches.
Yoder led the Polar Bears and the OAC with four assists this season as a forward.
In 72 career matches, Yoder has nine goals, nine assists and 27 points.
Moore is a two-year starter on defense and has one goal in 33 career matches.
Gundlach is a two-time All-OAC award winner, as he was named Second team All-OAC as a sophomore in 2019.
A two-year starter at forward, he has 10 goals, four assists and 24 points in 33 career matches.
Studenic is a two-year starter in the midfield and is also an Academic All-OAC honoree.
In 50 career matches, Studenic has three goals, three assists and nine points.
The Polar Bears finished the season 6-4-1 overall and fourth in the OAC with a 5-3-1 mark under second-year head coach Chris Matejka.
WOMEN'S LACROSSE
Senior Annie McArn (Bay Village/Western Reserve Academy) was named the Ohio Athletic Conference Women's Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week for the week of April 19-25.
She scored a season-high five goals, had two assists and tied her career high with seven points as Ohio Northern clinched its first-ever Ohio Athletic Conference Women's Lacrosse Tournament bid with a 15-7 victory over Baldwin Wallace last Wednesday.
This season, McArn is second on the team and seventh in the OAC with 40 goals and 18 assists and she is sixth with 58 points.
McArn is ONU's all-time career leader in draw controls with 190 and is third with 84 goals, 23 assists and is second with 107 points.
This marks the third time this season that an ONU player has won the award.
The Polar Bears (7-9 overall, 7-9 OAC) will be the No. 5 seed in this week's OAC Tournament and will play at No. 4 seed Otterbein on Tuesday night in the First Round.
BASEBALL
Senior Michael Rocco (Davenport, Fla./Zionsville (Ind.)) was named the Ohio Athletic Conference Hitter of the Week for the week of April 19-15.
He hit .583, going 7-for-12 with eight runs scored and two runs batted in as the Polar Bears (14-13 overall, 13-10 OAC) took three of four games from Baldwin Wallace over the weekend.
This season, Rocco leads the team and is seventh in the league with a .418 batting average. He is also tied for the team lead with 23 runs scored.
Rocco also became the 67th member of ONU's 100-Hit Club during the series and now ranks 61st all-time in ONU history with 102 for his career.
He currently ranks fourth all-time at ONU with a .379 career batting average in 94 career games.
MORE BASEBALL
The Ohio Northern baseball team pounded out 29 hits and scored 24 runs in a 7-1, 17-4 double header sweep of Baldwin Wallace on Sunday afternoon at Wander Field.
The Polar Bears (14-13 overall, 13-10 Ohio Athletic Conference) have now won 11 of their last 13 games.
The Yellow Jackets fall to 14-12-1, 13-9-1.
In game two, ONU sent 30 batters to the plate in the third, fourth and fifth innings to turn a 3-0 deficit into a 17-4 lead.
Senior Krue Thwaite (Greenville/Milton-Union) went 3-for-5 with 5 RBI and three runs scored and was just a home run shy of hitting for the cycle in the game.
Senior Matthew Burkett (Maumee). senior Michael Rocco (Davenport, Fla./Zionsville (Ind.)) and junior Chayten Overholt (Van Wert/Lincolnview) also had three hits in the game.
Junior Tom Pitko (Youngstown/Austintown-Fitch) got the win on the mound to improve to 5-2 on the year.
The game was called in the bottom of the seventh by the OAC's 10-run rule.
In the opener, Northern scored four runs in the bottom of the first to take a quick 4-0 lead.
Senior James Fisher (Castalia/Margaretta) pitched 6.2 strong innings with seven strikeouts to improve to 4-1.
Overholt went 3-for-4 to complete a 6-for-8 day at the plate.
AND, MORE BASEBALL
Senior Matthew Burkett (Maumee) collected three hits to give him 100 for his careeer as the Ohio Northern baseball team used a nine-run rally in the late innings to split in a pair of games Saturday afternoon at Fisher Field.
With the split, the Polar Bears (12-13 overall, 11-10 Ohio Athletic Conference) will look to win the weekend series with a pair of home games against the Yellow Jackets (14-10-1,13-7-1) on Sunday at Wander Field.
Burkett collected a hit in game one, and hit a solo home run to be the 66th member of the ONU 100-Hit Club.
Senior Michael Rocco (Davenport, Fla./Zionsville (Ind.)) went 4-for-6 on the day with an RBI, a double, and a triple.
Northern rallied from a 7-0 deficit in the final four innings to win game one, 9-7.
Sophomore Nate Webb (Liberty, Ind./Union County) hit a solo home run to spark the Polar Bears rally to lead off the sixth inning.
Junior Corey McMann (Flower Mound, Tex./Liberty Christian) tripled in a run later in the inning.
After sophomore Austin Mathews (Washington Court House/Miami Trace) shut down the Yellow Jackets in the bottom of the sixth, the Polar Bears scored four more runs.
With two outs, ONU used two hit batters and two walks to load the bases and plate two runs, and a McMann single plated two more runs.
Matthews shut the door again in the seventh, Webb's RBI ground-out in the eighth tied the game at 7.
Rocco tripled in a run to give ONU the lead 8-7, and was later able to score on a single.
Senior Devin Johnson (Wooster) slammed the door in the eighth and nine for his fourth save of the season.
Matthews (1-0) gets his first career win being the pitcher of record in the top of the eighth.
The Polar Bears dropped game two 10-3.
BW jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but the ONU threatened in the top of the fourth.
McMann's RBI ground-out and Burkett's solo home run closed the score to 3-2.
The Yellow Jackets responded with a three run sixth, and then added another in the fifth inning that would be enough to hold on for the win.
TRACK AND FIELD
The Ohio Northern men's track & field won the team title at the Mike Becraft Invitational Saturday at Kerscher Stadium.
The Polar Bears (28-7 overall) won the the team title with 133 points. Otterbein finished second with 120 points and Capital finished third with 96 points.
Freshman Trey Myers (Dayton/Chaminade-Julienne) and sophomore Branden Kadlubowski (Fremont/St. Joseph) took first place and runner-up in the 400 in :51.48 and :52.07, respectively.
Junior Andrew Buderer (Oak Harbor) won the pole vault with a leap of 4.73 meters.
Senior Alex Sube (Wadsworth/Highland) finished second in the hammer throw with a toss of 51.32 meters and was third in the javelin with a heave of 44.19 meters.
Senior Travis Sutter (Sharpsburg/Fort Recovery) placed second in the 1500 in 4:07.49.
Freshmen Gabe Hensley (Lebannon) and Owen Schoonover (Lima/Shawnee) finished 2-3 in the long jump with leaps of 6.34 meters and 5.92 meters, respectively.
Senior Owen Lloyd (Colfax, Ind./Clinton Prairie) was third in the 110 meter hurdles in 15.20 seconds.
Sophomore Brandon Berry (Wickliffe) finished in third place in the 100 in :11.21.
Freshman Aaron Guzman (Lebanon) placed third in the 5000 in 16:06.09.
SOFTBALL
Sophomore Allie Bican (Solon) threw a shutout in game one, and a six-run Polar Bear sixth inning in game two led the Ohio Northern softball team to a pair of victories 2-0, and 7-4 Saturday afternoon at BW Softball Field.
With the wins, the Polar Bears improve to 14-13-1 overall and 13-12 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, and the Yellow Jackets fall to 18-10, and 16-10.
Sophomore Allie Bican (Solon) threw a 3-hit shutout, striking out 10, in a 2-0 win.
Junior Hannah Rubel (Swanton/Notre Dame) broke the scoreless tie with an RBI single in the sixth inning to give Northern a 1-0 lead.
ONU added an insurance run in the seventh after sophomore Sydney Motylinski (Ida, Mich.) reached on a Yellow Jackets error scoring pinch-runner Lauren Walls (Grove City).
Bican (7-3) recorded ten strikeouts and only gave up three hits in her fourth complete game of the season and her second career shutout.
Ohio Northern out-hit Baldwin Wallace 4-3.
A six-run sixth inning led Northern to a 7-4 win in game two.
With one out in the top of the sixth and a 4-0 BW lead, sophomore Annika Murray (Hilliard/Bradley) put ONU on the board with a solo home run.
Two consecutive hits led junior Abby Elliott (Loveland/Ursuline) to the plate with two runners in scoring position and she singled in Motylinski to make the score 4-2.
After a hit by pitch to load the bases, senior Gabby Stewart rocked a two RBI double to tie the score 4-4.
ONU took the lead by senior Alica Swierz's RBI single giving the Polar Bears the lead for good.
The Polar Bears tacked on one more run in the sixth and another in the seventh to provide a three run cushion that junior Stacey Walters (Sunbury/Big Walnut) would make hold up for her eleventh complete game of the season.
Walters (8-4) pitched all seven innings and recorded four strikeouts.
ONU out-hit BW in game two as well 11-6.
MEN'S LACROSSE
The Ohio Northern men's lacrosse team cruised to a 25-2 victory at Wilmington on Saturday afternoon at Williams Stadium.
The Polar Bears improve to 6-5 overall and 5-3 in the Ohio Athletic Conference and the Quakers drop to 0-11, 0-7.
ONU featured nineteen different goal scorers, and six Polar Bears scored twice.
Junior Joe Wasik (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) scored his first two career goals and sophomore Ryan McClure (Mentor) scored his second and third career goals to lead ONU.
Senior Cameron Marous (Brecksville/Brecksville-Broadview Heights) scored two goals to help the Polar Bears to an 11-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Northern scored the first 16 goals of the game.
Freshman Aidan Dempsey (Silver Spring, Md./St. John's College) scored back-to-back goals, registering his first with one second remaining in the third quarter and his next 2:28 later, to increase the lead to 22-1.
The Polar Bears out-shot the Quakers 49-11 and held a 21-4 advantage in ground balls.
With the win, ONU has clinched a berth in the 6-team OAC tournament, with the seedings and first round match-ups announced next Sunday.
Ohio Northern will wrap up its regular season next Saturday at home against Mount Union at 1 pm at Dial-Roberson Stadium.
WOMEN'S TENNIS
The Ohio Northern women's tennis team remained undefeated on the season with an 8-1 victory at Mount Union on Saturday afternoon at the Whitehill Courts.
The Polar Bears improve to 8-0 overall and are 6-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Purple Raiders fall to 1-5, 1-4.
With the victory, ONU sets up a contest with the league's other undefeated team, John Carroll, next Sunday at the West Campus Courts in Ada with the OAC Regular Season title on the line.
Sophomore Regan Landis (Elkhart, Ind./Concord) and freshman Olivia Kesner (Lima/Central Catholic) led Ohio Northern.
Landis won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2 singles and combined with senior Katie Curry (Oxford/Talawanda) to win 8-1 at No. 3 doubles.
Kesner won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3 singles and joined junior Ola Latala (Grosse Isle, Mich.) to win 8-2 at No. 1 singles.
Senior Mackenzie Wills (Ada) and sophomore Jeorgia Templin (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) won 8-3 at No. 2 doubles.
Senior Jordan Dodson (Worthington) also posted a shutout, winning 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6 singles.
Curry and Wills also won singles matches, with Curry winning 6-1, 6-0 at No. 4 and Wills winning 6-0, 6-1 at No. 5.
