Following a historic 2017 campaign, the Ohio Northern women's soccer program has set lofty goals as they begin their defense of the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season and tournament crowns under 15th-year head coach Mark Batman.

Their first matches are this weekend at the Illinois Wesleyan Invitational. The first home game in Ada will be at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 8, against Case Western.

Last season, the Polar Bears sported an impressive 20-2-2 overall record with an undefeated 9-0-0 mark in conference action.

The 2017 season marks the first time in program history that the team has won both titles in the same year.

Northern received a bid to the 2017 NCAA tournament where they appeared in the Elite 8 for the first time in school history after winning their first two matches.

During the previous season, ONU recorded a school record 16 shutouts, including a string of seven consecutive clean sheets that tied a school record.

Coach Batman and his staff welcome back 17 former varsity letter winners, including six All-Conference selections and three All-Great Lakes Region honorees from 2017. 

"We are excited about the upcoming season. We aren't asking the players to do the same thing they did last year. We aren't reminding them of the great season they had a year ago. That was last year – what is important is right now," Batman said regarding the season ahead.