HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University women's soccer team will look to continue its roll through the second half of the Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule this weekend when the Norse host Missouri-St. Louis and Southern Indiana.
Friday's match against Missouri-St. Louis is scheduled for a 5 p.m. kickoff at Town & Country Sports Complex in Wilder, Ky.
With time running short in the 2008 regular season, each game is crucial for NKU's postseason positioning. Entering the weekend, the Norse are 8-2 overall with a 4-2 mark in GLVC play, ranking them sixth in the conference. All four teams between the Norse and conference leader Wisconsin-Parkside, including Friday's opponent, Missouri-St. Louis, have both a loss and a tie on their conference results.
The top eight teams at the end of the regular season will receive bids to the GLVC Tournament, with the top four teams hosting quarterfinal matches on Nov. 2. NKU has secured home-field advantage in the quarterfinal or semifinal round in nine of the last 10 GLVC Tournaments.
NKU netted a total of 13 goals in a pair of wins over Ashland and Saint Joseph's last week. No NKU player had more than two goals or five points, and of the three players who notched multiple goals two of them,
Hannah Wissel and
Jessica Page, are freshmen. The performance allowed the Norse to maintain their national ranking at No. 24.
The Norse will close out their three-game home stand on Sunday against Southern Indiana. Kickoff is scheduled for noon.
A WORD ABOUT MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS: The Norse will look for a measure of revenge against the Tritons this weekend, as it was Missouri-St. Louis who knocked the Norse out of the GLVC Tournament last season by a 3-2 score. It was also the first time the Tritons have claimed a win against the Norse since 1997, a span of 16 games. This season, Missouri-St. Louis enters its battle with NKU with a 4-5-1 overall record, but a 4-1-1 record in the GLVC, drawing the Tritons level with Rockhurst for third place in the conference standings. Missouri-St. Louis claims a balanced offense, as each of the team's 10 goals has been scored by a different player.
A WORD ABOUT SOUTHERN INDIANA: NKU has won its last nine meetings with USI dating back to a 1999 GLVC Tournament victory in Edwardsville, Ill. All told, the Norse are 10-3 against the Screaming Eagles, who come into the weekend at 1-5 in the GLVC and 4-7 overall. The USI offense features Meagan Kempf, who has six goals and 14 points. Stephanie Bodamer will police the net for the Eagles, claiming an .809 save percentage in 2008.
OFFENSIVE OUTBURST: After last week's frenzy, the Norse lead the GLVC team rankings in goals, assists and points, and stand sixth in the nation in scoring offense (3.6 goals per game). If the season were to end today, it would be the second-highest goals-per-game total in NKU history. In 2001, the Norse netted 118 goals in 24 games for a 4.91 goals per game average.
SHARE AND SHARE ALIKE: Not only are the Norse proficient passers, they are unselfish scorers, as well. The Norse are one of two teams in the GLVC who claim more assists than goals, while individually, three Norse,
Kelly Sullivan,
Amanda Mason and
Brandi Doss, stand second in the GLVC and 14th nationally with seven assists (0.7 assists per game). Meanwhile, of the GLVC-best 36 goals scored by NKU, eight players have three or more goals on the season, with Sullivan leading the team at five.
