NKU gives head coach John Basalyga his 90th career victory with 6-0 shutout.
Box score
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. –
Ryan Grothaus scored two goals as the Northern Kentucky University men's soccer team coasted to a 6-0 victory against Illinois-Springfield on Sunday afternoon.
Keith Kelly collected the shutout for NKU, which improved to 9-2-1 overall, 6-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Norse, who are ranked 11th nationally in the NCAA Division II poll, allowed just one shot the entire contest and bounced back from their 1-0 loss at Lewis on Friday.
NKU also gave seventh-year head coach
John Basalyga his 90th career victory with the Norse. Basalyga is now 90-33-15 at NKU.
Seth Eckerlin began the scoring at the 28:07 mark with a goal off assists from
Braden Bishop and
Steven Beattie. Bishop struck four minutes later with a goal that gave NKU a 2-0 lead at intermission.
Beattie netted his team-leading 11th goal of the season 15 minutes into the second half to give NKU a 3-0 lead. Grothaus, a freshman from Milford, Ohio, then scored two consecutive goals – his first of the season - to extend the Norse advantage to 5-0.
John Swiastyn capped the scoring by netting a goal off an assist from
Anthony Meyer in the 85th minute. NKU finished with a 24-1 advantage in shot attempts.
The six goals equaled NKU's season high, which the Norse also netted against Lake Erie on Aug. 30. Illinois-Springfield dropped to 1-9-1 overall, 0-8-1 in the GLVC.
NKU returns home to meet Quincy at 5 p.m. Friday at the Town & Country Sports Complex in Wilder, Ky.
