HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The top-ranked Northern Kentucky University men's soccer team returns to action this weekend with games against Great Lakes Valley Conference foes Saint Joseph's and Wisconsin-Parkside.
Both games will be played at the Town & Country Sports Complex in Wilder, Ky. NKU will entertain Saint Joseph's on Friday at 7:30 p.m., while UW-Parkside will visit Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
Live stats will be available for both games and Sunday's game can be heard live on nkunorse.com.
The Norse enter the weekend with a 7-0-1 record after posting a scoreless draw in non-conference action against Ashland and a 2-1 victory over GLVC rival Indianapolis. The Norse are 4-0 in the GLVC, tied with Drury for the top spot in the league.
NKU is led offensively by
Steven Beattie, who has nine goals on the season.
Kevin Donnelly and
Paul Andrews each lead the Norse with three assists a piece.
On the defensive side, goalkeeper
Michael Lavric holds a 0.74 goals against average and a .786 save percentage while posting two shutouts on the season. He is aided by a defensive corps, led by seniors
Chris Dobrowolski and
Alex Allison, that has allowed just 3.5 shots on goal per game.
A WORD ABOUT SAINT JOSEPH'S: The Pumas enter Friday's contest with a record of 4-3-1 and 2-2-1 in the GLVC. The Pumas' offense is led by Greg Gehrig, who has eight goals on the season, while goalkeeper Alex Makin has posted a 1.70 goals against average. NKU is 21-1-3 all-time against Saint Joseph's, the only NKU loss coming in 1997.
LAST TIME AGAINST SAINT JOSEPH'S: Steven Beattie etched his name in the NCAA record books, scoring just 10 seconds into the contest to set the tone as NKU took a 3-0 victory. Beattie had his boot in all three goals, scoring another in the game and assisting on a
Mike Jonca marker. The Norse outshot the Pumas, 26-11.
A WORD ABOUT WISCONSIN-PARKSIDE: The Rangers enter Sunday's contest as the No. 24 team in this week's NCAA Division II national poll. The Rangers are 7-1-1 on the season with a 3-1-1 record in GLVC play prior to their contest against Bellarmine on Friday. UWP owns the all-time series between the teams, 13-10-3, but NKU has gone unbeaten in the last seven contests.
LAST TIME AGAINST WISCONSIN-PARKSIDE: The Norse outshot the Rangers by a 22-6 margin en route to a 2-0 victory at UWP last season.
Eric Ashworth opened the scoring in the 41st minute while
Steven Beattie scored the insurance marker in the 84th.
Michael Lavric made one save to claim the shutout.
TOP 25 MATCHUPS: Sunday's match between NKU and UWP will pit top 25 teams against each other, with NKU as the No. 1 team in the nation. Last season, NKU went 1-3-4 against ranked teams with their only win coming in a 3-2 decision over Ashland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. NKU and UWP last met as ranked opponents in 2007, when then-No. 3 NKU defeated then-No. 12 UWP by a 1-0 score.
SHUTOUT STALEMATES: NKU has been shutout just four times over the last two seasons, including last week's 0-0 draw at Ashland. Of those four shutouts, three of them have come in scoreless draws.
CLOSING IN ON THE TOP: Steven Beattie's 41 career goals now rank him second all-time at NKU, just five away from Chad Scott's 46 goals scored between 1992 and 1995. Beattie set the single-season goal scoring record last year with 21 markers, besting Todd Gruenwald's 19 goals during the 1992 season.
