Northern Kentucky University Athletics

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University men's soccer team faces another big test this weekend as it travels to face Great Lakes Valley Conference foes Quincy and Illinois-Springfield.

Friday's kickoff at Quincy is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. (Eastern time), while Sunday's tilt at Illinois-Springfield will begin at 3:30 p.m.  Links to live stats for each contest can be found at nkunorse.com.

The Norse (10-2, 8-2 GLVC) suffered a bit of a setback last weekend, falling to conference rival Indianapolis in a 1-0 double-overtime thriller in a battle of first-place teams in the GLVC.  NKU is now tied with Rockhurst for second place in league play.

NKU also scored a 5-1 victory over Saint Joseph's in which five different players scored for the Norse.

A WORD ABOUT QUINCY:  The Hawks are in the thick of the GLVC regular-season race, sporting a league record of 7-2-1 to go with their overall mark of 8-3-1 after a pair of road wins at Missouri S&T and Drury.  Grant Ellison keys the offense for the Hawks with 10 goals while no teammate has more than three.  NKU holds a slight edge in the all-time series, 8-7-3, including two wins over Quincy last season.

A WORD ABOUT ILLINOIS-SPRINGFIELD: The Prairie Stars are struggling to find themselves this season, entering the weekend still seeking their first win of the season (0-9-2), though UIS did pick up a scoreless draw against Missouri S&T.  Carlo Cubero leads the offense with two of the team's five goals while Jack Turnachik has made 69 saves in net.  NKU has won both meetings against UIS all-time, outscoring the Prairie Stars by a combined total of 10-0.

STILL TOP 10: The Norse fell three spots in the NCAA Division II national poll to No. 7, keeping their streak of top 10 rankings alive at 18 weeks.  NKU has been ranked in 63 of the last 64 national polls dating back to Oct. 3, 2006.

MO' FOR MO: Mohammad Salhieh scored his team-leading fifth goal of the season in Friday's win over Saint Joseph's.  Of his five goals, three have proven to be game-winning tallies.

OFFENSIVE DEFENDERS:  The Norse have done a great job of spreading the offense around to all 11 players on the field, including the “Norse Wall.”  NKU defenders Anthony Meyer, Tommy Barrick, Ian O'Reilly and Kevin Donnelly have combined to score seven of NKU's 34 goals this season.