HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Division I era of Northern Kentucky University men's soccer kicks off officially on Friday night when the Norse travel to take on Wisconsin-Green Bay for the 2012 regular season opener. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. Eastern.
The weekend concludes on Sunday when the Norse face Wisconsin-Milwaukee for an 11 a.m. Eastern kickoff. It will be the first meeting for the Norse against either team.
NKU's lone exhibition came before a record crowd at the NKU Soccer Stadium, which witnessed the Norse battle Kentucky to a 2-2 draw.
Mohammad Salhieh got the Norse on the board in the 36th minute and
Cian McDonald scored NKU's second goal just seconds before the halftime whistle.
The Norse are coming off a 14-5 record in their final season in NCAA Division II, advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
PRESEASON POLL: In their inaugural season as members of the Atlantic Sun Conference, the Norse were picked to finish eighth in the league's preseason poll. The Norse garnered 19 points in the poll.
HELLO, MY NAME IS…: The Norse welcome 24 newcomers to the roster this season, including seven transfers. Eight of those newcomers were among the starting 11 in NKU's exhibition against Kentucky, including former UK players
Nick McGregor,
Craig Heard and
Brendan Murphy.
STRONG OPENER: The Norse are 18-10-4 all-time in season openers and are seeking their seventh-consecutive season-opening victory.
THEY SAID IT
Head Coach
John Basalyga
On team after first exhibition: “We're a little dinged up from the game on Friday night, our kids are just trying to recover from that. A couple of ankles here and bruises there, but they're getting back at it.”
On preparing against new teams: “It's all new opponents and trying to figure out the new cities and new travel and all of that. We'll just get some reports from some people we know and just play it by ear. We're going in blind and we'll hope for the best. With the new kids we have it's probably the best thing for us because we don't have any preconceived notions of who they are. We know we're going to take our lumps, but we hope we can compete.”
On the new personnel: “Well, it's tough because we have so many new kids here. We only had three kids from last year start on Friday, so everything is brand new. It's trying to find the right combinations to get organized on defense, and to make sure we know what we're doing and being composed on the ball. It's just a matter of keeping everybody in front of us, hopefully counterattacking a little bit here and there and taking care of our free kicks when we get them.”
On the early road schedule: “[Our kids had] better bring their books. It's totally new to us being on the road. We're going to have some tired legs at times. They're going to have to get their rest and they're going to have to take care of their books and their school when they get home. It's going to be a little bit tough, but it's a good challenge.”
Senior midfielder
Michael Bartlett
On the team: “We're looking strong. We've got over 15 new players, a lot of new freshmen, we're all looking strong, we're all playing hard.”
On the lessons from the Kentucky game: “We learned we can play with anyone in Division I. We're strong, we may not be as physically talented as [our opponents], but we're going to play with them a full 90 minutes.”
On the new competition: “Biggest thing is that we're going to have to get used to the faster pace and playing against bigger players. We work hard in practice every day, though, so we should be well prepared.”
On the road: “I'm excited for it. There's nothing better than beating an opponent on their home field, especially when they have a lot of fans in the stands.”
Sophomore goalkeeper
Toby Frohlich
On the UK game: “It was phenominal. It was the best home crowd I've played in front of in my two years of college soccer. It was an honor to get into a match of that magnitude.”
On transition: “I played against Milwaukee and Green Bay last year when I was in the Horizon League [with Cleveland State], and we fared decent against them. They're two good teams and we'll have to play well to get the results against them.”
On the road schedule: “We're pretty fit, we've been working quite hard this preseason, and we're going to hope that gets us through this long stretch on the road.”
