Northern Kentucky University Athletics

Atlantic Sun Conference Week 3 Notes

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University women's soccer team travels to Cookeville, Tenn., on Friday to face Tennessee Tech before returning home on Sept. 4 to host Xavier.

The match against Tennessee Tech is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Friday at the Tech Soccer Field.  The Norse will return to the NKU Soccer Stadium at 7 p.m. Tuesday to take on Xavier.

NKU enters the weekend with a 1-2 record after suffering 2-1 losses over the weekend to both Ball State and Western Kentucky at the Ball State Tournament in Muncie, Ind.  Megan Frye and Hannah Adams collected their first goals of the season, and Frye added an assist to lead the Norse offense.

Live stats for both matches will be available at nkunorse.com.  Fans unable to attend Tuesday's game against Xavier can watch on the ASun.TV for free.

ABOUT TENNESSEE TECH:  Tennessee Tech holds a 1-2-1 record after dropping a 2-0 decision against Davidson on Sunday.  The Golden Eagles played High Point to a 1-1 tie last Friday.

Forwards Ellie Iaciofano and Andrea Meloff lead the offense for Tennessee Tech.  Both have accumulated a goal and an assist in four starts this season.  Goalkeeper Jordan Brown has collected 27 saves while only surrendering five goals.

ABOUT XAVIER:  Xavier is 1-3 on the season.  The Musketeers fell to Western Kentucky (3-0) on Friday and Ball State (2-1) on Sunday in double overtime at the Ball State Tournament.

Forward Mariah Whitaker leads the Musketeers with three total points.  She scored the game-winning goal and added an assist on Aug. 20 over Lipscomb.  Goalkeeper Katie Markesbery has saved 24 shots for Xavier.
Xavier travels to Indianapolis on Sunday to face IUPUI.

JERSEY NIGHT:  Tuesday's game against Xavier is Jersey Night.  All kids 12 and under wearing a jersey of any type will receive free admission to the evening's game.  Schedule posters and key tags will be handed out as well.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM:  Allison Ponzer was named to the all-tournament team at the Ball State Tournament for her performance over the weekend.

Ponzer leads the team with 12 shot attempts.  She assisted on both goals against Canisius on Aug. 17 for a total of two points on the season.

Xavier's Ashton Green, who scored the only goal against Ball State, and Meredith Gleichert were also named to the all-tournament team.  Ball State and Western Kentucky, who both went 2-0 for the tournament, each placed four players on the team.

EVEN SCORING:  The Norse have scored four goals in the first three games this season, each coming from a different player.  Martha Staab scored a goal in the first half while Kelsey Laumann added a goal in the second as NKU cruised to a 2-0 victory over Canisius on Aug. 17.  Frye scored her first goal of the season on Friday against Ball State, while Adams did the same on Sunday against Western Kentucky.

THEY SAID IT

Head coach Bob Sheehan

On the Ball State Tournament:  “When we scheduled the games, we knew they would be challenges for us.  We have been a Division I program for about a month now, so we knew it would be a challenge.  I thought we really competed.  We were in both games, and we had opportunities in both games.  Things just didn't go our way.  We made some mistakes and the other teams were able to capitalize.  That is just the name of the game.  We are just going to keep working to try to improve and get a little bit better each game.”

On starting the season on the road:  “We haven't really thought about it.  We just get on the bus and go.  It certainly will be nice when we play our first home match next week against Xavier.  That is just how it all shook out with the scheduling and the announcement in December.  We didn't really have a schedule, so we had to find teams who were available to play us, but we feel like we have a competitive schedule.  The truth is, it will all come back to us anyway.  Theteams will return.  We will hopefully develop some nice relationships and some nice rivalries, so it will all work itself out.”

On playing Tennessee Tech and Xavier:  “We have never played Tennessee Tech, so we don't really know much about them.  We are just going to go down there and be as competitive as we can.  In terms of Xavier, we have played them in the past.  They are a local team with local players, and we have local players.  We are not too far apart from them, so hopefully it will be a good game.”

Junior Megan Frye

On scoring her first goal of the season:  “Ball State was a little bit of a struggle, but we started pulling through towards the end because we are a second half team.  Again, we are a second half team so we started putting the pressure on [Western Kentucky] late, and Hannah had a nice goalthat I assisted on.”

On NKU's next two games:  “We aren't really sure how Tennessee Tech plays, but we are still going to come out strong.  We have playedXavier the past two years in the spring.  They have always been very competitive and physical, so hopefully we can beat them this year.”

Senior Hannah Adams

On her goal against Western Kentucky:  “It was late in the second half.  I played the ball to Megan and continued my run to the outside, and she played it back to me.  I just hit it one time over the keeper into the far post.  It was a pretty sweet goal.”

On playing at the NCAA Division I level as a senior:  “It is a really cool experience to say I played Division I soccer.  It is obviously different competition, which we noticed in the first three games.  I think it is going to be really good for the program and for the school.”

On games against Tennessee Tech and Xavier:  “We haven't played Tennessee Tech before so we don't know what it is going to be like.  We are going to come out strong.  We have improved every game so far this season, so Ithink we will just keep improving and get the win on Friday.  We are really excited for Xavier to come here on Tuesday for our first home game.  We have played Xavier the past two springs and we haven't been able to win, so we are hoping to beat them on our home field.”