Northern Kentucky University Athletics

Box Score | Photo gallery

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University men's soccer team defeated East Tennessee State 1-0 Wednesday night thanks to a 60th-minute goal from sophomore Yaw Addai.
 
The Norse started the game with a different look as Dalton Robinson, Ronald Moss, Ben Rossoll, and Noah Johnson made their first career starts. The Norse struggled to come up with possession in the opening fifteen minutes but as they made a few early substitutions, opportunities arose for the offense. In the 16th minute, Cian McDonald got an open look at goal and blasted a shot in from 25-yards out that sailed wide of the target.
 
Moments later, in the 25th minute, Nick McGregor got on the end of a Brendan Murphy cross and headed the ball goal-ward. ETSU keeper Ryan Coulter was called into acting, making his second save of the first half. NKU keeper A.J. Fleak never got troubled in the opening 45 minutes, as the Buccaneers didn't register a shot on target.

The Norse went in to the half outshooting the Bucs 7-3 as the game remained scoreless.The second half opened up with an offensive surge for the Norse. McDonald took a shot in the 54th minute that was just inches away from the target. Mohammad Salhieh followed with a close range attempt that went just over the crossbar in the 56th minute.
 
After Fleak was called into action to make his first save of the day, the Norse sprung on a counterattack led by Murphy. Murphy took the ball past midfield and played a low through ball in to Addai. Addai got behind the ETSU defenders and was able to slot the ball past the ETSU keeper to give the Norse the 1-0 lead in the 60th minute. Addai has scored the only two goals for the Norse at home this season, having scored the equalizer earlier in the year in the 1-1 draw against North Florida.
 
The Norse were able to hang on to the lead but the Buccaneers were able to get some good chances at goal in the final minutes. David Geno, the 2012 Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year, had two shot attempts in the last 10 minutes of the game that nearly resulted in an equalizing goal. He had a header in the 82nd minute that just tipped over the crossbar, resulting in an ETSU corner. Geno got the ball in the box during the 86th minute and quickly turned to take a shot at goal.

His attempt landed into the side netting and the Norse would end up holding on to secure the victory of the 2nd-place team in the conference.
 
NKU will return to action at the NKU Soccer Stadium on Saturday to take on the Jacksonville Dolphins. The Norse will honor its six seniors prior to the game in Nicholas Chiarot, Ben Dorn, Craig Heard, Brendan Murphy, Mohammad Salhieh, and Alex Weber. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff and live stats will be available at nkunorse.com.