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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Six Northern Kentucky University players netted goals Sunday afternoon as the Norse women's soccer team cruised to a 6-1 victory against visiting Canisius.
The six goals were the most scored by Northern Kentucky (3-2-1 overall) since beginning play as a Division I program. The Norse also established a Division I-era mark by scoring four goals in the first half and coasted to the non-conference win against the Golden Griffins (1-5-1).
Less than four minutes into the game, Northern Kentucky owned a 2-0 lead as
Megan Frye and
Sami Rutowski both sent shots past Canisius goalie Megan Tock into the back of the net.
Katelyn Newton assisted Frye's marker with a nice cross, while
Casey McMillan picked up the assist on Rutowski's goal, a shot from 25 yards straight out that sailed over Tock's outstretched arms.
Allison Ponzer's breakaway goal at the 39:23 mark made it 3-0, and teammate
Martha Staab finished off a breakaway four minutes later to give the Norse a 4-0 lead at intermission.
"I thought we came out really strong today," NKU head coach
Bob Sheehan said. "It was really nice for us to get a couple of goals early, which is something we haven't done much in our transition to Division I, so that was a great way to start the game and to put the other team on their heels a little bit. We continued to play strong and went into the half with a 4-0 lead, which was very encouraging to us."
Chrissy Spears netted a goal off an assist from Rutowski five minutes into the second half to extend Northern Kentucky's advantage to 5-0, and
Aubrey Muench capped the Norse offensive display at the 69:58 mark with her first marker of the season.
Canisius avoided a shutout in the 73rd minute when Brianna Smith chipped a shot past Norse backup goalie
Kelly Neumann.
The Norse finished with a 23-8 advantage in shot attempts and controlled the field the entire contest. Northern Kentucky is now 2-0 all-time against Canisius.
While in Division II, Northern Kentucky's biggest offensive output took place on Sept. 9, 2001, when the Norse rolled to a 12-0 win at Wheeling Jesuit. The six goals scored Sunday were the most by Northern Kentucky since a 7-1 victory over Saint Joseph's (Ind.) on Oct. 7, 2011.
"It was a really nice day for the attacking unit," Sheehan said of Sunday's six goals.
The Norse visit Oakland (Mich.) on Friday for a non-conference battle at 7 p.m. Northern Kentucky returns home to meet Youngstown State next Sunday at noon.
"Even before the season began, we talked about how sometimes the season can be a series of peaks and valleys, and obviously we want to get to more peaks than valleys," Sheehan said. "We felt that maybe after we went to Butler and played that match, and coming off playing a very difficult opponent that maybe we were in a little bit of a valley. Our players embraced finding a way to climb out of it and finding a way to win, and now we do have a little bit of momentum. So, that is very exciting as we move through the season."
