Week 2 Game NotesHIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University women's soccer team looks to stay unbeaten on Sunday afternoon as the Norse face IPFW in the first road match of the 2014 season.
Kickoff from the Hefner Soccer Complex in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is scheduled for noon. Links to live stats for the contest will be available at NKUNorse.com.
The Norse began the season with a 1-0-1 record last weekend. Four players scored goals for NKU in Friday's season opener, lifting the Norse to a 4-0 victory over Eastern Illinois.
Macy Hamblin and
Kelsey Laumann each recorded one goal and one assist to lead the NKU effort, and Hamblin collected her second goal of the season in Sunday's 1-1 draw with Morehead State.
"Overall, we were very pleased with our performance on Friday night," NKU head coach
Bob Sheehan said. "It was great for them to score a couple goals early, and it provided them with a lot of confidence going forward. We had the opportunity to get a lot of people in the game, and it was great to get to do that so early in the season.
"On Sunday, Morehead State came in with a lot of experienced players who have played together for a while. It was nice to be pushed by a tournament-tested team in just our second game. We are trying to focus on getting a little bit better every day and each time we take the field."
NKU is just one of three Atlantic Sun Conference schools to start this season undefeated. Preseason conference favorite Florida Gulf Coast, which saw its season opener postponed, collected a win on Sunday, while 2013 Atlantic Sun tournament champion Jacksonville went 1-0-1 on the weekend as well.
ABOUT IPFW: The Mastodons opened their season by dropping a 3-0 decision at Ball State on Friday night. IPFW returns 14 letterwinners, including nine starters, from last season's squad that finished with a 6-12-1 overall record and a 3-3-1 mark in the Summit league to post a fourth-place finish.
Midfielder Gaby Romo led the Mastodons with nine points off four goals and one assist in 2013, followed by forward Andie Lazzerini's eight points. Lazzerini collected three goals and tied for the team lead with two assists. Forwards Lindsey Swoop and Rachel Good each recorded both of IPFW's shots on goal on Friday night.
Goalkeeper Sam Pavlika returns for her junior season after posting five shutouts and a 1.80 goals against average. She started every game in goal for the Mastodons and stopped 103 of the 284 shot attempts she faced. Last Friday, she collected nine saves despite allowing three goals against the Cardinals.
"We have not played them for several years since IPFW made its switch to the Division I level several years ago," Sheehan said. "They have a new coach this year and Jason [Burr] is a good guy who should do good things with them. It is going to be another difficult match for us in the early part of the season."
IPFW hosts Detroit on Friday night before welcoming the Norse to the Hefner Soccer Complex.
NKU/IPFW SERIES: NKU holds a 2-0 lead in the all-time series with IPFW. The two teams first met on Oct. 23, 1999, while both teams were still members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Norse cruised to an 11-0 victory in Fort Wayne, Indiana. NKU finished 22-3 that season and advanced to the NCAA Division II national semifinals.
The following year, in which NKU claimed national runner-up honors, Norse career goal leader Betsy Moore and Jill Johanningman scored two goals apiece to lead NKU to an 8-0 win at the Town and Country Sports Complex in Wilder, Kentucky.
AGAINST THE SUMMIT LEAGUE: NKU is 4-2 all-time against teams in the Summit League. In addition to the Norse's 2-0 advantage against IPFW, NKU also holds a winning record over North Dakota State (1-0). The Norse are 1-2 against Nebraska-Omaha.
NKU's 2014 schedule features one more team from the Summit League. The Norse will travel to Indianapolis on Friday, Sept. 5 to face IUPUI in the first regular-season meeting between the two programs. NKU and IUPUI were slated to play a spring game in March, but inclement weather forced the game to be canceled.
OPENING WEEKEND SUCCESS: NKU is starting the regular season off undefeated after the first weekend of play with a 1-0-1 record. It marks the first time since the 2011 season, NKU's last as an NCAA Division II program, in which the Norse remained undefeated after the first two games. That season, NKU started the year 3-0 before dropping a 3-1 decision to Southern Indiana.
In the Norse's inaugural Division I season, NKU recorded the first victory nationally with a 2-0 victory at Canisius.
Martha Staab and
Kelsey Laumann each scored goals to lead the team to the school's first-ever Division I win.
DEFENSE STRONG: The NKU defense got off to a strong start over the weekend, allowing just one goal over the two games. As a team, the Norse posted a shutout in their first official outing of the regular season and limited Eastern Illinois to just three shots on goal and four total attempts on the night.
On Sunday, Morehead State attacked early, but NKU allowed just one goal on 12 shot attempts. With the game tied at 1-1 late in the game, the Eagles worked the ball deep into the penalty box area, but
Ariel Fischer cleared the ball and ended the Morehead State threat.
"We've demanded that they elevate their individual performances each time out this season," Sheehan said. "We are trying to specifically point out what they can do to improve, and they have really embraced that challenge and taken ownership of their individual and collective performances."
Norse goalkeeper
Tanner Ruberg earned Atlantic Sun Defensive Player of the week honors for her efforts over the weekend. She posted nine saves in the two games and recorded a 0.50 goals against average with a .900 save percentage.
IMPRESSIVE STARTS: Macy Hamblin and
Kelsey Laumann were important contributors to the NKU offense during the first two games. Laumann, a redshirt junior from Cincinnati, Ohio, who missed all of last season with an injury, scored the first Norse goal of the 2014 season less than four minutes into Friday's contest against Eastern Illinois. She later sent a pass to
Jessica Frey for the assist on Frey's first collegiate goal to give NKU a 4-0 victory.
After assisting on Laumann's goal against the Panthers, Hamblin recorded her first career goal less than ten minutes later to stretch the Norse lead to 2-0 on Friday.
On Sunday afternoon, Laumann got the ball to
Aubrey Muench in the open field, and Muench sent the ball forward to Hamblin as the Eastern Illinois goalkeeper dove for the ball. Hamblin then fired a shot into the back of the net for her second goal of the season.
Hamblin, a freshman from Fairfield, Ohio, leads the Norse offense with five points on her two goals and one assist. Laumann closely follows with one goal and two assists for four points.
