FLORENCE, S.C. – The Northern Kentucky University women's soccer team scored three goals in the second half to come from behind for a 4-3 nonconference victory over Francis Marion at the Hartzler Soccer Field on Friday night.
 
Trailing 2-1 at the halftime break, NKU (4-3-2) wasted no time in the second half tying the game for the second time of the night.  Chrissy Spears forwarded the ball to Macy Hamblin, who took a shot from eight yards out.  O'Berry dove to try to stop the attempt, but the ball glanced off her hands and into the back of the net in the 48th minute.
 
Morgan Shafer's second goal of the season gave the Norse their first lead of the game at the 50:21 mark.  She took a pass from Abbey Scherer after a Kelsey Laumann corner kick opportunity and connected on her only shot attempt of the game.
 
NKU added its insurance goal in the 69th minute.  Hamblin sent a shot on target but a Patriot defender kept the ball from crossing the goal line, clearing it with a short kick that landed in front of Elizabeth Wittwer.  Wittwer took a shot from 19 yards out and found the left side of the net for the 4-2 Norse advantage.
 
With just under seven minutes remaining in the game, Francis Marion's Elizabeth Asare netted the final goal of the game when Tori Whigham sent her a pass and NKU goalkeeper Brooke Schocker came out to meet Asare.  Asare took a step to her left and found the back of the net for the final margin of the game.
 
"Any time we can win on the road, we are thrilled with that outcome," NKU head coach Bob Sheehan said.  "Even being down 2-1 at the half, our players competed the whole time, and they continued to compete throughout the second half.  They did a great job tonight, and they came through with the three second-half goals to give us the win, so we are very happy with how things turned out."
 
Whigham put Francis Marion on the scoreboard early, netting her first goal of the season in the eighth minute.  She gathered a loose ball and sent a shot from five yards out by Shocker into the back of the net.
 
The Norse evened the game at 1-all at the 12:37 mark.  Kelsey Laumann sparked the scoring play when her shot attempt bounced off Patriots goalkeeper Taylor O'Berry.  Aubrey Muench gained control of the ball and tapped her shot past O'Berry for her first goal of the season.
 
In the 37th minute, Francis Marion (0-8) regained the lead.  Kelly Anthony took a 26-yard shot from the top of the penalty box and placed it into the upper left corner of the goal to put the Patriots for their 2-1 halftime advantage.
 
NKU finished with a 17-7 advantage in shot attempts and placed 11 on target.  The Norse had eight offensive attacks thwarted when they were whistled offside, including five in the first half.  Hamblin, Muench and Laumann led the offense with four shot attempts, with Hamblin and Laumann putting three on goal.  Schocker made two saves in goal for the Norse.
 
Anthony and Kristyn Leung each collected two shots to pace the Patriots offense, while O'Berry recorded six of the Francis Marion's seven saves.
 
NKU begins Atlantic Sun Conference play on Sunday as the Norse travel to Spartanburg, South Carolina, to face USC Upstate.  Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m., and links to live stats and the ASun.TV broadcast are available at NKUNorse.com.