HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University women's soccer team opens the 2015 regular season on Friday, Aug. 21 when it plays host to IPFW at NKU Soccer Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and will be aired on ESPN3. The Norse will then travel to Eastern Illinois on Sunday for a 2 p.m. tilt at Lakeside Field.

Friday, Aug. 21 - NKU (9-8-3) vs. IPFW (2-14-2) -- 7 p.m.
Highland Heights, Ky. -- NKU Soccer Stadium
TV: ESPN3 | Live stats: NKUstats.com | Twitter: @NKUNorseGameday
 
Sunday, Aug. 23 - NKU at Eastern Illinois (2-15-2) -- 2 p.m.
Charleston, Ill. -- Lakeside Field
Live stats: EIUPanthers.com | Twitter: @NKUNorseGameday
 
LAST TIME OUT: Northern Kentucky wrapped up the preseason with a 1-1 draw against Western Kentucky. An own goal gave the Hilltoppers a 1-0 advantage in the 59th minute before junior Sami Rutowski netted the equalizer in the 85th minute on a double assist from Katelyn Newton and Payton Naylor.

ABOUT IPFW: IPFW recorded a 2-14-2 overall record last season and a 0-6-2 record in the Summit League. The Mastodons are coming off their lone exhibition match of the preseason when they played UIC to a scoreless draw. Sophomore forward Kallianne Mogler led the squad in points with eight last season while midfielder Taylor Pavlika was named to the 2014 Summit League All-Freshman Team with five total points. IPFW lost its primary goalkeeper at the end of last season and will look to redshirt sophomore Kiley Dunning who recorded 76:09 scoreless minutes in goal in 2014.

NKU is 2-2 against IPFW with the last meeting coming early in 2014 when the Norse fell in a high-scoring battle, 6-4.

ABOUT EASTERN ILLINOIS: The Panthers went 2-15-2 last season, including 1-8-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Panthers are coming off a 2-1 exhibition loss to Evansville and will open the season against IUPUI on Friday night before hosting the Norse on Sunday. Senior forward Hannah Miller paced the EIU offense last season with eight points. Miller joins a young team with 11 freshmen after the Panthers graduated four of their top five offensive players from last season. The EIU roster also features four goalkeepers, all of which are new to the program.

The Norse cruised to a 4-0 shutout over the Panthers last year in the regular season opener on the road. The match served as the first meeting between the two teams.

NORSE NOTES:

NKU enters game one of the season sporting a 13-3-1 record in season-opening games. In addition to opening game success, Northern Kentucky has also shut out its opponent to start the season in two of the last three season openers. The Norse kicked off last year's campaign with a 4-0 road victory over Eastern Illinois.

NKU's 17-game slate includes 10 opponents the program has never faced off against before. Of the 10 new opponents, six are a member of the Horizon League. The Norse will also take on their first Big Ten team in program history when they travel to Illinois on Sept. 11.

Rutowski, a junior midfielder, led the Norse offensively through NKU's pair of exhibition matches. Rutowski assisted sophomore forward Jessica Frey on her goal in the exhibition opener against Louisville before scoring a goal of her own in the second and final exhibition contest versus WKU. Between the two matches, Rutowski fired four shots, all on goal for a perfect shot on goal percentage.

Redshirt junior goalkeeper Brooke Schocker helped the Norse to a 1-0 shutout over Louisville and recorded eight total saves throughout exhibition play. Schocker, who logged 1204:15 minutes between the posts last season, shared time in goal with freshman Emily Lohmann in the preseason slate. Lohmann's goal time totaled 22:34 minutes.

Freshman Payton Naylor received the starting nod in both of NKU's exhibition matches and picked up an assist against WKU. Freshman Taylor Spaulding also started in both matches and competed in all 180 minutes of action.

Northern Kentucky was picked to finish fifth out of 10 teams in the Horizon League preseason poll. Valparaiso, the defending Horizon League champion, went undefeated in the conference last year and is the unanimous favorite according to the coaches' poll. Oakland, Detroit and Cleveland State are the projected second, third and fourth place teams ahead of NKU.

The Norse look to pick up where they left off last season when they made a run to the Atlantic Sun semifinals. The squad shutout its opponents in four of the last five games before falling 3-1 to 2014 A-Sun champion and 25th-ranked Florida Gulf Coast.

Six regular season home games and two road games are set to be broadcast on the Horizon League Network on ESPN3 this season. Friday's match against IPFW can be seen on ESPN3, while fans can also catch the Norse on ESPN3 when they face off against Xavier (Sept. 4), Toledo (Sept. 20), and Horizon League opponents Detroit (Oct. 3), Wright State (Oct. 14), Cleveland State (Oct. 17), Oakland (Oct. 21) and Green Bay (Oct. 30).