HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The No. 3 seeded Northern Kentucky University women's soccer team is Horizon League Championship semifinal bound after earning a 1-0 first round victory over No. 6 seed Wright State on Monday night at NKU Soccer Stadium.

With the win, NKU (11-6-1) advances to the semifinal round of its conference tournament for the third-straight year. The Norse take on No. 2 seed Detroit Mercy on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT at Engelmann Stadium in Milwaukee. WSU (6-11-2) is eliminated from the tournament with the loss.

"Overall, I'm really pleased with our performance. At halftime we addressed a couple things that we needed to improve upon in terms of our attacking mentality. I thought we had a much better second half in terms of our attack. We defended really well and did not give them too many good looks at the goal," said head coach Bob Sheehan.

NKU SCORING SUMMARY

• In the 56th minute, Jessica Frey scored the game-winner and her eighth goal of the season. The initial pass from Macy Hamblin was bobbled inside the box before it was gathered by Frey and chipped in for the goal.

BETWEEN THE POSTS

• Sophomore goalkeeper Emily Lohmann picked up five saves en route to posting her fifth solo shutout of the season. The Norse posted their eighth team shutout of the year.
• WSU goalkeeper Katie Ruff registered four saves.

FIRST HALF SUMMARY

• The teams waged a defensive battle in the early going with NKU struggling to get a shot off until the 22th minute when Katelyn Newton posted an attempt off a corner kick.
• Both teams picked up the intensity across the final 15 minutes of the half and ended the period with five shots a piece and two on goal.

SECOND HALF SUMMARY

• NKU served as the aggressor throughout the second half, holding the Raiders to just two shots across the first 33 minutes of the half.
• Frey struck for her goal in the 56th minute mark for the 1-0 advantage.
• The Norse held off a late push from the Raiders. WSU fired three shots in the final 12 minutes, one of which was saved by Lohmann and another that sailed just outside the right post in the final seconds of the match.
• NKU posted eight second-half shots en route to out-shooting WSU, 13-10, overall. Shots on goal were tied at five.

NORSE NOTES

• Senior midfielder Katelyn Newton had a game-high five shots and was the only player in the match to have more than one shot on goal.
• Hamblin, who was named the Horizon League Player of the Year for the second-straight year on Monday, boosted her NKU Division-I era record for points to 24 with her eighth assist of the season.
• Frey has now tied Hamblin with a team-best eight goals this season as she netted her team-leading fifth game-winner. She has 19 points this season.
• Eight of NKU's 11 wins this season have been shutouts as it improved its goals-against average to 0.89 goals per game.
• Lohmann, a sophomore goalkeeper, earned her ninth victory of the season, putting her in a four-way tie for 10th all-time in single-season wins.

UP NEXT

• Northern Kentucky advances to the semifinals where it will play No. 2 seed Detroit Mercy in Milwaukee on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT. A victory in the semifinals would put NKU in the final round on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 5 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT. 
• Every game throughout the tournament will air on ESPN3. The full bracket and schedule can be viewed at the Championship Central page on HorizonLeague.org.