HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky men's soccer team welcomes UIC to town on Saturday for a Horizon League matchup. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. at NKU Soccer Stadium, and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN3. The contest is part of the Think Pink Games for the American Cancer Society. Any fan wearing pink will receive free admission to the match.
 
Northern Kentucky Norse (6-3-3, 2-2-1) vs. UIC Flames (5-5-2, 3-2-0)
Saturday, Oct. 14 – 4 p.m.
Highland Heights, Ky. – NKU Soccer Stadium
 
 
HEAD COACH STU RIDDLE: Stu Riddle is in his first season at the helm of the NKU men's soccer program. He was most recently the head coach at the University at Buffalo, where he spent four seasons. Last year as head coach of the Bulls, Riddle led the team to a 12-4-3 overall record. For his career, Riddle sports a 67-71-24 overall record as a head coach. In the past seven seasons, Riddle guided his teams to the Mid-American Conference Championship match four times (2010, 2011 at Western Michigan and 2015, 2016 at Buffalo).
 
LAST TIME OUT:  The Norse suffered a 2-1 loss to Oakland on Oct. 7. Calvin Murphy scored a goal in the 73^rd minute to tie the match, but the Golden Grizzlies recorded a goal in the 86^th minute to take a 2-1 advantage.  
 
SCOUTING UIC:  The Flames enter the contest at 5-5-2 overall and 3-2-0 in the Horizon League. The team is on a five-match unbeaten streak, sporting a 4-0-1 record in those outings. UIC most recently picked up a 3-1 win over Green Bay on Oct. 7. Oscar Gonzalez leads the offense with five goals and five assists for 15 points. Jesus Perez has also been a major contributor with two goals and seven assists. At goalkeeper, Sawyer Jackman has seen a bulk of the action. He has played in 10 matches on the season, and he has a 1.41 goals against average.
 
NORSE IN THE 2017 SEASON:  The Norse have a 6-3-3 overall record and 2-2-1 mark in the Horizon League. NKU is averaging 1.33 goals per match, while allowing 1.08 goals per contest. When scoring first in a match, the Norse are 6-0. NKU also has a 5-0 record when leading at the half. Tom Suchecki leads the team with four goals and two assists for 10 points. Rikard Lindqvist also has four goals on the season. In total, nine different Norse players have recorded a goal this season. In the net, Jim Barkei has started all 12 matches for the team. He has a 6-3-3 record with six shutouts on the year. Barkei sports a 0.98 goals against average and a 0.765 save percentage.
 
HORIZON LEAGUE AWARD: Jim Barkei was named the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 18. The redshirt junior from Downers Grove, Ill., recorded a shutout in a 0-0 draw against Cleveland State. In the match against the Vikings, he faced 22 shots and made seven saves to prevent CSU from getting a goal. Earlier in that week, Barkei helped the Norse to a 1-0 win over Dayton. He faced 13 shots, making three saves.
 
FRESH FACES: NKU signed 13 student-athletes to its 2017 class. Jim Barkei, Victor Bjurhall, Felix Komolong, Alex Greive, Brett Wilson, Tom Suchecki, Rikard Lindqvist, Edo Durante, Abdul Kooistra, Jake Minkovitz, Joe Paasewe, Harvey Moyes and Isaiah Schatz are all in their first seasons with the Norse.
 
Barkei, Koositra, Lindqvist, Suchecki and Wilson are transfers who have played at the Division I level. Komolong, a freshman, is the brother of NKU soccer alum Alvin Komolong. Schatz is also a freshman, and he earned a selection to the U.S. Youth Futsal Team that competed in Costa Rica in late July.
 
UP NEXT: The Norse will travel to Wright State on Saturday, Oct. 21. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m., and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN3.