LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky men's soccer team's defense forced the Louisville Cardinals into overtime on Tuesday night before falling, 1-0, in the 96th minute.

"I couldn't have asked for anything more from the lads tonight," said head coach Stu Riddle. "They battled hard and gave absolutely everything they had and were minutes away from a credible result. We've shown again tonight we can compete with the No. 15 team in RPI on the road and we need to take the positives into Saturday's match."

BETWEEN THE POSTS

• Baj Maan had a strong night, making 9 saves and faced 23 other shots before he yielded the only goal of the match.

MATCH SUMMARY

• NKU had a steady attack going in the early minutes of the match as Alex Willis and Stian Jørgensen were both able to get shots off.
• The Cardinals were settled in by the 15th minute and soon controlled the flow of the game as they found six shots between the 16th and 25th minutes—two of which were excellent tries on goal that were saved by Maan.
• NKU's only shot on goal of the night came in the 27th minute by Rikard Lindqvist, who pelted one toward the bottom-center of the goal.
• The game remained scoreless heading into halftime thanks in part to Maan's three saves.
• The story of the second half was much like the first, Louisville's offense threw everything it had toward Maan but nothing could find its way into the goal. Meanwhile, NKU struggled on offense as it could reach the final third, but couldn't find space to generate any shot attempts.
• The gritty defensive performance by the Norse stretched the game into overtime and Maan was tested again in the 92nd minute, saving a shot Louisville's Neil Boyal in the bottom-right corner of the goal.
• Unfortunately for the Norse, a ricocheted save by Maan was slipped into the goal by the Cardinals at the 96th minute, ending the match.

NORSE NOTES

• The end results this season are not indicative of the performance of NKU's freshman keeper. Maan has 54 saves in 152 shots faced, as well as a 1.38 GAA.
• Maan's nine saves are the most he's had this year.
• Louisville is currently 15^th in NCAA RPI despite its 6-4-2 record. They are currently receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches poll after being as high as No. 14 this season.
• Fellow Horizon League opponent Cleveland State gave up two goals to the Cardinals earlier this season.

UP NEXT

• The Norse will be in their familiar confines of NKU Soccer Stadium on Saturday night when they take on Green Bay at 7:00 p.m. The Horizon League matchup will be streamed on ESPN3.