HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. –  Northern Kentucky women's soccer (1-1, 1-0 Horizon League) faces Oakland (1-2) on Wednesday, Feb. 23, at NKU Soccer Stadium.  
  
NORTHERN KENTUCKY vs. OAKLAND 
Wednesday, Feb. 23 – 1:00 p.m. ET – Highland Heights, Ky. – ESPN+ 
Northern Kentucky Athletics is not accommodating general-admission attendance. Only pass-list supporters are allowed at the match.  
  
SERIES HISTORY  
The series is dead-even at 4-4-1. The Norse are the most recent winners, shutting the Golden Grizzlies out, 2-0, on October 23, 2019. 
 
LAST TIME OUT 
NKU fell, 2-1, in the late going of a nonconference matchup with Dayton. Kailey Ivins had the lone goal for the Norse in the 28th minute, taking a deep unassisted-shot to the top-left corner of the goal. Mimi Stines faced 10 shots, made four saves and allowed the two goals between the posts. Dayton prevailed thanks to a pair of goals in the 79th and 86th minutes.  
 
SCOUTING OAKLAND 
Oakland sits at 1-2 to begin the season, winning at Youngstown State, 2-1, in its opener before dropping a pair of one-goal games to UIC and Cleveland State, respectively. Four different Golden Grizzlies have scored a goal apiece this season: Sami Lopez, Jackie Reilly, Macy Wierenga and Izzy Karkaba. Lopez is the leading point scorer (4) thanks to having two assists on the season. Oakland has two keepers splitting time evenly at the moment. Jaimie Leas currently has a 0.65 GAA to Noëmi Stadelmann's 2.60. 
 
SCINTILLATING STINES  
Despite the loss of some major players, one of the biggest storylines from a year ago was the debut of Dayton transfer, Stines, as goalkeeper. With a mostly underclassman back line, Stines picked up the slack and kept the Norse in several matches despite facing 15 or more shots a game in 10 different contests. She is currently fourth all-time in save percentage (.809) and in 2019, she broke the Norse single-season record for both saves (97) and saves per game (5.39). Stines broke the 100-career save threshold on Feb. 10 at Robert Morris, making her the fastest in NKU's Division I era to reach that mark. It took her just 19 games to Emily Lohmann's 26 to achieve that feat.  
  
IVINS UP FRONT  
After spending time in more of a midfielder capacity, Ivins will step up to a forward role in 2020-21 to make up for the lost scoring due to graduation. A year ago, Ivins finished with two goals, one of which came against Lipscomb, and seven assists. She already has one goal this season against Dayton on Feb. 17. 
  
A FRESHMAN NO MORE  
Another rising player the Norse will heavily rely on is Meyer, a sophomore forward. Meyer finished her freshman season out strong with three goals in the final five games of the year. She also had an assist apiece in NKU's victories over Youngstown State and Green Bay on Oct. 6, 2019 and Oct. 27, 2019, respectively. She opened the 2020-21 campaign with an assist at Robert Morris on Feb. 10.  
 
A NEW ERA  
Big shoes are left to be filled as the last group of players from NKU's 2016 Horizon League Tournament Championship team graduated last season. The biggest loss of the offseason is Shawna Zaken, who was named Horizon League Player of the Year after a stellar 13-goal, three-assist campaign. NKU also lost forward Ally Perkins (five goals, three assists) and defender Hannah Fischer to graduation, as well as Emily Soltes to a career-ending injury.   
 
STAR FACTORY  
It has been a seamless transition into the Horizon League for NKU as four of the last five Horizon League Player of the Year awards have gone to a Norse athlete. The now-graduated Zaken was the latest to receive the award in 2019, while Macy Hamblin pulled off a three-peat of the award from 2015-17.   
 
NEW YEAR, NEW NORSE  
Nine freshmen join the Norse for the 2020-21 season: Katie Brock, Lauren Deckert, Kamryn Keehan, Allison King, Mickayla Kowalski, Emily Tirey, Alexis Trammel, Kaya Vogt and Wilmes.   
 
HORIZON LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL  
Northern Kentucky was selected to finish fourth in the Horizon League preseason poll with 108 points. Five-time defending regular-season champion Milwaukee was picked first (132 points, 10 first-place votes), IUPUI came in second (118 points), and UIC (112 points, one first-place vote) rounded out the top three. Oakland (fifth, 105 points) was the only other team to garner a first-place vote.  
  
A YEAR AGO  
NKU finished last year with a 9-9, 5-4 Horizon League record. The Norse knocked off Lipscomb, the eventual Atlantic Sun champions, to start the season and finished tied for fourth in the Horizon League standings. The Norse defeated No. 4-seeded Wright State, 3-1, in the Horizon League quarterfinal before falling to No. 2 seeded UIC, 1-0, in the league semifinal.    
    
HEAD COACH BOB SHEEHAN  
Bob Sheehan is in his 24th season with the Norse, where he has accumulated a 326-116-29 overall record, 30-11-5 record in Horizon League action. He is joined by assistants Steve Bornhoffer (10th season), Payton Naylor (second season) and volunteer assistant, Terry Gruelle (21st season).