HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – No. 22 Northern Kentucky men's soccer (7-1) will compete for a Horizon League Tournament Championship and its first Division I NCAA Tournament appearance on Saturday when it takes on Milwaukee (7-4) at NKU Soccer Stadium.  
         
No. 1-seeded NORTHERN KENTUCKY vs. No. 3-seeded MILWAUKEE
Saturday, April 17 – 5:00 p.m. ET – NKU Soccer Stadium – ESPN+     
Northern Kentucky Athletics is unable to accommodate general admission attendance. Only pass-list supporters will be allowed inside NKU Soccer Stadium. No fans will be allowed at field level following the match and must remain within the concourse at all times.   
              
SERIES HISTORY         
Milwaukee leads the all-time series, 5-1, but NKU took its first victory earlier this season, 1-0, on Feb. 10, 2021 at NKU Soccer Stadium. 
         
LAST TIME OUT         
NKU picked up its first-ever Horizon League regular-season championship on March 30, defeating a nationally-ranked UIC team, 1-0, and snapping the Flames' 26-game home winning streak. Ben Hegge had the only goal of the afternoon taking a Ryan Godding corner kick from atop the penalty area and drilling a shot to the lower-right corner of the net. The match was an incredibly tough one between the posts for Daniel Bermingham, but he held steady for the shutout victory, facing 18 shots and making 12 saves.   
      
SCOUTING MILWAUKEE  
The Panthers are 7-4, but have impressively won their last four games, which included a 2-1 win over No. 2-seeded UIC on its home turf on Sunday in the Horizon League semifinal. All-Horizon League first-teamer, Paolo Gratton, leads the Panthers offense with a 10-goal effort this season. He is joined by another offensive threat in Horizon League Freshman of the Year and first-team selection, Logan Farrington, who has five goals and three assists. Nick Chiappa will likely be between the posts for Milwaukee, posting a 1.10 GAA and a .744 save percentage this season. 
     
NATIONALLY RANKED  
The incredible success the Norse has had this season has not gone unnoticed. NKU checks into the United Soccer Coaches poll this week as the No. 22 team in the country. The Norse are also receiving recognition in the other two men's soccer polls with a No. 23 ranking by Top Drawer Soccer and a No. 29 nod by College Soccer News. Along with the national rankings, NKU is also third in the United Soccer Coaches North Region, behind just No. 3 Indiana and No. 14 Penn State.  
  
ALL-HORIZON LEAGUE AWARDS  
Six players and head coach Stu Riddle received All-Horizon League recognition this week. Bermingham was named the Horizon League Goalkeeper of the Year, the first Norse keeper since Jim Barkei to earn that nod, and Riddle was tabbed as the Horizon League Coach of the Year. Joining Bermingham on the All-Horizon League first team was Dylan Bufton and Justin Earle, while Godding received a second team honor. Roberto Burlew and Deryn Armstrong were also named to the league's All-Freshman team.   
      
YOU'RE NEW HERE? ME TOO! LET'S BE FRIENDS.        
It's a pair of newcomers that have led the Norse offense this season. Bufton, a transfer from Tyler Junior College that had 14 goals in two years of action, had the lone goal in NKU's 1-0 win over Milwaukee on Feb. 10. He followed the performance with a goal and an assist in NKU's 2-1 win over Oakland on Feb. 22, as well as another goal against IUPUI on March 6. He currently leads the Norse in goals (five) and points (13). Robinson, who joined NKU this season after a freshman campaign at Cincinnati, gave NKU a 1-0 lead against Detroit Mercy before the Norse ultimately fell, 2-1, on Feb. 4, and netted the game-winner in the IUPUI matchup. Robinson also leads NKU with four assists this season.    
    
GODDING'S RISE    
After a great freshman season with two goals and three assists, Godding is playing at an even higher level in the 2020-21 campaign. He is up to a goal and a trio of assists, two coming in NKU's win over Oakland on Feb. 22. He has proven to be dangerous servicing NKU's corner kicks on the far side, assisting a Bufton-header for the win versus Oakland and netting the unassisted game-winner in a double-overtime win against Green Bay on March 12.  
 
SECOND LINE OF DEFENSE  
Bermingham has had a superb season for the Norse between the posts, compiling a 0.72 GAA and a .838 save percentage, which are the best and second-best numbers in the league, respectively. His 12 saves to help defeat a No. 24 UIC team on March 30 were the most by a Horizon League keeper this season and the most by a Norse in the Division I era. This week, he was named to College Soccer News' National Team of the Week.     
   
REVENGE TOUR     
Four Horizon League opponents the Norse lost to a year ago suffered losses to NKU this season, which proved crucial in earning NKU's first-ever Horizon League regular season title this season. NKU defeated Milwaukee, 1-0, on Feb. 10 (lost, 2-1, in 2019), Cleveland State, 2-1, on Feb. 28 (lost, 2-1, in 2019), IUPUI, 2-0, on March 6 (lost, 2-1, in 2019) and Green Bay, 3-2, on March 12 (lost, 3-2, in 2019).     
     
EVERY DAY IT GETS A LITTLE EASIER        
NKU has shown significant improvements defensively this season. In the first eight games of the 2019 season, the Norse gave up 115 shots, 53 shots on goal and 14 goals. NKU has improved in all of those metrics through eight games this season, allowing 92 shots, 37 shots on goal and just six goals. The Norse's team goals against average of 0.72 is the 28th-best in the country.   
  
UNFINISHED BUSINESS          
Three former Bearcats, all entering their sophomore campaigns after transferring in the offseason due to Cincinnati discontinuing its program, join the Norse with three years remaining in their respective soccer careers. Robinson, a forward, played in 16 games a year ago, logging 699 minutes and scoring his first-career goal versus Cleveland State on Oct. 9. Kyle Healy, a midfielder, also struck in a goal against Xavier on Sept. 6 to go along with an assist against Purdue Fort Wayne on Oct. 1. Finally, Hegge, another midfielder, appeared in 11 games for the Bearcats, seeing the pitch for 294 minutes.          
     
HORIZON LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL           
Northern Kentucky was selected to finish eighth in the 2020-21 edition of the Horizon League preseason poll with 48 points. UIC and Oakland both claimed the top-spot with 109 points, but the Flames garnered eight first-place votes compared to Oakland's three. Wright State rounded out the top three in the poll with 88 points.            
       
A YEAR AGO           
The Norse finished 7-10-1 and 3-5 in the conference play in 2019. NKU began the season with a strong exhibition showing against No. 8 Kentucky, tying the Wildcats, 0-0. The Norse also took down both Wright State, the eventual Horizon League Tournament Champions, and UIC, the holder of the regular-season crown. On Oct. 9, the Norse reached the back of the net an impressive 11 times en route to shutting out Berea, tying Syracuse for the most goals in a single game in Division I on the season.            
                
NEW YEAR, NEW NORSE           
Along with Armstrong, Bufton, Burlew Healy, Hegge and Robinson, five other Norse are new additions this season: Trey Denigan, Tobias Karlsen, Daniel Kaufman, Cam Newton, Jesse Randall and Andrés Zaffino.         
           
RIDDLE ME THIS          
Following a 1-13-4 season in 2016, Riddle was hired to lead NKU's men's soccer program and the Norse have been 31-24-5 in the last four years. Riddle led NKU to a 10-7 showing in 2018, which is the highest win-mark in NKU's Division I era. Riddle is an 11-year head-coaching veteran, owning a 92-92-26 record. He is joined by assistants Blair Stevenson (fourth season) and Sam Brooks (third season).