HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky's three-game road trip comes to an end with a Thursday evening tilt at Bellarmine, as the Norse and Knights are set to square off at 7 p.m. in Louisville, Kentucky. NKU then returns home to host Evansville on Sunday, Sept. 5, in a 1p.m. matinee.
 
Match Information
Northern Kentucky University Norse (1-3-0 Overall, 0-0-0 Horizon League)
Bellarmine University Knights (0-0-3 Overall, 0-0-0 ASUN)
Thursday, Sept. 2 – 7:00 p.m. (ET)
Dayton, Ohio | Owsley B. Frazier Stadium (2,000)
Broadcast: ESPN+
Stats: Live Stats
 
Northern Kentucky University Norse (1-3-0 Overall, 0-0-0 Horizon League)
University of Evansville Purple Aces (3-0-1 Overall, 0-0-0 MVC)
Sunday, Sept. 5 – 1:00 p.m. (ET)
Highland Heights, Ky. | NKU Soccer Stadium (1,000)
TV: ESPN+
Stats: Live Stats
 
Scoring Points
• NKU is 1-3 on the season, falling on the road last week to both Dayton and Louisville.
• NKU's schedule has been brutally tough to start the season. It's opponents are a combined 10-4-1. Louisville was picked 8th in the ACC's preseason poll, but the league has four of the top-5 ranked teams in the country, six total ranked in the top-25 and another two receiving votes. Dayton was picked fourth in the A10 poll and Cincinnati was 5th in the American.
• NKU closes its three-game road swing at Bellarmine before hosting Evansville. The Norse are 11-1-1 all-time against the Knights and are playing the Purple Aces for the first time.
• NKU was picked to finish second in the Horizon League Preseason Poll.
• The Norse won the 2020 Horizon League regular-season at 7-0-1 and went 8-1-2 overall.
• NKU reached the #HLWSOC Tournament championship match, tying Milwaukee 0-0 through 110 minutes of action before succumbing in penalty kicks.
• NKU featured one of the best defenses in the nation, finishing third in save percentage (.913), fourth in goals against average (.345) and fourth in shutout percentage (.727).
• The Norse closed the season with seven-straight shutouts and were one shutout shy of tying the 1999 team for longest shutout streak (8) in program history.
• Due to such stingy defense, NKU outscored its opponents 16-4 in its 11-game 2020 season.
• GK Mimi Stines is the reigning #HLWSOC Defensive Player and Goalkeeper of the Year after finishing third nationally in goals against (.264) and save percent (.929), plus 14th in shutouts (7).
• Stines earned recognition as a United Soccer Coaches All-Region honoree and, the standout on both the field and in the classroom, also collected United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-America and Horizon League All-Academic accolades.
• NKU also returns its entire back line that was one of the nation's best defenses, D Chloe Mills, D Morgan Jewell, D Lily Menssen and D Taylor Abbott, plus regains the services of D Megan Sullivan.
• Mills delivered the overtime match winner against EKU, heading home a corner kick played by Jewell.
• Offensively, F/M Lindsey Meyer ranked 10th in the country last year in assists per game (0.73). She also scored once and finished second on the team in points with 10.
• Menssen, Mills and Meyer were each named to the 2020 All-Horizon League Second-Team.
• F Sofia Wilmes was second on the team with four goals scored and third on the team in points with eight in 2020. She was a Horizon League All-Freshman Team honoree that has blossomed into an aggressive attacker so far as a sophomore, compiling 11 shots, including four on frame, and one goal.
• F Annie Greene converted a penalty kick in the 73rd-minute for NKU's lone goal versus UC.
• MF Kayla Wypasek is NKU's other goal scorer this year, driving in a shot versus EKU.