MILWAUKEE – The Northern Kentucky women's soccer program posted a season no one will forget anytime soon as the Norse were picked to finish eighth in the preseason and went on to play in the conference championship, a match they would eventually fall to Milwaukee to in a 1-0 heartbreaker at Engelmann Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Norse, who posted a stellar bounce back year in 2023 with an 8-4-8 record overall, ended the regular season on a 4-0-1 run before the squad picked up victories in both the Horizon League quarterfinals and semifinals. It was the first Horizon championship appearance for the program since 2020 and the third all-time in school history.
With their standout play during the postseason,
Mickayla Kowalski,
Lydia Self and
Kaya Vogt were all named to the 2023 All-Tournament Team.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: No. 3 Northern Kentucky – 0, No. 1 Milwaukee – 1
LOCATION: Engelmann Stadium – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
RECORDS: NKU: 8-4-8 (4-2-4 HL), Milwaukee: 12-2-5 (7-0-3 HL)
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Panthers offense kept the pressure on the Norse throughout the contest, but the NKU defense held strong through the first 80 minutes of the match.
- Northern Kentucky got its best chance of the game in the 78th-minute as
Emilie Doersching headed a cross from
Lilly Yordy at the far corner of the net, but Milwaukee's keeper made the diving save to keep it a 0-0 draw.
- Milwaukee scored the game-winning goal off a penalty kick in the 81st-minute after a controversial handball call in the box against NKU to seal the victory. The judgement call went the wrong way for NKU, directly leading to the game-winning goal.
- The Norse upped the tempo through the final few minutes of the match, with one last chance coming off a corner attempt in the 85th-minute, but the Panthers held on to win its sixth straight Horizon League Championship.
- Senior standout
Mickayla Kowalski made seven saves between the pipes for the Norse. The Harrison, Ohio native wrapped up the season ranked fifth all-time in school history for most shutouts in a single campaign after she posted nine on the year.
- Doersching,
Sofia Wilmes and
Lydia Self all recorded a shot on target for NKU.
- The Norse were outshot 12-3 in the first half but made it a much closer contest with just a 6-5 deficit in the second half. Milwaukee finished the match with eight shots on target while NKU posted three.
- Northern Kentucky did finish with a three to one edge in corners.
- To go with being their sixth consecutive title, the Panthers have now won the conference crown 16 times overall.
FOLLOW NKU NORSE WOMEN'S SOCCER
Get in the game and follow Northern Kentucky's NCAA Division I women's soccer team through
@NKUNorseWSOC on Twitter,
@NKUNorseWSOC on Instagram,
nkunorsewsoc on Facebook and
subscribe to the NKU Norse Youtube channel.
