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By Mike Anderson, NKU Sports Information HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – For the first time in three seasons, the Northern Kentucky University women’s soccer team will play in the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament semifinal round. It is a span that would be less notable if not for NKU’s previous six championships. By comparison, all GLVC schools not named Northern Kentucky University have seven championships combined. The Norse (14-2), playing as the No. 2 seed in the tournament, will take on the No. 6 seed Indianapolis at noon Eastern in Kenosha, Wis. The second semifinal will pit the host Wisconsin-Parkside against Drury. Live stats for the tournament will be available at nkunorse.com and glvcsports.com. NKU enters the game after taking a dramatic 3-2 victory over No. 7 seed Bellarmine in the GLVC quarterfinals. After building up a 3-0 lead over the game’s first 75 minutes, thanks in part to Lauren Franzen’s two goals on the day, the Knights struck with two goals in a two minute span to close the gap to one. The NKU defense held strong, however, and the Norse survived to advance to the semifinals. If NKU is victorious, the Norse will advance to the GLVC Championship game, scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern. The Norse will then await selection to the NCAA Midwest Regional tournament, scheduled for Nov. 14-16 at a site to be determined. A WORD ON INDIANAPOLIS: Another upset story in the GLVC soccer tournament, Indianapolis (11-4-2) comes into the game as the No. 6 seed, having defeated the No. 3 seed Quincy in double-overtime by a 1-0 score. All-GLVC first-team defender Alli Opfer scored the game’s only goal with just 25 seconds remaining in the contest. The Greyhounds were outshot 18-8 in the contest, including 11-0 in the first half. Abby Tracy made eight saves for Indianapolis to preserve the shutout and advance. LAST TIME WE MET: It was just two weeks ago that the Norse and Greyhounds clashed on the pitch, and the Norse came away the victors in the final game of the regular season, 3-0. Amie Noll, Amanda Mason and Kara Costello took advantage of a flat start by Indianapolis to each score first-half goals. The Greyhounds responded with fire in the second half, outshooting NKU by a 10-1 margin in the final 45 minutes, but couldn’t find the answer to Angela Healy, who made five saves in the shutout. ALL-CONFERENCE AWARDS: Three NKU players earned All-GLVC honors this past week, as midfielder Brandi Doss was named to the first team after a 13-assist season, midfielder Amanda Mason earned a spot on the second team with five goals and seven assists, and forward Lauren Franzen, who leads the team with eight goals and 20 points, landed on the third team. LINE CHANGE: Bob Sheehan’s substitution strategy seems like it could be drawn from a hat with the way his attackers are scoring evenly. The Norse have seven players on the roster who have four or more goals on the season. No other team in the GLVC has more than four players who have reached that mark. NATIONAL LEADERS: The Norse continue to stand as one of the nation’s top offenses, as their 3.19 goals per game rank ninth in all of Division II. Two NKU players also earn accolades for their distribution skills, as Brandi Doss ranks third in assists per game (0.81) and Kelly Sullivan ranks 19th in the same category (0.56). |
