Chillin' With A Polar Bear

Each season a select few of student athletes are highlighted for their accomplishments and are interviewed in an installment of "Chillin' With A Polar Bear." Last fall, senior Chelsea Chadwick was chosen to talk about her experiences as a polar bear both on and off the field. Chelsea, the 2011 OAC Defender of the Year, is a great ambassador of the ONU soccer program and a wonderful representation of each player in our program. Take a look and enjoy!

Women's Soccer Team Recognized

Recently the Women's Soccer team was honored at halftime of the Women's Basketball game vs. Capital. Each member of the 2011 team made their way to center court to be recognized for their tremendous team accomplishments from the past season. Fellow student athletes, professors, parents, and fans all showed their appreciation as the team's awards, honors and records were read aloud to the crowd. The support of the ONU community did not go unnoticed during the fall season and it continues to be a source of pride not only for women's soccer but for every sport on campus. Thank you for your continued support of ONU Women's Soccer and ONU athletics!

2012 NSCAA All America Ceremony

Last weekend marked another highlight in celebrating the 2011 season as the NSCAA Convention and All America Awards Ceremony was held in Kansas City. For the second time in as many years, the Ohio Northern University women’s soccer program was awarded an NSCAA All American. Junior Captain Tara Tokar was honored to receive both 2011 NSCAA All America Award and NSCAA Academic All America Award. The ONU women's soccer staff, along with Tara's parents were able to be there with Tara alongside the other youth, high school, and collegiate Athletic and Scholar All Americas. Tara had this to say about her experience, "I was incredibly honored to be able to represent Ohio Northern Women's Soccer at the NSCAA Convention. I'm sure ONU was an unfamiliar school to hear for most players and coaches at the Convention, so it was exciting to be able to get our program the recognition we deserved." The ceremony, yet again, proved to be a special occasion for everyone in attendance as US Soccer President, Sunil Gulati was given an honorary All America Award. Former MLS standout and current MLS commentator Taylor Twellman was there to congratulate each award winner. “Just being an All American, either academic or athletic, is difficult enough, but to be awarded both is a true testament to Tara as well as our entire program. She would be the first one to tell you she couldn’t have done it without her teammates. She is definitely deserving of the honor and I’m very proud of her. I know she is extremely honored and humbled to accept this award. She’s a great representative of ONU Women’s Soccer”, said Head Coach Mark Batman. Congratulations again to Tara for her tremendous accomplishments and for being a great representation of all of our student athletes!

End Of The Season Banquet

The 2011 end of the season banquet is always a highlight for our current players and families. As we looked back on the record breaking 2011 season which saw a 15 game unbeaten streak, Coach Batman's 100th win, and our first NCAA Tournament win, there were plenty of things for us to celebrate.

Special recognition was given to the senior class of Chelsea Chadwick, Kristen DeWees, Kim McGowan, Alyssa Merrick and Christina Spinaris, who finished up their ONU careers as the winningest class in program history with an overall record of 58-20-6 and an exceptional Ohio Athletic Conference record of 31-3-2.


Individual honors were also handed out which were voted on by the team. Senior Alyssa Merrick earned the Team MVP for her efforts this season. Merrick finished the season with 7 goals and 13 assists for a total of 27 points. Earning Most Valuable Offensive player for the 2011 season was Sami Atkinson. For her contributions to the ONU back line, Chelsea Chadwick was voted as Most Valuable Defensive player. Newcomer of the Year was given to Kristina Klusek who was named second team All OAC and finished her freshman year tied for first in the OAC with 12 goals on the season. Awards given by the coaching staff were also handed out at the banquet. Receiving the Most Improved award was sophomore Lauryn Zielinski who earned her first goal in the OAC season finale at Marietta. Senior tri-captain Kristen DeWees received the Coaches Award for her tremendous efforts on and off the field. DeWees was a 2010 and 2011 team captain and has also received All OAC and All Region honors while in goal for the Polar Bears. In addition to these awards, the Goal of the Year was voted on by those in attendance. Kristina Klusek brought home this award for her NCAA overtime goal vs. Scranton. Be sure to check out our YouTube channel at ONUWSOCCER to view the season highlight videos.

Overall, the banquet was a great way to reflect on the past season, to honor accomplishments, and give thanks to everyone who contributed to a 2011 season which was full of memories and highlights.

Polar Bears Earn Regional and National Recognition!

Even though the 2011 run has ended, the team continues to be honored for their tremendous season. The NSCAA recently named three ONU Women’s Soccer players to the All Great Lakes Regional team. Junior Tara Tokar earned her second consecutive All Region honor being named to the NSCAA All Great Lakes Region First Team. The tri-captain was previously honored this year with first team All OAC as well as Academic All OAC recognition.

Joining Tokar on the first team is sophomore Sami Atkinson. This is the first All Region award for Atkinson, who led the OAC in points and goals scored. Sami was also awarded first team All OAC and second team Academic All District earlier this season. Atkinson had this to say about this honor “It feels awesome to be recognized as an all region player. I know that it is a real honor. I couldn’t have done it without my teammates and coaches. We all push each other in practice and support each other in games and it resulted in such a memorable season!”

Also receiving All Region honors is senior tri-captain Chelsea Chadwick. The 2011 OAC Defender of the Year earned her first All Region honor being named second team All Great Lakes region. “We had an amazing team this year that pushed each other hard every day and grew very close. I couldn’t have asked for a better senior season because of the girls and our coaches,” said Chadwick. Rounding out the All Region recognition for the Polar Bears is head coach Mark Batman as he was honored as Great Lakes Regional Coach of the Year by the NSCAA.

Tokar was additionally named to the 2011 Division III NSCAA All America Team. “As honored as I am to receive these awards, they more importantly reflect our successful season as a team. I definitely feel that more of my teammates deserved similar recognition, but it was great to see our program finally earn some much-deserved respect regionally and nationally. I'm very excited to see how our program will continue to build off this successful season next year, as we aspire to set new standards for ONU Women's Soccer.” This is the first time Tokar has received recognition on the national level and only the second time that a Polar Bear has earned All America honors. Coach Batman had this to say about all the awards, “These girls are all very deserving of their accomplishments. They have been fantastic for us. Seeing Chelsea finally get recognized at this level is really special. She was a great teammate, player, and leader. I think all the awards are a tremendous reflection of our entire team. They are a fun, energetic, and competitive group, always wanting more. Getting a 2nd All American in as many seasons is really special and I feel we have other players who can accomplish this goal before their time is up with us as well. It’s a great individual accomplishment and great representation of our kids.”

Post Season Honors

The accolades of the Ohio Northern Women's Soccer team continue to pile up as the Ohio Athletic Conference has announced that five Polar Bear players are represented on the 2011 OAC Academic All Conference Team.
Senior Alyssa Merrick, along with Junior teammates Tara Tokar and Paige Garber have been incluced on the OAC First Team while Senior Christina Spinaris and Junior Nicole Grant have been named to the Honorable Mention Team.
Merrick, a Business major, is appearing for the first time on this list while Tokar and Garber, both in the College of Pharmacy, are making their second appearance. Garber was also named to the CoSida Academic All District Team maintaining a grade point average of 3.77 in Pharmacy. Spinaris, Pharmacy, and Grant, Biology, are making their first appearance on the All Academic OAC list.
"These are great awards for our players", says Head Coach Mark Batman. "Often times we forget how competitive these girls are off the field. They are all smarter than me! It really shows how hard they work to maintain the challenges of balancing an extremely difficlt atheltic and academic load. I'm really proud of these girls for representing our program and what they have accomplished as individuals in the classroom. I think all of our players should be represented on this list, as our team gpa from this past fall was just under a 3.5. It's a great testament to the type of student-athlete we have at ONU."

2011 Season Comes To An End

All good things must come to an end and the season end has come for ONU Women's Soccer. Despite controlling the tempo and outshooting their opponent by almost double, the Polar Bears record breaking season came to an end on Sunday. On a blustery Sunday in Ada, the Polar Bears took on the Bombers from Ithaca College in the second round of the NCAA tournament. With their sites on their first trip to the NCAA Sweet 16, Northern began the match with relentless pressure on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. While stingy defensive pressure allowed the Bombers just a single shot in the first half, the Polar Bears took 11 shots and created many dangerous scoring opportunities. Solid goalkeeping from Ithaca and a few unfortunate hits off the post and crossbar kept the scoreline at zero for the Polar Bears. Northern took their momentum from the first half and continued to apply pressure to the entire Ithaca squad in the second half despite having the wind now at a disadvantage. The ONU attack continued to keep the Bombers on their heels as the Polar Bears still found scoring chances in the Ithaca defensive half. However, in the 57th minute Ithaca managed to capitalize on one of their offensive runs to get on the scoreboard. With a "never say die" mentality the Polar Bears continued to search for the equalizer until the final seconds ticked off the game clock. With the loss, Northern ends their season with an overall record of 16-3-2. In what was truly memorable season full of highlights, program firsts and memories ONU Women's soccer has much to be proud of in 2011.


“This season was a fantastic and steady effort from every member of our program,” said head coach Mark Batman. “All season we preach team defense and how important it is, and I felt we’ve played very well this season. We knew all season we would create scoring chances, but team defense keeps you in games and wins tournament games. Our girls really played well this past weekend and it’s a great cap off to the careers of our seniors. I know losses like this are extremely difficult, but I told the team they should be proud of their teammates, themselves, and all of their accomplishments from this past year. It’s been a fantastic ride and it’s unfortunate that it ended, especially when we know and feel we could and should be playing this week.”

The ONU seniors have accomplished so much in their careers: 4 trips to the OAC Tournament, an OAC Championship, 2 trips to the NCAA National Tournament, a team G.P.A. above 3.25 each season, a European adventure, some great memories and moments to last a lifetime. They’ve really helped ONU soccer get on the national map and have set the standard for future Polar Bears to compete and win championships.
Thank you seniors for all you have given to our program. You’ll never be replaced, only remembered! See you all next fall for another exciting season of ONU W Soccer.