Spring Alumni Game a Success!

The first annual women's soccer spring alumni game and Team Brady benefit was a great success. Not only did the women's soccer alumni turnout in fantastic form with classes from 1996 to the most recent 2012 alums represented but the game itself ended up to be a fun and competitive event. A special thanks also to everyone that came out to support Team Brady and the women's soccer efforts. From t-shirt sales, baked goods, and raffle items the women's soccer team was able to raise $1500 to help the Sanford family. The funds raised will help to offset the medical costs of Brady's treatment with the rare form of cancer known as Synovial Sarcoma. Thank you to our alumni, parents, family and friends that came out to show their support for ONU women's soccer and a great cause. 

Spring Alumni Game Announced!

Mark you calendars for Sunday, April 14th! At 2pm we will be hosting all of our Polar Bear Alums from near and far for the Annual Women's Soccer Alumni Game! We are hoping for great weather and an even better turn out to lace up the old boots for one more go around on the pitch. Afterward, plan to recover and socialize with all of your old teammates at the Alumni social reception. If interested in participating in the Alumni game, please RSVP to Jenny Vincent

 (J-Vincent@onu.edu). See you in April!

2011 ONU Alumni Game

Post Season Awards

The awards have rolled in for the 2012 Polar Bears! All OAC, All Ohio, All Region, and All America honors have been announced and a handful from our Northern squad have received honors. Two of our graduating seniors were recipients of multiple awards. Defender Paige Garber who lead the back line for the Bears was named 1st Team All OAC and Academic All OAC. Additionally, Garber was named 2nd Team All Ohio which is the first such honor for Garber. Paige was also named 1st Team Academic All Ohio which marks her third consecutive Academic All Ohio honor. 

Fellow senior and co captain Tara Tokar was also honored with multiple awards. On the conference level, Tara earned 1st Team honors, Acadmic All OAC honors and was name Midfielder of the Year. Tokar received her second 1st Team All Ohio award as well as her third 1st Team Academic All Ohio honor. Tara was also honored with her third All Region nod as she was named 1st Team All Great Lakes Region. In addition Tokar was highlighted on the national stage as she became the program's first two time All America honoree as well as a two time Scholar All America honoree. 

Senior defenders Nicole Grant and Lindsay Gilchrist were also Academic All OAC recipients. Both graduating seniors are Biology majors. Rounding out the senior class is co captain Erin Waehner. Erin was named 2nd Team All OAC for her efforts in the Northern net.

Junior classmates Sami Atkinson, Lauren Brown, Abbie Schauble, Abby Vargo, and Lauryn Zielinski were also award recipients. Forward Sami Atkinson earned honorable mention All OAC accolades. Adding to her CoSida Academic All District and Academic All OAC honors, Lauren Brown was also named 2nd Team Academic All Ohio. Joining her is co captain and fellow midfielder Abbie Schauble who was also named 2nd Team All OAC and 2nd Team Academic All Ohio. Defender Abby Vargo was also named 2nd Team All OAC and earned her first All Ohio award as she was named 2nd Team All Ohio for her efforts on the back line. Classmate Lauryn Zielinski was also named to the Academic All OAC team as a Biology major. 

Not to be outdone, sophomore Kristina Klusek also earned multiple honors. Klusek was named 1st Team All OAC and Academic All OAC. Kristina was also named 1st Team All Ohio and 2nd team All Great Lakes Region which marks the first All Region recognition for the forward.








Rounding out the honors is Head Coach Mark Batman who was named OAC Coach of the Year and All Ohio Coach of the Year. To see just some of the highlights that helped earn the aforementioned awards, head over to our You Tube page to see our 2012 Season Review videos!

Season ends in the round of 32

The 2012 season has come to a close for the Polar Bears in the NCAA National Tournament. For the second consecutive year, Northern ends the season in the second round of the tournament with a 1-0 defeat. This year however, the circumstances were different than last as ONU took to the road to compete at Carnegie Mellon. Their first round opponent was first time NCAA Tourney participant Rochester Institute of Technology. The Tigers proved to be a tough first round opponent for the Polar Bears. Both teams came out of the gate hungry to make it to the next round. In the first half even play across the pitch was seen as each team attempted to find a break through moment. Even though the Tigers would deny an early chance at goal from Sami Atkinson they were unable to hold off the Northern attack for much longer. With less than 10 minutes to go in the half, first year player Hannah Moloney found herself on the end of a pass from Sami Atkinson in the box. Moloney collected the ball and sent her shot inside the near post to get ONU on the board. Northern would carry the momentum through the break and into the second half. Determined to force the tie, R.I.T would find an equalizer in the second half that would eventually send the game into overtime. Neither team were able to get an attack going in either overtime periods and as a result, penalty kicks were in order. Junior Colleen Kerger stepped up first for ONU and buried her PK past the Tiger keeper as did Sophomore Kristina Klusek in the second round to even the score. Junior keeper Kimmy Connor came up huge to make a tremendous diving save in the third round which allowed Sami Atkinson to put ONU ahead 3-2. Connor would deny the fourth shooter again this time making the save to her left which left Junior Sara Rutherford to place her PK that would send ONU into the second round. 

The celebration wouldn't last long as ONU was set to prepare to take on the #17 team in the country and hosts CMU on Sunday. The Tartans advanced after defeating Cabrini College (9-6-4) on Saturday 5-0. With the win the Polar Bears were eager to advance for the first time into the sweet 16. Despite being put under early pressure from the start, the Northern defense managed to keep CMU off the board with solid team defense. However, CMU would convert on a free kick in the 10th minute to take the lead. Northern had a handful of opportunities to find an equalizer in the first half.  The most notable chance came off an early through ball from Kristina Klusek to Freshman Morgan Miles on a breakaway. The Tartan keeper was able to make the save on the edge of the box and the team defense would preserve their lead through the half. Knowing they had a battle ahead of them, Northern took the momentum in the second half creating early scoring chances but were unable to convert. Late chances looked promising from Northern but the CMU defense was able to hang on for the win to advance. With the loss, the Polar Bears end their season at 13-5-5.

"This season was a season of firsts", said Head Coach Mark Batman.  "The girls faced so much adversity all year and they grinded out games all season.  This team was filled with fighters, and this past weekend, that's exactly what they had to do.  Ending the regular season with four games in eight days was really hard for the girls, but they fought through it, just as they did at CMU.  Kimmy Connor and our girls who made their penalties came up HUGE for us.  That's what is great about our team; girls step up and are ready when we ask them to.  Kimmy's two saves will forever be in my mind as well as Sara's winning penalty.  Watching the girls rush Kimmy and Sara when she made the winning PK was one of the best memories I have of ONU Women's Soccer."

"Our seniors have been such a big part of our program the past four seasons.  It's a great accomplishment for them to have made three trips to the NCAA's, have two conference championships, and leave as one of the most successful senior classes this program has ever seen.  The seniors are going to be sorely missed.  I'm so proud of the,, this team and what they accomplished together this season."

2012 OAC Tournament Champions

The Polar Bears made history over the weekend by defeating John Carroll 2-0 in the finals to claim the 2012 OAC Tournament Championship. ONU has also earned the conference automatic bid to the NCAA National Tournament which marks the second consecutive, and third appearance in four seasons for Northern.

The match day atmosphere was fantastic as family, friends and alumni were all there to cheer on the Orange and Black in what turned out to be a beautiful, but chilly, fall day in Ada. With both teams aware of what was at stake the game began very evenly as each wanted to be the first to grasp the trophy. JCU showed they were rested after receiving a bye on Wednesday in the OAC Tournametn Semi Final in which Baldwin Wallace had to pull out of the tournament.  While the Blue Streaks recorded some early shots it was only matter of time before ONU took the edge.

With close to 30 minutes gone in the half freshman Hannah Moloney and Lauryn Zielinski came off the bench and both had an immediate impact on the game. After winning the ball, Sami Atkinson found classmate Lauryn Zielinksi who quickly turned and played a well placed ball in behind the Blue Streak back line. Moloney then sent her shot to the far back post where it just hit the inside of the post and glanced off a JCU defender to record the first goal of the game, and her second of the season. Northern would take the one goal lead through halftime. Despite ONU controlling the ball for much of the second half, John Carroll did not go down without a fight as they tried to find an equalizer. However, their efforts would be denied time after time by the relentless ONU defense.

Determined to shut down any chance for late game dramatics,  the Polar Bears pressed on for an insurance goal which would come with just over 16 minutes remaining in the match. After Sami Atkinson worked to win a free kick just outside the penalty box, classmate Lauren Brown would step up to take the kick. Brown placed a fantastic ball that lofted just over the JCU wall and fell to an on rushing Tara Tokar who knocked home the final goal of the game. ONU finished the game by allowing the Blue Streaks only a single shot in the second half. After the exciting and emotional win, the Polar Bears celebrated with their teammates and lifted the 2012 OAC tournament trophy for the first time in program history. Up next, ONU awaits the live NCAA selection show Monday afternoon at 1:30p to find out who they will play in the first round of the NCAA National tournament. Stay tuned!

ONU knocks off Otterbein

The Polar Bears advance to the 2012 OAC Tournament finals after taking down the #1 seeded Cardinals from Otterbein. Northern earned a hard fought 2-1 victory in Westerville on another cold and wet Wednesday afternoon. With both teams fighting for a chance to host the finals on Saturday, the Polar Bears had some extra motivation as they sought to right their regular season loss to Otterbein in which they dominated statistically but did not get the deserved result.

In the semifinal, both teams had to battle through the elements, but Northern in particular did well in adapting to the very difficult field surface which seemed to even the level of play. The first half was a battle with both teams eager to get on the board first to punch their ticket to the finals. Both teams would have early looks at goal with one shot in particular from Kristina Klusek missing just wide of the Cardinal goal. However, with less than 10 minutes to go in the half Northern would earn a corner that would be taken by freshman Hannah Moloney. Klusek would find Moloney's corner after a scrum in the box and send it to the far post where a waiting Sami Atkinson would send a lofted header over the Otterbein keeper and into the back of the net. The ONU lead wouldn't last long as Otterbein would even the score less than one minute later off of a rebounded free kick. The scoreline would remain notched at one a piece into the half.

Determined to bring the final back home, the Polar Bears would begin the second half with relentless determination. Their efforts would pay off less than three minutes into the half as Junior Lauren Brown collected the ball just inside the Otterbein half and distributed it to Kristina Klusek. Klusek dribbled and beat not one, but four Cardinal defenders before sending her shot past the keeper for the eventual game winner. This time Otterbein did not have an answer and for the rest of the half, solid defensive work from the Polar Bears would ensure the win. With the result, ONU will host John Carroll for the OAC Tournament Championship this Saturday, November 3rd, at 2pm. The winner will receive the conference automatic bid into the 2012 NCAA tournament.

Northern earns 2-0 Quarterfinal victory

Despite a cold and very windy Monday afternoon in Ada, the Polar Bears rose to the occasion to clinch a Semifinal appearance in the 2012 OAC Women's Soccer Tournament. Northern faced a tough rematch with the Quakers from Wilmington College.  The last time the two teams met,  ONU came out on top 2-1 in dramatic fashion in Wilmington just under a week ago. This time the Polar Bears were determined to finish the job and get the result without the need for any late game drama. With the wind at their back in the first half, ONU was relentless on the attack, pressing the Quaker defense and creating chance after chance.  Midway through the first half, Junior Captain Abbie Schauble would get her first two goals of the season, just moments apart from each other.  Both goals were scored in similar fashion as she freed herself from the midfield and found the ball behind the Quaker defense.  ONU took the 2-0 lead into the half and never looked back.  Even though the Polar Bears were against the wind in the second half, disciplined team defending and keeping the ball on the ground connecting passes out of pressure, allowed the Polar Bears to create some very dangerous chances, almost awarding them goals three and four.

ONU will now travel to Otterbein College on Wednesday for a 2pm OAC Semifinal match.  The winner will then play in the OAC Tournament Final on Saturday at the highest remaining seed.