Junior Matt Kinkopf leads No. 25 Men's Soccer to 4-0 victory over Muskingum

By Caleb Scott

ADA — Junior Matt Kinkopf led the No. 25-ranked Ohio Northern men's soccer team to a 4-0 victory over Muskingum on a rainy Saturday evening at Kerscher Stadium.

The Polar Bears improve to 14-4-0 overall and 6-1-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while Muskingum falls to 4-12-0, 1-6-0.

Kinkopf recorded two goals and added an assist on the evening to lead ONU.

Northern wasted no time getting on the board as Kinkopf collected a long pass from senior Chase Mueller and capitalized to give Northern the 1-0 lead in the seventh minute. 

Ohio Northern would again find the back of the net in the 22nd minute as Kinkopf would deliver a pass to sophomore J.J. Fortner who one touched it to beat the Muskie keeper and give Northern a 2-0 lead. 

Northern would draw a foul inside the 18 yard box in the 70th minute and Kinkopf would capitalize on the penalty kick to put ONU ahead 3-0. 

Junior Tommy Troy would add an insurance goal in the 74th minute as he picked up a loose ball and beat the keeper to seal the 4-0 victory. 

Northern out shot Muskingum 23-5 on the evening. The Polar Bears won the corner kick battle by a 10-0 margin.

Sophomore Dean McNeil earned the victory in the goal for Northern as he recorded one save. McNeil improves to 13-4-0 on the year.

"We were really happy with the way our team played both halves tonight," said head coach Brent Ridenour. "We have really been stressing to our players how important it is to win both halves of the game. Our defense really responded tonight and helped us start what we hope is another shutout streak." 

Northern returns to action Wednesday as they celebrate Senior Day and welcome Baldwin Wallace to Kerscher Stadium at 7 pm.