Season Review: The Ohio Northern Men's Soccer team records its eighth NCAA Division III Tournament appearance in 2015
By Ashley Birchmeier
ADA — The Ohio Northern men's soccer team recorded its eighth NCAA Division III Tournament appearance in 2015 under 18th-year head coach Brent Ridenour.
The Polar Bears finished 17-5-1 overall, were 8-1 Ohio Athletic Conference, and claimed the programs eighth OAC Regular Season Championship and seventh OAC Tournament Championship.
Ridenour earned his sixth OAC Coach of the Year honor.
Northern saw five players earn All-OAC honors. Sophomore Dean McNeil was named the OAC Goalkeeper of the Year, junior Matt Kinkopf received OAC Forward of the Year honors and senior Chase Mueller claimed OAC Defender of the Year honors. Junior Austin Horton claimed First Team honors, while junior David Janusz claimed Second Team All-OAC accolades.
Northern also landed three NSCAA All-Great Lake Region honorees; Kinkopf earned First Team honors, while Horton claimed Second Team and Mueller Third Team accolades.
Kinkopf was also named the OAC Player of the Week three times in 2015.
He was also named a member of the NSCAA All-America Team, as well as the OCSA All-Ohio Team.
The Polar Bears also displayed success in the classroom as 14 Polar Bears earned Academic All-OAC honors.
Northern opened the 2015 season with a three-game road trip going 2-1 before returning home to take on Wittenberg. The Polar Bears then hosted the ONU Invitational, where the Polar Bears went 1-1.
ONU then welcomed No. 11-ranked Ohio Wesleyan to Kerscher Stadium, claiming the 1-0 victory and moving to 5-2 on the season.
After dropping a contest to Case Western Reserve, ONU put together an eight-match win streak defeating OAC opponents John Carroll (2-1), Wilmington (5-2), Mount Union (1-0), Otterbein (2-0), and Capital (2-0) to move to 13-3-0 on the season.
After falling to conference opponent Heidelberg 2-0, the Polar Bears would finish the regular season by winning three straight en route to the number one seed and a first round bye in the OAC Tournament.
ONU would defeat Heidelberg in the semifinals 2-0 and John Carroll in penalty kicks in the finals to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Polar Bears would see its season come to an end in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, dropping a 3-2 decision to Carthage (Wis.).