Women's Soccer: 2017 Div. III NCAA Tournament: 3rd Round - #14 Ohio Northern (19-1-2 Overall) at #2 William Smith (N.Y.) (19-1-0 Overall)

Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017, 11 am, Cozzens Field, Geneva, New York - 2017 NCAA Div. III Tournament - Third Round

| NCAA III Tournament Site |

Saturday's Preview: The No. 14-ranked Ohio Northern women's soccer team advanced to the sectional round of the NCAA Div. III Tournament for the first time in school history after defeating Penn St.-Behrend 2-0 in the first round, and Illinois Wesleyan 2-0 in the second round ... The Polar Bears are making their fourth appearance in the tournament, returning for the first time since 2012 ... ONU earned the automatic bid after defeating Capital in the OAC Tournament Championship match 2-0, and claiming its second OAC Tournament title in school history ... The Polar Bears also won the OAC Regular Season title after posting an unblemished 9-0-0 record in conference play, marking the first time in school history the Polar Bears won both the Regular Season and OAC Tournament title in school history in the same season ... Northern is 3-3-1 in the NCAA III Tournament since its first appearance in 2009 ... ONU recently had nine players named All-Ohio Athletic Conference, in voting conducted by the league's 10 head coaches ... Seniors Hannah Reich and Anna Niemeyer, and sophomores Haley Moses, Rose Nienaber and Meagan Grierson were all named First Team All-OAC, while sophomore Hannah Martin and freshman Jenna Fuller garnered Second Team All-OAC Honors, and senior Mary Kate Munz and freshman Sydney Leshnak were both named Honorable Mention All-OAC ... For the second consecutive season, Grierson was dubbed OAC Goalie of the Year, while Fuller was named OAC Freshman of the Year, Reich earned OAC Defender of the Year, Moses was named OAC Midfielder of the Year and head coach Mark Batman was named OAC Coach of the Year for the second time in his stint at ONU ... Fuller and Nienaber are currently ranked 1-2 on the team and rank fifth and sixth in the OAC with 11 and 10 goals, respectively ... Fuller's 12 assists lead the team and OAC ... Fuller and Nienaber rank 1-2 on the team and 3-5 in the OAC with 34 and 26 points, respectively ... The duo are the first pair of ONU teammates to score double digit goals in the same season since the 2011 season ... Fuller's 12 assists breaks the freshman record at Ohio Northern, a 20-year-old record set in 1997, while her 11 goals are are tied for 10th for a freshman at ONU in a single season ... Grierson currently leads the team in the goal with a 19-1-2 record ... The OAC Goalkeeper of the Year leads the team and OAC in shutouts (13) and goals against average (0.41) and ranks first on the team and second in the OAC in save percentage (.850) and goals allowed (9) ... Her 19 career shutouts rank tied for fifth in school history ... Grierson owns the freshman GAA record at ONU and is on pace to break the sophomore school record ... The Polar Bear defense also broke the school record of 13 shutouts set in 1997 ... Grierson's 13 shutouts currently is tied for the best single-season mark in school history ... William Smith enters the contest after winning the first two rounds of the NCAA III Tournament by a combined score of 7-0 ... The Herons have been in the NCAA Div. III Tournament 28 times and 11 consecutive seasons dating back to 2007 ... WSC ha won the NCAA III Tournament two times in school history, most recently in 2013 ... Senior Evie Manning currently leads the team with 13 goals, while junior Megan Barwick ranks second on the team with 12 goals ... The duo are also tied for first on the team with seven assists each, while freshmen Julia Keogh and Sheila McQuillen each are tied for third on the team with six assists each ... Defensively, junior Veronica Romines leads the team with a 19-1-0 record and 10 shutouts ... Romines also leads the team with a 0.22 GAA and 30 saves.

ONU Statistical Leaders

Series Record: Saturday's meeting marks the first time in school history the two teams have met.  

Head Coach Mark Batman: Batman is in his 14th season as head coach with a 185-75-25 career record and a winning percentage of .693 ... Batman is the winningest head coach in Ohio Northern women's soccer history.