Women's Soccer: Grove City (12-6-2 Overall) at Ohio Northern (17-2-2 Overall)
Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019, 11 a.m., Kerscher Stadium, Ada, Ohio - NCAA Div. III Tournament - First Round
| Tournament Site |
Saturday's Preview: The 17th-ranked Ohio Northern women's soccer team will battle Grove City (Pa.) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at 11 a.m. at Kerscher Stadium in Ada … Northern will be making its fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its first since 2017 … ONU — which won the Ohio Athletic Conference regular-season crown with a perfect 9-0-0 record — earned conference's automatic bid after toppling Otterbein 2-1 in double overtime in the OAC championship match … That marked the second time in school history that the Polar Bears won both the regular-season and tournament titles … ONU owns a 17-2-2 overall record and a 13-game win streak … The Polar Bears are a 4-4-1 in NCAA Tournament play all-time, advancing as far as the quarterfinals in 2017 … Jenna Fuller, who was named OAC Forward of the Year, paces Northern with 20 goals, which is the most of any player at ONU since 1997 … Her 48 career goals ranks her fourth all-time in school history, while her 113 points ranks sixth all-time … Senior Rose Nienaber, another first-team All-OAC selection, has nine scores in 2019 … Juniors Emma Barney and Siena Ward have four goals apiece, while senior Haley Moses — who earned first-team All-OAC distinction — and junior Abigail Mathews have three goals each … Senior goaltender Meagan Grierson, who became the only goalie to win OAC Goaltender of the Year four straight years, has started all 21 games in net and boasts 55 saves and an OAC-best 10 shut outs … Grierson's 42 career shut outs is tops in program history, and her 195 career saves ranks her sixth all-time at ONU … Grove City gained entrance into the NCAA Tournament by way of defeating Chatham (Pa.) in the President's Athletic Conference Championship … The Wolverines — who lay claim to a 12-6-2 overall record and have won six in a row — will be making their second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and fifth in program history … Grove City is averaging 2.2 goals per game and allowing 1.3 scores per contest … Michaela Burke paces the Wolverines with 15 goals this season, while Ruby Mattson has added 10 scores of her own … Columbia Harkrader has started all 20 games in net and has registered 124 saves and six shut outs … Scranton (Pa.) and Centre (Ky.) will compete in the other first-round match in Ada Saturday … The winner of that match will play the winner between ONU and Grove City Sunday at 1 p.m.
ONU Statistical Leaders:
Goals | Assists | Points | Saves | GAA | ||||||||||||||
1. | Fuller | 20 | 1. | Nienaber | 7 | 1. | Fuller | 43 | 1. | Grierson | 55 | 1. | Grierson | 0.70 | ||||
2. | Nienaber | 9 | 2. | Breier | 6 | 2. | Nienaber | 25 | ||||||||||
3. | 2 Tied | 4 | 3. | Barney | 5 | 3. | Barney | 13 |
Series Record: Ohio Northern and Grove City have met once before … The two squads played to a 1-1 draw in 2012.
Head Coach Mark Batman: Batman is in his 16th season with the ONU women's soccer program ... He sports an overall coaching record of 216-82-29, a .661 win percentage.