Seniors Nathan Libertowski and Matt Kinkopf lead ONU in high scoring affair as No. 4 Men's Soccer defeats Wilmington 6-2

By Caleb Scott

ADA -- Seniors Nathan Libertowski (Medina/Medina) and Matt Kinkopf (Hamilton/Cincinnati Christian) led the No. 4-ranked Ohio Northern men's soccer team as it defeated Wilmington 6-2 Thursday evening at Williams Stadium.

The Polar Bears improve to 14-0-3 overall and 4-0-2 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Quakers fall to 4-9-2, 1-5-0.

ONU and WC played nearly 25 minutes in the original contest scheduled for Oct. 19, but the contest was postponed due to inclement weather and per NCAA rules, was replayed as a full 90-minute game Thursday evening.

Northern held a 1-0 lead early on against the Quakers Wednesday evening as freshman Jimmy Walkinshaw (Plymouth, Mich./Canton) scored in 22nd minute before the contest was called.

Libertowski and Kinkopf led the way for ONU offensively as the duo scored two goals each Thursday evening.

In the makeup contest, Northern struck first in the 14th minute as Kinkopf played a corner kick into the goalies box and senior David Janusz (Oregonia/Lebanon) found the back of the net with a header to give ONU a 1-0 lead.

Wilmington was able to even the score in the 35th minute as Carl Bergstrom scored.

Kinkopf would help the Polar Bears regain the lead in the 37th minute as he was able to capitalize on a penalty kick to push the lead to 2-1.

Less than two minutes later in the 39th minute, Libertowski would take a pass from Kinkopf and beat the WC keeper to extend the lead to 3-1 just before the intermission.

In the 51st minute, Janusz and junior J.J. Fortner (Maumee/Anthony Wayne) found Libertowski for his fifth goal of the season and Northern extended the lead to 4-1.

The Quakers would answer with a goal of their own in the 66th minute as Anton Holmquist closed the Polar Bear lead to 4-2.

ONU would not let Wilmington gain much ground as senior Tommy Troy (Toledo/Central Catholic) found Kinkopf in the 72nd minute and Kinkopf found the back of the net to push the lead to 5-2.

Sophomore Joseph Schulte (Copley/Copley) would seal the victory as he scored in the 88th minute to give ONU the 6-2 victory.

Junior Dean McNeil (Medina/Medina) earned the victory in the goal and improved to 14-0-3 overall. 

The junior recorded one save in 70 minutes of action.

Northern outshot Wilmington by a 22-10 mark, and won the corner kick battle by a 3-2 margin. 

The Polar Bears return to action Saturday evening as they host a Breast Cancer Awareness game and welcome OAC-foe Muskingum to Kerscher Stadium at 7 pm.