Senior Matt Kinkopf leads No. 4 Men's Soccer in 6-0 shutout over Muskingum

By Caleb Scott

ADA — Senior Matt Kinkopf (Hamilton/Cincinnati Christian) scored two goals to lead the No. 4-ranked Ohio Northern men's soccer team, as it defeated Muskingum 6-0 Saturday evening at Kerscher Stadium.

The Polar Bears improve to 15-0-3 overall and 5-0-2 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Muskies fall to 3-13-1, 0-7-0.

With the two goals, Kinkopf moved into second place all-time at Ohio Northern with 55 career goals and is two goals shy of breaking former Polar Bear and current ONU head coach Brent Ridenour and Nate Bascom's record of 56 goals.

The senior also moves into second place all-time at ONU with 140 career points and is tied for fourth all-time with 40 assists.

Five different players scored the six goals for Ohio Northern.

Kinkopf got Northern on the board first in the 28th minute as he took a pass from senior Dustin Lorenzo (Sidney/Sidney) and found the back of the net to give ONU a 1-0 lead.

Senior Nathan Libertowski (Medina/Medina) was able to add to the lead in the 32nd minute as he gathered his own deflected shot and beat the MU keeper to make it 2-0 at the break.

Junior Chris Garbig (Wilder, Ky./Highlands) would play a ball to senior David Janusz (Oregonia/Lebanon) who would find senior Patrick Sabol (Lancaster/Lancaster) in front of the goalies box and push the score to 3-0 in the 47th minute.

In the 61st minute, senior Brandon Homan (Napoleon/Napoleon) would team up with Sabol to find a wide open Janusz and extend the lead to 4-0.

Freshman Jimmy Walkinshaw (Plymouth, Mich./Canton) played a perfect corner kick into the goalies box in the 69th minute, before senior Grant Allbritten (Warsaw, Ind./Warsaw Community) would find the back of the net with a header to make it 5-0.

Kinkopf would seal the game in the 80th minute as Lorenzo found junior Mac Tompkins (Fairview, Pa./Fairview) who crossed a ball through traffic to find Kinkopf and put the 6-0 victory away.

Junior goalkeeper Dean McNeil (Medina/Medina) earned the victory in the goal and posted his 11th shutout of the season and 26th of his career. 

The Polar Bears outshot the Muskies 40-2 and won the corner kick battle by a 20-0 mark.

Northern returns to action Tuesday evening where they will celebrate Senior Night and welcome Baldwin Wallace to Kerscher Stadium in a key OAC matchup at 7 pm.