Hickey comes up big as Men's Soccer advances to OAC Tournament finals on PKs over No. 22 Mount Union

ADA — Junior Lucas Hickey (Conroe, Tex./Oak Ridge) made a pair of huge saves on Mount Union penalty kicks in Thursday night's Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal game to send the Ohio Northern men's soccer team to Saturday's tournament championship game. The second-seeded Polar Bears defeated the third-seeded and 22nd-ranked Purple Raiders 4-3 in the penalty kick shootout following a scoreless first 110 minutes of play through regulation and overtime.

The Basics

• Records: Ohio Northern (11-5-3 overall), #22 Mount Union (16-2-2 overall)
• Venue: Kerscher Stadium — Ada, Ohio

The Match

• The Polar Bears out-shot the Purple Raiders 10-6 in the first half, and the teams went into halftime with the score knotted in a scoreless draw.
• ONU again held the shot advantage, 8-4, in the second half, but neither team was able to find the back of the net, sending the game to overtime.
• Neither team scored in either of the two 10-minute overtime sessions, meaning the game would be decided by a penalty kick shootout.
• In the shootout, both teams made their first two attempts.
• Hickey stopped Mount Union's third attempt, by Reese Utter, and later saved the Purple Raiders' fifth shot, by Omar Najjar, to advance ONU in the tournament.
• The Polar Bears were 4-for-4 on their PKs, as senior Will Shaffer (Galena/St. Francis DeSales), sophomore Alex Shaffer (Galena/St. Francis DeSales) and juniors Ryan Parker (Lexington) and Brenden Gervers (Grand Blanc, Mich.) all found the back of the net on goalkeeper Jackson Callender.
• Hickey finished regulation and overtime with five saves and secured his fourth shutout of the season and the fifth of his career.
• The Polar Bears out-shot the Raiders 22-13 and finished with a 9-8 edge in corner kicks.

Highlight

• Hickey makes the game-winning save

Notables

• Ohio Northern has secured its 11th OAC Tournament finals appearance in 18 seasons.
• The Polar Bears are seeking their eighth OAC Tournament championship and first since 2015.
• Northern is now 22-13-6 all-time in 24 OAC Tournament appearances.
• Fifth-year head coach Chris Matejka is now 54-26-15 at ONU.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears return to action in Saturday's OAC Tournament championship game at top-seeded Otterbein.