Women’s Soccer: Ohio Northern (0-0-0 Overall) at Wittenberg (0-0-0 Overall)
Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022, 6 p.m. — Edwards-Maurer Field, Springfield, Ohio
Thursday's Preview: Thursday's game is the 2022 season opener for both Ohio Northern and Wittenberg … ONU, under 19th-year head coach Mark Batman, has won eight Ohio Athletic Conference Regular Season championships and four OAC Tournament championships … The Polar Bears are coming off a 2021 season in which they finished 14-5-3, won the OAC Tournament title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament … Northern has posted 18 consecutive winning seasons and has made six straight OAC Tournament finals appearances … ONU received votes in the 2022 United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll and was picked second in the OAC in the league's Preseason Coaches Poll … The Polar Bears return 23 letter winners from last year's team, including seven of nine players who started 20-plus games and all three leading point-scorers … Junior Bri Straus and sophomore Alyssa Beckett highlight the list of returnees as United Soccer Coaches All-Region 7 Team, Ohio Collegiate Soccer Association All-Ohio Team and All-OAC selections from a year ago … Junior Jill Roberts was an All-Ohio and All-OAC selection last season, and Northern returns two other 2021 All-OAC picks in senior Lauren Naso and junior Kylie Cabana … Roberts led the team with 15 points and tied for the team lead in goals with six last season … Junior Alaina Casey also tallied six goals last season and ranked second on the team in points with 14 … Beckett ranked third on the team with 10 points and four goals in 2021 … Sophomore Emma Bowman returns after tallying a team-best four assists last season … Other key returners include seniors Cienna Kuhn, Hailey McGuire and Jane Riering; juniors Kylie Brown and Kate Helton; and sophomores Elizabeth Pierce, Jess Gast and Alexa Clampitt … The Polar Bears are turning to senior Becky Moss and freshman Whitney Ho in goal this season following the graduation of two-time OAC Goalkeeper of the Year Kristy Catrine … Moss transferred to ONU after playing two years at Bowling Green and saw just under 28 minutes of action in goal spanning two games for Northern last season … Wittenberg finished 10-9-1 in 2021, winning the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament championship and playing in the NCAA Division III Tournament … The Tigers received 54 points and one first-place vote in the 2022 NCAC Preseason Poll and was picked to finish second in the conference behind Denison … Sophomore Hannah Heald returns after recording a team-high 17 points, six goals and five assists for WU last season … Senior Amy Bidwill also returns after ranking second on the team with 10 points and four goals in 2021 … Juniors Badin Clark and Katie Wisniewski return in goal for Wittenberg after playing in a combined 10 games last season behind then-senior Emma Schewe.
Returning ONU Statistical Leaders (2021 Stats):
| Goals | Assists | Points | Saves | GAA | ||||||||||||||
| 1. | Casey | 6 | 1. | Bowman | 4 | 1. | Roberts | 15 | 1. | Moss | 1 | 1. | Moss | 0.00 | ||||
| Roberts | 6 | 2. | Cabana | 3 | 2. | Casey | 14 | |||||||||||
| 3. | Beckett | 4 | Roberts | 3 | 3. | Beckett | 10 |
Series Record: Wittenberg leads the all-time series with Ohio Northern by a 14-7-3 margin … ONU is 3-8-1 all-time at Wittenberg … In their last meeting, the Polar Bears and Tigers played to a 1-1 draw in Ada in 2021.
Head Coach Mark Batman: Batman is in his 19th season with the ONU women's soccer program … He is the winningest head coach in program history with an overall coaching record of 239-89-35 for a winning percentage of .691 … A five-time OAC Coach of the Year honoree, Batman owns a career mark of 129-24-9 in conference play for a winning percentage of .815 to go with four OAC Tournament championships and six NCAA Tournament appearances.