Here's an update on ONU men's spring sports.
SOCCER
Junior Bryan Kern (Rocky River) netted the lone goal in overtime to lead the fourth-seeded Ohio Northern men's soccer team to a 1-0 victory in the OAC Quarterfinals against fifth-seeded Mount Union Tuesday night at Kerscher Stadium.
With the win the Polar Bears improve to 6-3-1 overall and Mount Union ends their season 4-5-0.
With 5:15 remaining in the first overtime period, Kern shot a loose ball that bounced out to the top of the goal box, and drilled it past the goaltender to the bottom left of the goal to give ONU the victory.
Both teams defenses held each other scoreless through 90 minutes of regulation.
Junior John Lombardo (Solon) had five saves and stopped all of Mount Union's threatening scoring chances.
The Purple Raiders out-shot the Polar Bears 16-10 and held the advantage 3-2 in corner kicks.
Third-seeded Wilmington defeated sixth-seeded Capital 2-1, so the fourth-seeded Polar Bears will travel to the top seed John Carroll, for a Thursday night OAC semifinal matchup at 7pm in University Heights.
SOCCER SENIOR DAY
The Ohio Northern men's soccer team celebrated Senior Day with a 2-1 victory over Mount Union on a rainy Sunday afternoon at Kerscher Stadium.
The Polar Bears finish fourth in the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season standings with a 5-3-1 record, while the Purple Raiders fall to 4-4-0.
Northern clinched a spot in the 6-team OAC Tournament this week. The OAC will release the pairings and seedings for the tournament on Monday.
Freshman Cade Winchester (Louisville, Tenn./Alcoa) gave Ohio Northern a 1-0 lead with an unassisted goal with 6:57 left in the first half.
He then assisted junior Levi King (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) on a goal 6:45 into the second half and it was 2-0.
Mount Union scored just 49 seconds later to pull within 2-1.
The Polar Bears were able to manage Mount Union's pressure late in the game to finish the victory.
Northern out-shot Mount 10-8 and junior John Lombardo (Solon) had one save in goal for ONU.
FOOTBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ohio Northern senior Brody Hahn (Louisville) was named the Ohio Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the second consecutive week.
He threw for a school-record 463 yards in a 42-35 loss at Heidelberg.
Hahn broke the previous school record of 452 yards set by Shane Franzer in a 1999 Playoff victory at Hanover (Ind.) He also accounted for all five of ONU's scores, rushing for three TDs and throwing for two more.
He also tied ONU's single-game record of 29 completions, going 29-of-41 on the day.
Ohio Northern will wrap up its season on Friday night with a 7:30 pm kickoff against John Carroll in the third place game in the OAC Crossover Series at Dial-Roberson Stadium.
GOLF
The Ohio Northern men's golf team won the John Carroll Cashera Invitational on Monday at the Shaker Heights Country Club.
The Polar Bears (12-19-2 overall) won the 5-team tournament with 310 strokes. John Carroll was second with 3112, Baldwin Wallace was third with 317, Mount Union was fourth with 320 and Heidelberg was fifth with 344.
Sophomore Josh Steyer (Powell/Olentangy Liberty) led ONU with a 3-over par 75, just two shots off the lead.
Junior Austin White (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Township) shot a 76, junior Andrew Slusher (Covington) carded a 79, junior Jared Hernandez (Van Wert) had an 80 and junior Nolan Kimberly (Zanesville) posted an 82.
John Carroll's Mike Cummins won Medalist honors with a 73.
Complete results will be posted when they become available.
The Polar Bears will return to action on Saturday at the Otterbein Invitational.
Team Standings
1. Ohio Northern 310, 2. John Carroll 312, 3. Baldwin Wallace 317, 4. Mount Union 320, 5. Heidelberg 344.
Ohio Northern Individual Results
Josh Steyer 75, Austin White 76, Andrew Slusher 79, Jared Hernandez 80, Nolan Kimberly 82, Matt Russo 95.
BASEBALL
The Ohio Northern baseball team completed a four-game series sweep of Heidelberg with 9-5 and 13-4 victories at Valley on Sunday.
The Polar Bears (8-11 overall, 7-8 Ohio Athletic Conference) ran their winning streak to five games.
The Student Princes fall to 10-10, 7-9.
Junior Chayten Overholt (Van Wert/Lincolnview) led the offense for the Polar Bears going 6-for-10 win two doubles and 3 RBIs on the day.
Senior Michael Rocco (Davenport, Fla./Zionsville (Ind.)) recorded five hits on the day including a solo home run and 2 RBIs.
In Game One the Polar Bears won 9-5 led by Overholt's 4 hits and 3 RBIs.
ONU jumped out to a 5-0 lead, aided by two errors and a hit by pitch.
A 4-run Polar Bear sixth took the lead to 9-2 led by senior Matthew Burkett's (Maumee) 2-RBI single.
The Student Princes comeback attempt produced two runs in the seventh inning to shorten the ONU lead to 9-5 and threatened with the bases loaded and two outs when the Polar Bears went to their bullpen.
Sophomore Austin Mathews (Washington Court House/Miami Trace) entered the game and forced the Student Princes cleanup hitter to pop out, then held HU scoreless across the next two innings to earn his first career collegiate save.
Senior James Fisher (Castalia/Margaretta) started the game for Northern and threw 5.1 innings striking out three and only gave up two runs to earn the win and improve to 1-1.
Junior Tom Pitko (Youngstown/Austintown-Fitch) threw a 7.2 inning gem striking out two to lead the Polar Bears to a 13-4 victory in Game Two. Pitko improves to 3-2 on the season.
ONU jumped out to a 4-run lead in the first inning, and added two more in the second on. senior Jake Gherardi's (Austintown/Austintown-Fitch) 2-RBI single.
Northern used home runs by seniors Rocco and Krue Thwaits (Greenville/Milton-Union) in the sixth and eighth inning respectively to finish out the victory.
The Polar Bears out-hit the Student Princes 29-18 across both games.
Ohio Northern will return to action next weekend with another 4 game home-and-home OAC conference doubleheader starting Saturday at Wilmington.
TRACK AND FIELD
Seniors Alex Sube (Wadsworth/Highland) and Travis Sutter (Sharpsburg/Fort Recovery) each won events to lead the Ohio Northern men's outdoor track and field team to a victory at the Heidelberg Tyson Invitational on Saturday at Hoernemann Stadium.
The Polar Bears (17-4 overall) won the 5-team meet with 203 points.
Sube won the hammer throw with a heave of 51.52 meters and Sutter won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 10:27.02.
Junior Nate Dean (Euclid/Villa Angela-Saint Joseph) won the 100-meter dash in :10.86.
Juniors Luke Shellhaas (Greenville/Versailles) and Andrew Buderer (Oak Harbor) finished 1-2 in the pole vault with each man clearing 4.55 meters.
Freshman David Gross (Prospect/Pleasant Local) won the 400 in :50.58 and freshman Trey Myers(Dayton/Chaminade-Julienne) won the 800 in 1:54.76.
Wilmington was second with 118 points, Baldwin Wallace was third with 86 points, Heidelberg was fourth with 61 and Marietta as fifth with 52.
The Polar Bears will return to action next Saturday when they host the Mike Becraft Invitational at Kerscher Stadium.
TENNIS
The Ohio Northern men's tennis team dropped a 7-2 decision at league-leading John Carroll on Saturday afternoon indoors at the Mayfield Village Racquet Club.
The Polar Bears (2-2 overall, 2-2 Ohio Athletic Conference) got a pair of singles wins from senior Vinh Thai(Galloway/St. Charles) and sophomore Matt Garcia (Downers Grove, Ill./South).
Thai won 6-1, 6-4 at No. 1 singles and Garcia won 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 at No. 5 singles.
JCU swept the doubles courts to lead 3-0 and won four of the six singles matches to secure the win.
The Polar Bears will return to action Wednesday with a road match at Baldwin Wallace
LACROSSE SENIOR DAY
The Ohio Northern men's lacrosse team celebrated its 11 seniors with a 14-5 victory over Marietta on Senior Day Saturday afternoon at Dial-Roberson Stadium.
The Polar Bears improve to 4-4 overall and are 3-3 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Pioneers fall to 3-6, 2-4.
Senior Cameron Marous (Brecksville/Brecksville-Broadview Heights) had four goals and two assists and senior Kevin Giles (Newport News, Va./Warhill) had a 3-goal hat trick to lead the ONU offense.
Northern scored the game's first five goals and led 5-0 after the first period, but MC rallied with three goals in the first eight minutes of the second quarter to get within 5-3.
ONU put the game away by scoring the game's next nine goals, holding Marietta scoreless for more than 34 minutes, to go up 14-3 with 3:59 left in the game.
Ohio Northern held an impressive 53-13 advantage in shots.
The Polar Bears will return to action on Saturday with an OAC contest at Capital.
