Here’s an update on Ohio Northern University sports with the week ending Sept. 7.
Women’s tennis
The Ohio Northern women's tennis team competed at the non-scoring Oberlin Invitational Friday-Sunday at Hunsinger Courts.
Senior Katie Curry (Oxford/Talawanda) was one of five Polar Bears to post a 3-3 record in the event.
She joined sophomores Olivia Schrager (Dayton/Miami Valley) and Abigail Staskiewicz (Mars, Pa./Oakland Catholic) and freshmen Regan Landis (Elkhart, Ind./Central) and Florine Sanchez (West Chester/Lakota West) with 3-3 records.
All five players went 2-1 in singles and 1-2 in doubles.
The Polar Bears will continue their fall schedule Sept. 19-21 at the ITA Regionals at Kalamazoo, Mich.
Women’s golf
The Ohio Northern women's golf team finished fourth of six teams at the Ohio Wesleyan Fall Invitational Saturday and Sunday at Safari Golf Club.
The Polar Bears (4-3 overall) rallied from fifth place after day one with a 327 on day 2 to finish fourth with a 332-327—659.
Denison won the team title with a 306-287—593, Mount Saint Joseph was second with 327-319—646 and Wooster was third at 326-330—656.
Junior Lydia Cranmer (Farmington Hills, Mich./Ladywood) tied for fifth out of 46 golfers with a 12-over par 79-77—156 on the par-72, 5823-yard course.
Junior Annika Neumann (Valley City/Avon)tied for 10th with an 85-77—162, freshman Meghan Utterdyke(Franklin/Fenwick) tied foer 21st with an 86-84—170 and freshman Jessica Tubbs (Holland/Springfield) tied for 25th with an 82-90—172 for ONU.
Denison's Emmy Timberlake won Medalist honors with a 72-73—145.
Playing as an individual, Ohio Northern freshman Torrie Smith (Russiaville, Ind./Western) tied for 21st with an 89-81—170.
Ohio Northern will return to action next Saturday-Sunday at the Ohio Wesleyan Invitational.
Men’s golf
Freshman Josh Steyer (Powell/Olentangy Liberty) fired a 4-over par 148 to lead the Ohio Northern men's golf team to a sixth place finish at the Ohio Cup on Saturday at Red Hawk Run Golf Course.
The Polar Bears (7-7 overall) finished with a 608 for the 36-hole tournament.
Findlay won the tournament with a 558, Tiffin was second with a 588 and Cedarville was third with a 598.
ONU was first among the three NCAA Division III schools, defeating Heidelberg (627) and Bluffton (673).
Steyer finished tied for 14th out of 87 golfers in his first collegiate tournament.
Sophomore Nolan Kimberly (Zanesville) tied for 31st with a 152, freshman Alex Cabungcal (Lewis Center/Olentangy Orange) tied for 37th with a 153, sophomore Jared Hernandez (Van Wert) tied for 43rd with a 155 and junior Ethan Smith (Chillicothe/Southeastern) tied for 74th with a 169.
Findlay's Caleb Westfall won Medalist honors with a 138.
The Polar Bears will return to action Sept. 14-15 at the Otterbein Match Play tournament.
Men’s soccer
In its first home match of the 2019 season, the Ohio Northern men's soccer team picked up its first victory of the season. The Polar Bears netted two second-half goals en route to a 2-0 win over Hope (Mich.) during the ONU Invitational at Kerscher Stadium Friday night.
Sophomore Levi King (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) tallied the game's first goal in the very early stages of the second half and Junior Beelal Hasan (Westerville/Thomas) capped the scoring a few minutes, thereafter. Northern (1-1-1) was outshot by the Flying Dutch 19-9, but the Polar Bears made their opportunities count.
King — the reigning Ohio Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year — was playing in his first game of the 2019 season and utilized a free kick to put the Polar Bears on the board. King threaded it through traffic and past Hope (2-1-0) goaltender Blair McCormick in the 47th minute.
Hasan increased ONU's advantage in the 52nd minute, firing a shot from just outside the goalie box that bested McCormick.
Northern goalkeeper John Lombardo (Solon) pitched his first shutout of the season, ending the game with six saves. He made impressive saves in both halves, but none greater than his last.
After the Polar Bears were whistled for a penally in the goalie box during the 88th minute, Charlie Rogers took aim at a penally shot, but Lombardo was up of the challenge.
McCormick finished the contest with four saves.
The Polar Bears turn their attention to No. 2 Calvin (Mich.) Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The Knights downed Transylvania (Ky.) 3-1 Friday in the first game of the ONU Invite.
The Ohio Northern men's soccer team dropped the final contest of the 2019 ONU Invitational by a 3-0 scoreline to No.2-ranked Calvin (Mich.) on Saturday evening at Kerscher Stadium.
The Polars Bears (1-2-1) were led by sophomore Levi King (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central), who produced two on-target attempts.
CC (3-1-0) received a pair of goals by Hunter Olsen.
In the 3rd minute, sophomore John Lombardo (Solon) made a key save on a laser from 18 yards out off the left foot of Calvin's Ian Adams.
The Knights then netted goals in the 16th and 20th minutes to take a 2-0 lead.
ONU and CC remained scoreless from the next 50 minutes before Calvin scored an insurance goal in the 70th minute to take a 3-0 lead.
In the 90th minute, Northern nearly got on the scoreboard on a shot by junior Zach Yoder (Goshen, Ind./Northridge) that just missed wide right.
The Polar Bears were outshot 15-9 and the Knights also held a 7-3 advantage in corner kicks.
Ohio Northern returns to the pitch at home on Wednesday at 7 p.m. against Ohio Wesleyan.
Women’s soccer
The Ohio Northern women's soccer team couldn't of asked for a better start to Saturday's match against No. Wheaton (Ill.) at Kerscher Stadium. The Polar Bears netted a first-minute goal, however, couldn't build on it and fell to the Thunder 2-1.
ONU junior Megan Breier (Plainfield, Ill./North) recorded the game's first score off a feed from junior Jenna Fuller(Countryside, Ill./Lyons Township).
Sarah Max scored the equalizer for Wheaton, assisted on by Sara Bakke, in the 26th minute, and Isabelle Oliver gave the Thunder the lead — assisted by Tori Seeland and Aeva Graber — in the 43rd minute.
Northern (2-1-1) managed eight shots on the day, five coming in the first half, while Wheaton (4-0-0) totaled 17 shots. ONU junior goaltender Meagan Grierson (Dayton/Miamisburg) logged four saves, and Wheaton goalie Lauren Ketchum had three saves.
The Polar Bears travel to Denison Wednesday at 7 p.m. before returning home next weekend against Calvin (Mich.).
Volleyball
The No. 21-ranked Ohio Northern volleyball team finished 3-0 at the Bluffton Spiketacular after victories over Hanover (Ind.) and Bluffton on Saturday afternoon in at the Sommer Center.
The Polar Bears (5-2) opened the day with a 12-25, 27-25, 25-18, 25-15 victory over Hanover (5-2), then finished the tournament with a 25-20, 25-15, 25-20 win over host Blufffton (1-6).
Freshman Megan Mahon (Amelia/West Clermont) led Ohio Northern with a career-high 19 kills against the Panthers and seven kills against the Beavers.
Senior Sydney Bapst (Grove City) finished the day with 16 kills and junior Katie Wade (Battle Creek., Mich./Harper Creek) had 62 assists and 18 digs in the two matches.
Ohio Northern will take a four-match winning streak into its next match, which is at Denison on Tuesday evening
The No. 21-ranked Ohio Northern volleyball team opened play in the Bluffton Spiketacular with a 21-25, 25-14, 25-20, 25-18 victory over Geneva (Pa.) on Friday afternoon at the Sommer Center.
The polar Bears (3-2 overall) got 14 kills from senior McKenna Jordan (Toledo/St. Ursula) and 11 kills from freshman Megan Mahon (Amelia/West Clermont) in the winning effort.
The Golden Tornados (5-1) were led by Olivia Moore with 18 kills and Maggie Townsend with 11 kills.
Geneva took the opening set 25-21, but ONU bounced back in set two, hitting a blistering .333 as a team with 14 kills and only two errors to win 25-14.
The Polar Bears' hot hitting continued in Set 3, as ONU had 15 kills with only three errors to hit .293 and win the set 25-20.
Northern then took advantage of nine GC errors to win the fourth and final set 25-18.
ONU also got 10 kills and five blocks from freshman Madison Kern (Loveland/Mount Notre Dame) and 35 assists, 10 digs and three aces from junior Katie Wade (Battle Creek, Mich./Harper Creek) in the match.
The Polar Bears will rap up the Bluffton Spiketacular on Saturday with a Noon match against Hanover (Ind.) and a 2 pm contest against host and area-rival Bluffton.
Women’s soccer
The Ohio Northern women's soccer team played No.15-ranked Hope (Mich.) to a 1-1 draw after two overtime periods in its 2019 home opener at Kerscher Stadium on Friday afternoon.
Junior Abigail Mathews (Liberty Township/Lakota East) netted the lone goal for the Polar Bears (2-0-1).
The Flying Dutch (0-0-3) received an equalizer from Audrey White in the 65th minute.
In the 4th minute, junior Megan Breier earned a corner kick for the Polar Bears.
Senior Haley Moses (Mason) sent the ensuing corner into the box before a Hope clearance attempt was blocked by junior Sydney Leshnak (Liberty Township/Mount Notre Dame).
The loose ball found its way to Mathews, who beat the Flying Dutch keeper with a shot from eight yards out to the right post to give ONU a 1-0 lead.
In the second half, Hope scored in the 65th minute off a header from six yards out.
Senior Meagan Grierson (Dayton/Miamisburg) and the Polar Bear defense held off the Flying Dutch late in the second half to send the game into overtime, tied at 1-1.
Hope outshot Ohio Northern in the first overtime 3-1 but neither team found the net.
In the second overtime, Northern had multiple dangerous chances.
Both sophomore Tara Morris (Monroe) and junior Emma Barney (Oak Harbor) had shots saved on the goal line by a Flying Dutch defender in 104th minute.
Off a set piece in the 119th minute, junior Siena Ward (Newport Beach, Cal./Newport Harbor) corralled a deflection from a Hope defender in front of the goal line, but was ruled offside.
The Polar Bears outshot Hope 17-13 with ONU putting seven shots on-frame to HC's four. Hope outpaced Northern in corners at 11-7.
Ohio Northern returns to the pitch Saturday at 3 p.m. against No.6-ranked Wheaton (Ill.).
