Apr. 18, 2008

By Gary Petit

ADA — The Ohio Northern men's soccer team will open the 2008 season at Anderson (Ind.) on Sept. 2 before embarking on a trip to California for a pair of contests.

Northern will take on Redlands (Calif.) on Sept. 6 and California Lutheran on Sept. 7 in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Redlands finished the 2007 season ranked No. 8 by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. The trip will mark the first time the men's program has played a game, or a team, from west of the Mississippi River.

Under the direction of 11th-year head coach Brent Ridenour, the Polar Bears will also host their two annual tournaments, the ONU-Adidas Classic and the OAC-MIAA Shootout.

The Adidas Classic is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Sept. 12-13. In addition to ONU, the tournament field features Manchester (Ind.), Alma (Mich.) and Allegheny (Pa.). Northern will look to win its third title in the last four years by taking on Manchester on Friday and Allegheny on Saturday.

The OAC-MIAA Shootout, which annually pits two teams from the Ohio Athletic Conference against two teams from the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association, is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Sept. 19-20.

The MIAA will be represented by Albion (Mich.) and defending MIAA-Champion Calvin (Mich.), while Ohio Northern and Baldwin-Wallace will compete for the OAC. The Polar Bears have won the past two OAC-MIAA titles.

In other non-conference action, Ohio Northern will host Defiance and Adrian (Mich.) and travel to face NCAC-foes Ohio Wesleyan and Wittenberg.

The Polar Bears will look to regain the OAC crown, which they wore in 2006, when they open OAC-play at home on Parents Day against Muskingum on Oct. 4.

Northern will also play host to Otterbein, Heidelberg and Baldwin-Wallace. The road contests in conference play will test the Polar Bears as they will have to travel to both Capital and John Carroll, last season's OAC Championship finalists. The Bears will also make trips to Mount Union, Wilmington and Marietta.

The top six teams that survive the conference schedule will advance to the OAC Tournament which is set for Nov. 4-8.