Season Review: Women's Soccer captures first ever OAC Tournament Title
By: Andrew Korba
The 2012 Ohio Northern women's soccer team put together another solid season under ninth year head coach Mark Batman. The Polar Bears finished with a 13-5-5 record with a 5-3-1 mark in the OAC. ONU also won their first ever OAC Tournament Championship.
Northern began their season with high hopes to repeat the success of the 2011 season, but the Polar Bears hit a few bumps in the road. Northern opened their season with ties to both Grove City (Pa.) and No. 17 Case Western Reserve.
ONU rebounded and won their next four matches. The Polar Bears picked up a tie with Denison, before defeating Mount Saint Joseph and kicking off OAC play with a 3-0 win over Mount Union.
"September was an extremely difficult game schedule," said Batman. "We played top teams in the region and in their respective conferences. We only lost one non-conference game, and against that kind of competition, it was certainly a huge success for the players."
The Polar Bears next three matches were against the top of the OAC and Northern dropped all three, followed by a tie with Wittenberg.
ONU rebounded after a tough few matches with wins over Marietta and at Heidelberg. After a tie with John Carroll and a win at Wilmington, the Polar Bears needed a win at Muskingum to clinch a spot in the OAC Tournament. Sophomore Kristina Klusek registered a hat trick, helping Northern defeat the Muskies 4-1 clinching the No. 4 seed in the OAC Tournament.
"Once the conference started, we played extremely well. Even though we went through a stretch of losses, statistically, we dominated each opponent, and honestly, we played extremely well in all of those matches," Batman added.
In the first round of the OAC Tournament, Northern topped Wilmington by a 2-0 score. The Polar Bears then went on to upset top seeded Otterbein by a 2-1 score, before clinching their first ever OAC Tournament Championship with a 2-0 victory over John Carroll. The title also gave the Polar Bears their second straight appearance in the NCAA III Tournament and third in program history.
"Winning the conference tournament was a great accomplishment for the girls. They knew that if they wanted to represent the OAC in the NCAA National Tournament, they had to win the OAC Tournament, and they did that," Batman said about the OAC Tournament run.
In the first round of the NCAA III Tournament, the Polar Bears faced off against RIT (N.Y.). The match was tight throughout and went to penalty kicks. Junior Kimmy Connor made two saves in the shootout and the Polar Bears advanced to the second round.
Northern's season would draw to a close with a tough 1-0 loss to No. 17 Carnegie Mellon (Pa.).
The Polar Bears brought home numerous awards throughout the season.
Senior Tara Tokar was named OAC Midfielder of the Year. She was also selected to the NSCAA/Continental Tire All-American Third Team. Tokar was also named First Team All Great Lakes Region and Klusek earned a Second Team All Great Lakes Region selection.
In all, Northern had seven named All-OAC with senior Paige Garber, Klusek and Tokar all earning First team nods. Junior midfielder Abbie Schauble, junior defender Abby Vargo and senior goalie Erin Waehner were named Second Team All-OAC and junior forward Sami Atkinson picked up an Honorable Mention accolade.
In addition, ONU had success in the classroom. Seven Polar Bears were named Academic All-OAC. Junior Lauren Brown was named Capital One First Team Academic All District and Tokar was named to the Scholar All-American Third Team.
Batman was also named OAC Coach of the Year and Ohio Coach of the Year, as he helped guide Ohio Northern to another memorable season.
"Making the NCAA's second round for the second straight season was a great sendoff for our seniors," said Batman. "In their careers, they have won two OAC Championships (one regular season and a conference tournament), advanced to participate in the NCAA National Tournament three of four seasons, played some of the best teams in the country, and leave as a top team in the region. They should be very proud of what they've given to ONU and our women's soccer family."