Women's Soccer dominates play, but falls 2-0 at Heidelberg

By Tim Glon

TIFFIN — The Ohio Northern women's soccer team dropped a 2-0 decision at Heidelberg on a sunny and warm Wednesday afternoon at the Hidden Valley Soccer Complex.

The Polar Bears fall to 9-4-2 and are 5-1-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Student Princes improve to 9-5-0, 2-4-0.

Northern controlled play throughout the contest, holding a 20-5 advantage in shots and a 57-43 percentage advantage in possession.

Heidelberg got on the board just 10:40 into the match on a goal from Audrey Kaufman off an assist by Lexi Foley.

The Polar Bears dominated play in the second half, out-shooting Heidelberg 11-2, but the Student Princes' keeper Meredith Bruce kept the hosts on top with nine saves on the day.

Junior Lauren Naso (Grosse Ile, Mich.) nearly scored in the 59th minute on a long blast, but a nice save by Bruce kept the ball out.

Bruce made another solid save in the 70th minute off a shot by sophomore Jenna Sitarski (Cincinnati/Lakota West).

Naso had another golden opportunity in the 78th minute, but Bruce stopped her point-blank with another nice save.

Sophomore Jill Roberts (Bellbrook/Carroll) had a good opportunity but fired the ball just high in the 85th minute and a dangerous ball off a corner kick in the 87th minute was corralled by Bruce.

With ONU pressing everyone forward in the final minutes, Heidelberg put the game away on a breakaway goal with 55 seconds left.

Northern held a 60-40 advantage in possession in the second half, but it was the play of HU keeper Bruce that was the difference.

"I was pleased with our effort, but we were not able to score," ONU head coach Mark Batman said. "Heidelberg's keeper played well and we had chances. We need to win our last three matches and we can still achieve our goals."

Senior goalkeeper Kristy Catrine (Springboro) had two saves for ONU.

Ohio Northern will return to action on Saturday with a 1 pm road match at Capital.