By day, Thomas More kicker Davis Burleigh works at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.
At around 10 p.m. Saturday, he felt higher than any incoming jet. His 32-yard field goal as time expired – his first walk-off winner – gave Thomas More a 24-21 win over NCAA Division II No. 24 Walsh University.
“It was the best feeling I’ve ever had on a football field,” Burleigh said. “ I mean, I’ve been part of some big games in my career, but I mean, nothing ever, nothing will ever relate to … the game coming down to my foot.”
Saturday was Thomas More’s first win over a ranked Division II opponent. (The Saints scored a 24-14 road win over Division III Bethel on Nov. 6, 2021 and a home 35-28 victory over Wisconsin-Platteville on Sept. 15, 2018.)
For a moment, Saturday looked like a repeat of the previous four losses – the Saints had blown a 21-10 lead.
The Saints (1-4, 1-2 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference) began its winning drive at its own 46 with 1:30 to go. It didn’t start well – quarterback Ben Chesser threw two incomplete passes. But on third down, he found Numehnne Gwilly for 18 yards and Jonathan Cooper for five.
“I think you’ve gotta be willing to take what the defense will give you, right?” Thomas More head coach Chris Norwell said. “The teams are going to play off and protect the deep half of the field, you’ve got to be willing to kind of just take those easy throws, pick up yards.”
After Kayleb Wagner ran for two yards, Chesser ran for 15 and Wagner lost one, Burleigh’s kick ended the game.
For the game, the Saints gained 296 yards to the Cavaliers’ 283. Chesser was 21-of-31 for 193 yards and touchdowns to A’Mari Wash, Jaiden Combs and Ben Fay.
Thomas More travels to Columbus for next Saturday’s game against Ohio Dominican. Kickoff is at 12 p.m.
Hart reaches milestone
Liz Hart became Northern Kentucky University’s winningest NKU volleyball coach in program history after Saturday’s four-set victory at Oakland.
Hart won her 287th match in the Norse’s 3-1 win, surpassing Mary Biermann.
What is more, NKU won its sixth straight match and remained undefeated in the Horizon League at 4-0 (9-6 overall) and in a first-place tie with Green Bay, Wright State and Purdue Fort Wayne. The Norse beat Cleveland State, 3-1, on Friday.
Ivey Stocks leads NKU with 162 kills, followed by Sydney Bray with 142 and Ava Hoying with 132. Abby Pickard has 622 assists, Daisy Cluxton has 267 digs, and Stocks is first in blocks with 65.
NKU faces Northern Illinois Friday and Saturday in DeKalb.
Thomas More leads GMAC in men’s and women’s soccer
The Saints men and women are hotter than Death Valley in July.
The men improved to 7-0-1 (9-2-1 overall) in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference after their sixth consecutive win, shutouts over Ohio Dominican (3-0 Thursday in Columbus) and Northwood (1-0 Saturday in Midland, Michigan).
And the 9-1-2 women? Four straight wins after Thursday’s 4-0 win at Ohio Dominion and Saturday’s 3-0 shutout at Ursuline College.
What may be equally impressive: The Saints men have not allowed a goal since a 3-3 tie against Kentucky Wesleyan on Sept. 12 and are 8-0-1 since a 1-0 loss at Point Park on Sept. 2, and the women have outscored Northwood, Malone, Ohio Dominican and Ursuline by a combined 10-0.
Xavier Munro scored the lone men’s goal against Northwood. Ramzi Termanini, Collin Kittrell and Anwar Benkandil scored against Ohio Dominican.
Ivy Hoffman leads the women with eight goals, including one each against Ohio Dominican and Ursuline.
Cross Country
NKU and Thomas More’s men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in Saturday’s Swags Louisville Cross Country Classic.
NKU’s women’s and men’s teams finished 13th and 24th, respectively, on Saturday at the
In the women’s Gold Divsion 6K race, Brittany Arnold was NKU’s first finisher, placing 43rd in 18 minutes, 27.9 seconds. Grace Biddle was 68th in 18:53.3, Emily Foley was 77th in 19:01.0, Sami Govey was 88th in 19:06.8, Carlie Condit was 92nd in 19:08.2, Julia Verhoff was 111th in 19:25.6, and Kaitlyn Strange was 143rd in 19:53.7
Nathan Ruth was NKU’s top male finisher in the Gold 8K run, finishing 95th with a 25:41.7. Brady Messer was 114th in 25:53.3, Noah Towne was 156th in 26:49.7, Gregory Beard was 160th in 27:25.6, and Brayden Rice was 165th in 30:31.5.
Thomas More’s men and women finished fourth in the Silver division. Mark Antrobus was 13th in the 8K with a 26:47.6, and Campbell Gerling was seventh in the 6K in 18:50.1.
NKU men’s basketball adds UT-Martin
The Norse will play Tennessee-Martin in an exhibition game at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 14 at Truist Arena.
The game is NKU’s first exhibition since November 2023, when the Norse took on Mount St. Joseph and the first against an NCAA Division I opponent since joining in 2012.
The Skyhawks are members of the Ohio Valley Conference.
NKU soccer
The Norse are ninth in the Horizon League after Saturday’s 3-0 loss at Northern Illinois.
NKU (1-8-1 overall, 1-3 in league) lost its third straight, including Tuesday’s 2-1 home loss to Bowling Green.
Carlos Merce’ leads the Norse with three goals, and Bennett Gerak and Ibrahim Piracha each have two. Gerak and Diego Hoenderkamp each have three assists.
NKU hosts Wright State at 7 p.m. Wednesday and travels to Cleveland State for a 7 p.m. mstch. Both games can be seen on ESPN+.
NKU’s women’s soccer team is tied for ninth with Detroit Mercy at 1-3-1 after Sunday’s 1-1 against Green Bay.
After Green Bay’s Grace Downey scored in the 30th minute, NKU’s Riley Evans tied the match in trhe 44th on a penalty kick.
Megan Molner leads NKU with eight goals, and Evans and Natalie Newman each have four. Erykah Cornett has five assists, and Emma Gianino has four
The Norse (5-5-2 overall) play Robert Morris at 4 p.m. Saturday in Moon Township, Pennsylvania.
NKU golf
The men’s and women’s teams are on the road Monday and Tuesday.
The women are at the Butler Invitational at Highland Country Club in Indianapolis, and the men are in the Tom Tontimonia Invitational at Lakewood Country Club in Westlake, Ohio.
The Norse women finished ninth out of 11 teams at last week’s NKU Fall Invitational at Belterra Golf Club in Florence, Indiana. Eva Maley carded a 2-under-par 69, the lowest single-round score in NKU history; she birdied three times and placed sixth overall with a three-round total of 6-over 219.
TMU Volleyball snaps streak
The Saints ended a four-game losing skid with Friday’s 3-0 win (25-20, 25-18, 25-19) at Kentucky Wesleyan.
Reagan Martin led Thomas More with 13 kills, Ceci Kramer had nine, and Sadie Stuart added seven to go with two aces.
Megan Rogers had 13 assists, Paige Stockhoff had four aces and nine assists, Kat Koepke and Miley Murphy each had two blocks, and Rogers and Taylor Stivers had seven digs.
Martin leads the team with 152 kills. Stockhoff is first in assists with 195, Stivers has 164 digs, and Stuart has 40 blocks.
The Saints (6-9, 2-5) are third in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference’s South Division after Saturday’s 3-0 loss at Cedarville. They host Malone at 6 p.m. Friday and Walsh at 12 p.m. Saturday.
