Saints/Norse notes

Tofa Luani thinks he knows why Thomas More’s 2025 season was a nightmare.

“There was just a lot of me-ism going on on the team,” the Saints linebacker said. “And then people really, they just went off based on themselves and really not just a team themselves.” 

Thomas More opens the season at noon Saturday at Wheeling. To be sure, last year’s opening foray into NCAA Division II was a long, hard slog: a 1-10 record and 1-8 in the Great Midwest Conference.

Luani said staying together “definitely was” a challenge.

“But we had to step up and just, we had to be there for each other,” he said. “And if we weren’t, then things would have went sideways, and we didn’t want that to happen.”

Head coach Chris Norwell identified one overarching lesson.

“Just making sure our players, our coaches, our program, understand everything’s in the details,” Norwell said. “So we have to be really great with our fundamentals.”

Not much offense or defense didn’t help. The Saints: scored just 128 points a game last year and gave up 345, gained 2,785 total yards, scored just 13 touchdowns, and surrendered 3,616 yards with 44 scores.

What was maybe more frustrating: the Saints’ offense reached the inside the 20-yard line “red zone” only 25 times all season, scoring 20 times with nine touchdowns, while opponents scored 40 times in 44 attempts with 31 scores.

Martavious Smith is expected to lead the running attack. He’ll have to improve on 2025’s 120 yards and one touchdown.

Luani’s 73 tackles was second on the team last year.

Thomas More is ninth in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference preseason coaches poll. What the Saints lacked in statistics last year, Smith makes up for in 2026 confidence – he sees no reason his team can’t beat co-champions Ashland and Findlay.

“I’m taking us over anybody,” Smith said. “I feel like on a good day we can we can beat anybody.”

2026 Great Midwest Football Coaches Preseason Poll

Rank	Team	Points
1	Ashland (6)	87
2	Northwood (4)	85
3	Findlay	74
4	Tiffin	66
5	Hillsdale	61
6	Walsh	51
7	Ohio Dominican	42
8	Lake Erie	36
9	Thomas More	25
10	Kentucky Wesleyan	18

Additions

Thomas More has added two new coaches. 

Marti Fiedler is the Saints’ new head cheer coach, and Max Whitesell will be the baseball team’s new assistant coach/recruiting coordinator.  

A Fort Thomas native, Fiedler earned a bachelors degree from Northern Kentucky University in Criminal Justice. She was a part of NKU’s cheer and dance teams.

Fiedler began her coaching career in 2008. She’s guided teams at Lloyd Memorial, Highlands when she was named the head cheer coach at Lloyd Memorial High School. In her 16 years of coaching experience, she made stops at Highlands, Simon Kenton and Bishop Brossart.

Whitesell was pitching coach/recruiting coordinator at Clark State Community College in Springfield, Ohio. He played collegiately at Ohio Dominican and and Wright State.

NKU’s women’s soccer blows out MSJ, hangs on against Ohio

The Norse’s women’s soccer team opened its home season Thursday with an 8-0 win over Mount St. Joseph and followed it with Sunday’s 3-2 triumph over Ohio University.

Natalie Newman led NKU with two goals, and Caitlin Evans, Kylie Anderson, Megan Molner, Erykah Cornett, Riley Evans and Gabi Folino each added one. Folino also had two assists.

The eight goals are the most in NKU’s Division I era, and the second most in program history after a nine-goal outburst in a win over Kentucky Wesleyan on Sept. 9, 2011.

Against the Bobcats, Riley Evans scored on a penalty kick, followed by scores by Cornett and Molner.

Molner was named the Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week. She has five goals for the season, including three in a 4-1 win at Austin Peay and one each against MSJ and Ohio.

Men’s soccer falls in season opener

While NKU’s women knocked off MSJ, the men lost at North Carolina-Asheville, 1-0.

Norse goalkeeper Caleb Pearson made 11 saves, but Asheville outshot NKU, 17-12.

NKU opens its home schedule against Southern Indiana at 6 p.m. Monday.