Megan Molner has scored three goals in a soccer match before, but never in college.
Until last Wednesday. Northern Kentucky’s senior forward accomplished that career milestone in the Norse’s 4-1 at Austin Peay.
You could describe what Molner did in a word: firsts. Her hat trick marked the first by a Norse since the team joined Division I, the first in program history since Allison Ponzer did it Oct. 7, 2011 vs. Saint Joseph’s, and the first in the Horizon League since Oakland’s Brae Cole scored three against Mercyhurst on Aug. 21, 2025.
“I was just happy that we got the win,” Molner said. “I knew I was capable of scoring a couple goals, didn’t know how many I had in me that day.”
Norse head coach Bob Sheehan called Molner “an exceptional finisher around the goal.”
“And we see it in training every day,” Sheehan said. “She’s two-footed. She can finish with her left foot, she can finish with her right foot … She can score in a variety of ways.”
Molner scored in the sixth minute on Erykah Cornett’s, in the 60th on a penalty kick and the 61st minute later. NKU’s Ayla Conn finished the scoring with a late goal on Cornett’s second assist.
Emma Gianino notched her first assist as a Norse, and goalkeeper Donna Bundy made four saves and had two assists.
What was more, Molner’s six points also marked a new single-game record in the Division I era; it was the most since Ponzer and Amanda Mason had five against St. Joseph’s.
NKU begins a three-match home stand at 7 p.m. Thursday against Mount St. Joseph, followed by Ohio University at 7 p.m. Aug. 23 and Bellarmine at 7 p.m. Aug. 27.
NKU’s Longano to lead cross country, track
Paul Longano was promoted to head cross country and track & field coach. He replaces Steve Kruse, who retired this month after a 32-year career.
“I did not go in expecting anything to be given to me just because I had a long tenure here,” Longano said. “So I went in with the mindset of, ‘this could go any direction, but don’t feel like you’re owed anything’.”
According to nkunorse.com, Longano recruited and developed many of NKU’s most successful track & field athletes, including seven-time Horizon League champion and two-time Horizon League Outdoor Championships Outstanding Running Performer Cameron Bittermann, nine-time Horizon League champion Lynsey Shipley, six-time champion Andrea Armstrong, five-time champion Megan Sullivan, and four-time champions Olivia Kennedy and Erika Nageleisen.
Before coming to NKU in 2019, Longano was head coach at Mount St. Joseph, an assistant at Xavier and two area high schools, Mariemont and Taylor.
To Longano, preparing his athletes for life after college is more important.
“It’s about using track and field and cross country as a platform for young people, to come to us, to develop their skills, and then to go into the community and serve the community,” Longano said. “… We have a lot of athletes that come to our program specifically, because we’re open to working with high-demanding majors.
The Norse open this season at 6 p.m. Thursday at North Carolina-Asheville. The match can be seen on ESPN+.
Adkins-Estes added
Micah Adkins-Estes was hired as a men’s soccer assistant coach Friday.
“I am very excited to welcome Micah to our staff,” Norse men’s soccer head coach Sean Teepen said in a media release. “He embodies the core values we want our program to represent and, most importantly, is a tremendous person.”
Before joining NKU, Adkins-Estes was a recruiting coordinator at NCSA College Recruiting, a position he held since January, and an assistant at Missouri State University in 2025, Spalding University in 2024 and Wheaton College in 2023. He earned his degree from Kentucky Christian University in Biblical Studies with an emphasis in sports ministry and a minor in counseling in 2020.
Lindsey, Hardy honored
NKU women’s golfers Conlee Lindsey and Ella Hardy were named Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-American Scholars.
Student-athletes who compete in over 50% of their team’s competitive rounds while maintaining at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average.
Lindsey, a freshman from Hopkinsville native, competed in 18 rounds for the Norse in 2025-26, posting an average score of 84.3.
Hardy, a senior from Louisville, earned her second straight WGCA award. She recorded a scoring average of 81.7 for the season, and she finished in fourth at the NKU Women’s Spring Fling.
G-MAC preseason soccer polls released
Thomas More’s men’s and women’s soccer teams placed sixth in their respective Great Midwest Athletic Conference preseason polls.
Tiffin topped the men’s poll with 91 points, and Ashland University led the women’s rankings with 119.
The Saints’ men’s team opens its season against Shawnee State Aug. 27 at Republic Bank Field in Crestview Hills, while the women take on Roberts Wesleyan Aug. 27 in Rochester, New York.
2026 Great Midwest Conference Men’s Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll
Rank School Points 1. Tiffin (5 first-place votes) 91 2. Cedarville (5 first-place votes) 90 3. Kentucky Wesleyan (1 first-place vote) 73 4. Findlay 72 5. Lake Erie 69 6. Thomas More 63 7. Ashland 43 8. Walsh 35 9. Ohio Dominican 33 10. Northwood 19 11. Malone 16
Women’s Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll
Rank Team Points 1. Ashland (10) 119 2. Cedarville (2) 110 3. Findlay 109 4. Northwood 94 5. Lake Erie 78 6. Thomas More 62 7. Walsh 61 t8. Ohio Dominican 54 t8. Tiffin 40 10. Malone 40 11. Ursuline 19 12. Kentucky Wesleyan 12
