Thomas More men’s soccer first, women second in GMAC
The Saints men are a half-game ahead of Tiffin in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference thanks to Saturday’s 2-0 win over Malone, and the women are a half-game behind Ashland.
“I’d say we’re where we expected to be,” men’s coach Scott D’Addario said.
The Saints women, meanwhile, are overachieving – they were ranked sixth in the GMAC preseason coaches poll.
“We definitely feel we were better than we were picked in the polls,” women’s coach Marquis Walker said.
Thomas More’s men (7-2-1, 5-0-1 GMAC) won their fourth straight Saturday on Will Fox’s third goal this season and Nils Waltemode’s second. The Saints beat Ohio Dominican, 1-0, on Thursday on Ramzi Termanini’s third goal of the season.
So far this season, the men have outscored their opponents, 18-8, and outshot them, 150-85.
Fox and Termanini have three goals apiece, and Waldemonde, Anwar Bankandil, Luca Mammi and Cooper Walters have two each. Edward Longhurst has five assists, and goalkeeper Joey Jones has 18 saves and five shutouts.
“Will actually has been injured the last few games,” D’Addario says. “… Ramzi’s doing well, he’s coming around, but the biggest thing between last year and this year with Ramzi is, he felt like he had to do too much out on his own last year, and he’s getting more guys involved and playing more simple this year, which is opening up the offense a lot.”
The women won their second straight on Saturday over Malone, 2-0, on goals by Ivy Hoffman and Olivia Barga. Josie Gruber’s goal in the 62nd minute gave the Saints a 1-0 win over Northwood on Thursday.
Fox and Termanini have three goals apiece, and Waldemode, Anwar Bankandil, Luca Mammi and Cooper Walters have two each. Edward Longhurst has five assists, and goalkeeper Joey Jones has 18 saves and five shutouts.
The women (7-1-2, 5-1) won their second straight on Saturday over Malone, 2-0, on goals by Ivy Hoffman and Olivia Barga. Josie Gruber’s goal in the 62nd minute gave the Saints a 1-0 win over Northwood on Thursday.
“Ivy is absolutely a threat and it was, this week’s games Thursday and Saturday, we have a unique pairing up top,” Walker said. “ Thursday, Josie Gruber took over and she was dominant in that game – she got the goal. Saturday, Ivy took over and she got a goal.”
The women have outscored their opponents, 22-6. Hoffman leads the team with six goals, Gruber has five, and Andjela Popovic and Alex Harden have three each. Barga and Popovic both have three assists.
A two-game road swing awaits the women: Ohio Dominican at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Columbus and Ursuline College at noon Saturday in Pepper Pike, Ohio.
Tough early scheduling helps NKU volleyball
Was NKU’s volleyball team upset? Were the Norse concerned about a 1-5 start?
The answer: maybe not. NKU (7-6, 2-0 in the league) is riding a four-game winning streak and is tied atop the Horizon League standings with Green Bay, Wright State, Indiana-Indianapolis and Purdue Fort Wayne.
“So we schedule really tough in the preseason,” Norse coach Liz Hart says. “So the first two weekends, you know, maybe we didn’t get as many Dubs (wins) as we wanted. We did go four and five sets in every match.”
After a win over Fresno State, NKU lost to Bowling Green, Ohio State, American University, Arkansas State and Bowling Green again.
“I think American will win their conference,” Hart says. “I think Bowling Green, who we played back to back, will finish in the top three in the MAC (Mid-American Conference). And so we scheduled really tough and didn’t necessarily get the wins.”
NKU’s turnaround began Sept. 11-12 with a 2-1 weekend at the Steve Baumrind Invitational in Charleston, South Carolina – the Norse knocked off Duquesne and Notre Dame before falling to College of Charleston – and continued the last two weeks with two wins over Miami-Ohio and two league wins over Milwaukee.
Ivey Stocks leads the team with 144 kills and 56 blocks, Daisy Cluxton has 233 digs, and Abby Pickard has 531 assists.
NKU begins a four-game road stretch at 6 p.m. Friday at Cleveland State and 4 p.m. Saturday at Oakland.
Thomas More’s football frustration continues
At last, there’s a home game at Republic Bank Field. The Saints host Walsh University at 7 p.m. Saturday.
The Saints’ fourth road game Saturday at Hillsdale College was as angst-producing as the first three – a 38-7 loss, the second consecutive time Thomas More surrendered that many points.
“Right now, you know, we’re learning, learning a lot of lessons, but each week it’s a challenge to get our team better,” head coach Chris Norwell said.
Thomas More has had moments where everything worked – Norwell mentions the 7-0 halftime lead Aug. 29 at Wheeling and Ben Chesser’s 44-yard touchdown pass to Jaidan Combs last week at Hillsdale College.
For the season, opponents have outscored the Saints, 133-38. Thomas More (0-4, 0-2 in the GMAC) averages just 87.5 rushing yards (to opponents’ 198.5) and 133 passing (198.5).
Martavious Smith leads the Saints with 143 rushing yards. Ben Chesser is 59-of-111 for 513 yards with two touchdowns and six interceptions, and he has run for 134 yards and a score.
NKU soccer
The Norse women (5-4-1 overall) are tied for seventh in the Horizon League with Detroit Mercy, Indiana-Indianapolis and Northern Illinois after Thursday’s 1-0 win at Northern Illinois and Sunday’s 3-2 loss at IU Indy.
Megan Molner leads the team with seven goals and two assists. Natalie Newman is next with four goals and two assists, and Erykah Cornett has three scores and five assists.
NKU begins a two-game home stand at 7 p.m. Thursday against Milwaukee and 1 p.m. Sunday against Green Bay.
The men’s team fell to 1-6-1 after last Tuesday’s 3-0 loss at Dayton. The Norse host Bowling Green at 7 p.m. Tuesday and travel to Northern Illinois at 2 p.m. Saturday.
NKU Men’s and women’s golf
The Norse men finished 13th of 16 teams in this weekend’s Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational at Delaware Country Club in Muncie, Indiana.
Grant Broughton tied for 21st with a 54-hole total of four-over-par 214 He posted seven birdies overall, and didn’t have a double-bogey or worse.
Caleb Eaglin tied for 50th at 10-over 220, Michael Long tied for 61st at 12-over 222, Micah Bertram and Isaac Moody tied for 71st at 14-over 224, and Ben Carter finished at 17-over 227.
The Norse men head to the Gateway Logistics Invitational, hosted by Xavier on October 19-20 at Maketewah Country Club in Cincinnati. The women’s golf team hosts the NKU Fall Invitational Monday and Tuesday at Belterra Golf Club in Florence, Indiana.
Thomas More volleyball
The last nine days haven’t been good.
The Saints have lost their last four games to Ohio Dominican, Cedarville, Northwood and Hillsdale – each by 3-0 scores.
Thomas More is 5-8 overall and 1-4 in the GMAC South. Reagan Martin leads the team with 131 kills and 414 assists, Taylor Stivers has 156 digs, and Sadie Stuart has 38 blocks.
