Watching the Norse: Athletics recap and review

Jakob Staley, Sports Editor

September 17, 2025

Men’s soccer lost both their games last week, but look to change that as they take on Robert Morris on Saturday.

Previous week recap:

Tuesday, Sept. 9

Women’s golf competed in the Athletes In Action’s Total Athlete Collegiate in Xenia, OH, on Monday and Tuesday, placing sixth. They finished +72 as a team across three rounds. Cammy Reed and Eva Maley led the way for the Norse, as both posted 26th-place finishes with total scores of +18. Reed improved each round, going 82-79-73 at the tournament. Maley went 80-76-78 across her three rounds, posting five birdies, including three in round three. Ryliann Bednar finished +20 across three rounds, posting scores of 78-83-75, notching an eagle on hole 15 of round three. Kenna Jenkinson notched a 30th-place finish with a +21. Jenkinson led the Norse with eight birdies across the tournament.

Men’s golf competed in the Marshall’s Joe Feaganes Invitational in Huntington, WV, on Monday and Tuesday, placing 15th. Michael Long led the way for NKU with a +5 total on the 71-par course, who went even par in both the second and third rounds after posting a 76 in round one. Long posted 12 birdies across three rounds. Zack Beard finished second for NKU, going 70-71-79. Beard had a strong start on day one, knocking in eight birdies and an eagle across the first two rounds, but struggled on day two with four double bogeys. Isaac Moody (+10) and Micah Bertram (+11) rounded out the group of scoring players for the Norse.

Men’s soccer took on in-state foe Bellarmine, losing 1-0. Bellarmine outshot NKU 12-8 in the match, but both teams finished even in shots on target with three apiece. The Knights won the corner battle, 8-2. Ali Taleb totaled three shots and one on goal. Jason Purks and Maddox Behnfeldt also recorded shots on target for NKU. Keeper Alex Kron saved a pair of shots in the match. Norse midfielder Itay Soffer was sent off on a red card in the 62nd minute following a slide tackle into a Bellarmine player. Bellarmine’s goal in the 74th minute was the lone goal in the match.

Thursday, Sept. 11

Women’s soccer faced off against Eastern Kentucky University, losing 2-1. The Norse scored early on, as Erykah Cornett was able to punch in a cross from Emilie Doersching to take a ninth-minute lead. The goal marked Cornett’s fourth of the season, and Doersching’s first assist. EKU scored a pair of second-half goals to take the lead and were able to hold on for the win. The Norse were outshot 18-13 in the match, with five shots on goal apiece. Eastern Kentucky won the corner battle, 6-2. Keeper Megan Gessner made three saves in the match, but let two sneak by her. Forward Megan Molner was firing up shots, leading the Norse in shot attempts with four.

Friday, Sept. 12

Women’s volleyball took on UTRGV in the Geri Polvino Invitational in Richmond, Ky., losing 3-0. The Norse struggled on the attack, posting 27 attack errors in the match. UTRGV posted a higher hitting percentage in each of the three sets. Sydney Bray led the Norse with 14 kills and a .290 hitting percentage. Bray also added six digs. Ava Hoying totaled six kills with a .188 hitting percentage. Setter Abby Pickard led the Norse in assists with 30.

Saturday, Sept. 13

Women’s volleyball will take on Akron and Eastern Kentucky University in the Geri Polvino Invitational in Richmond, Ky., picking up a win. 3-0 win against Akron: The Norse were dominant on offense, posting a .297 hit percentage. Northern Kentucky displayed a balanced offensive game as three players posted nine or more kills. Ava Hoying led NKU with 11 kills and a .417 hitting percentage. Hoying also totaled three block assists and six digs. Sydney Bray posted an attacking line of 10-2-19 with five total blocks. Allison Risley had nine kills for the Norse, hitting .214. Setter Abby Pickard led the Norse in assists with 30. She also had a pair of blocks and eight digs. Lucy Cluxton led the Norse in digs with 13.

3-2 loss against EKU: NKU beat out the Colonels in every major statistic, but digs, out-hitting the Colonels .203 to .193. Both sides traded sets until EKU was able to put it away in the last set. Five Norse posted ten or more kills, as Allison Risley led the way with 15. Risley also put up five aces and eight digs in the match. Ivey Stocks had nine total blocks and 14 kills in the match. Sydney Bray recorded a double-double with 11 kills and 20 digs, also recording six total blocks. Kendall Hopewell put up 10 kills on a .350 hitting percentage, recording four blocks. Ava Hoying posted 13 kills in the match. Lucy Cluxton led the Norse in digs with 23. Abby Pickard led NKU in assists with 52.

Men’s soccer took on their first Horizon League match against Green Bay losing 1-0. The Norse led the shot battle 10-5, with all of NKU’s shots coming in the second half. NKU won the corner battle 8-3. Norse keeper Alex Kron made a pair of saves in the match. Bennett Gerak, James Maxwell, and Joshua Cline recorded shots on goal for NKU.

Sunday, Sept. 14

Men’s golf competed in the Oakland Golden Grizzlies Intercollegiate in Rochester, MI., on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, finishing 11th. Mason Butler was the leader for the Norse, who put together a great round three, going even par, making him the only Norse of the tournament to do so. Overall, Butler had nine birdies, including four in the third round. Butler was +13 overall. Zack Beard and Isaac Moody both finished at +14 for the Norse. Moody had a rough first round, scoring a +11, but only went three over par in the final two rounds combined. Beard had a solid start on day one, going +5 across Saturday’s two rounds, but had a rough round three with a score of +9. Rounding out the group of scoring student-athletes for NKU was Micah Bertram, who finished +17 at the tournament.

The men’s triathlon team competed in the RedHawks Sprint Triathlon in Oxford, OH. placing second. The second-place team finish was the 1st team podium finish in the men’s young program history. Three Norse finished inside the top six for the first time in program history as well, with the first podium finish led by Tobias Martin. Martin led the Norse with a strong 2nd place with a 11:23 750m swim split, 38:52 14mi bike, and 5k run of 19:11 for an overall time of 1:10:43. Sean Smyth finished just off the podium for 4th place with a 13:07 swim split, 39:21 bike, and a 18:23 run split for an overall time of 1:14:20. Max Marion finished 3rd for the Norse and 6th overall place with a 12:31 swim split, 45:19 bike, and a 18:22 run for an overall time of 1:18:29. Joey Klosterman rounded out the 4th Norse scoring spot with 15th overall place with a 24:40 swim split, 46:59 bike, and a 32:41 run for an overall time of 1:46:47. Jude Woodruff finished 5th for the Norse and 20th overall with a 15:23 swim, 1:33:33 bike split (biked 2 laps), and fastest run of the entire day in 17:29 for an overall time of 2:10:10.

Sports this week:

Thursday, Sept.18

Women’s triathlon will compete in the Trine Splash & Dash in Angola, Ind.
Women’s soccer will take on their first Horizon League challenge at home in Oakland at 5 P.M.

Friday, Sept. 19

Men’s golf will compete in the Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational in Muncie, IN.
Women’s volleyball will face off against Miami (OH) in Oxford at 6:30 P.M.

Saturday, Sept. 20

Men’s golf will compete in the Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational in Muncie, IN.
Women’s volleyball will play their first home game against Miami (OH) at 4 P.M.
Men’s soccer will go on the road to face Robert Morris at 4 P.M.

Sunday, Sept. 21

Men’s golf will compete in the Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational in Muncie, IN.
Women’s soccer will take on IU-Indy in Indianapolis at 12 P.M.

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