First Shutout of The Season (ONU vs Kalamazoo)

    Last Friday, Sept. 9 Ohio Northern Men's Soccer played their fourth game of the nonconference schedule. This was another much-needed win after a physically tough previous week for the team. The opponent was Kalamazoo, another highly competitive team in which last year ONU tied 2-2.

    Going into the game, the ONU team had very high expectations of winning the game and protecting their home field once again. When starting the game this expectation was obvious from the performance that ONU was putting together. They were in complete control of the game, having the fair majority of possession and getting many shots off as well. However, the problem once again was being able to score the first goal, especially while dominating the game. In the first half, ONU had 8 shots while holding Kalamazoo to only 2 shots, yet still no goals from the home team. During the halftime break, the ONU team talked about how defensively they were excellent but were lacking the end product on the offensive side of things. The main objective going into the second half was to score soon in order to get a level of comfort. The second half was just like the first. ONU was dominating and getting shots off, but they were growing increasingly frustrated as they still couldn't score a goal. Finally, after a string of passes and good offensive play, ONU scored the first goal in the 65th minute. After that, it was smooth sailing. Kalamazoo only managed to get off 2 more shots and ONU was still in complete control of the game. The game ended 1-0 and the only thing disappointing was that ONU did not score more goals. It was a great performance especially defensively only giving up 4 shots and keeping the shutout. 

    Next up, ONU has another top 25 ranked team next, Ohio Wesleyan University. They look to get their first ranked win of the season and show a real statement to the rest of D3.

    Go Bears!