NKU men’s soccer gets their fifth straight win in wild finish

It was a wild afternoon as the Northern Kentucky University men’s soccer team (4-1) took the pitch against the Green Bay Phoenix (2-1-1) on Friday. Friday’s match with Green Bay was a critical game for Northern Kentucky University men’s soccer, as both teams sat near the top of the Horizon League standings.

Not only were the Phoenix coming off of a loss to Illinois-Chicago on March 6, but NKU was in first place and on a four game winning streak. 

Both teams started off cold, until the 6:34 mark when Green Bay scored the first goal of the game, scored by Lorenzo Battagliarin. Momentum changed for the Norse midway through the first half, however at the 26:07 mark, Tim Stiller of Green Bay received a yellow card. 

It seemed to take NKU a while to find the net, but after  two early shots on goal, they finally scored their first goal in the 37th minute, scored by Dylan Bufton. 

Several seconds after Fredi Ortega received a yellow card for Green Bay, their second of the game, the Norse took advantage by Deryn Armstrong scoring NKU’s second goal of the game. NKU would then have a 2-1 advantage at the half. 

The only notes of the second half were that Northern Kentucky almost had their third goal of the game when the ball was headed for the net, but bounced off of the bottom of the crossbar and did not go in. The other note was when Paul Mues of Green Bay tied up the  match at two in the 64th minute. The teams were then headed to overtime. 

Overtime is when things became really interesting. It started off with two yellow cards being called on Stian Jorgensen and Kyle Healy of NKU. Then in the 106th minute, a corner kick was up for NKU. 

In a matter of two seconds, Ryan Godding scored the winning goal to send NKU to 5-1 on the year, and a five game winning streak with the 3-2 victory.

“I’m speechless,” Godding said.

He also said, “we just keep digging in deep.” 

Head Coach Stu Riddle talked about the way his team battled. “That’s a quality that this team has shown all season, the real desire to fight and battle.” 

Up next for the Norse is the Robert Morris University Colonials on March 18 in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, with kickoff scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET.