Season Preview: Men’s Soccer ready to build off of highly successful 2022 campaign this year
By Wes Mayberry
| 2023 Men's Soccer Schedule | 2023 Men's Soccer Roster |
ADA — Coming off an impressive 2022 season, the Ohio Northern men's soccer team is hoping to carry that success into 2023 under fifth-year head coach Chris Matejka.
The Polar Bears capped the 2022 campaign with a 13-4-5 overall record and won the Ohio Athletic Conference Regular Season championship with an 8-0-1 mark en route to advancing to the third round of the NCAA Division III Tournament. Northern put together a 15-game unbeaten streak during the season and closed the year ranked No. 13 nationally in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll.
Matejka, the reigning OAC Coach of the Year, returns six players who started double-digit games a season ago. Highlighted by a pair of 2022 All-OAC selections in juniors Noah Zebrak (Cleveland/St. Ignatius) and William Shaffer (Galena/St. Francis DeSales), that list also includes senior Cade Winchester (Knoxville, Tenn./Alcoa) and juniors Ryan Parker (Lexington), Brenden Gervers (Grand Blanc, Mich.) and Tanner Locke (Canton, Mich./Salem). Junior Lucas Hickey (Conroe, Tex./Oak Ridge) also returns after getting eight starts in goal and earning All-OAC honors in 2022.
Zebrak and Hickey were each named to the All-OAC Second Team last season, and Shaffer was a Third Team selection.
Zebrak started all 22 games in 2022 and was part of an ONU defense that posted seven shutouts and limited opponents to just 4.6 shots on goal per game on the season while contributing five points on two goals and one assist.
Hickey played in 11 games and posted a 6-1-1 record with 28 saves, a 1.27 GAA and .718 save percentage.
Shaffer started all 22 games, tallying 11 points on three goals and five assists.
Parker tied for the team lead in assists a year ago with eight and added three goals to finish with 14 points, and Winchester tallied 10 points on four goals and two assists.
Gervers started 20 games and posted five points on two goals and one assist, and Locke tallied three points on one goal and one assist in 15 starts.
In all, 17 different players scored a goal for ONU in 2022, and 22 different players recorded at least one point. The team could boast a similar depth of contributors this season, as the roster features nine other returners who played in double-digit games last year. That group includes senior Ben Sundermann (Miamisburg) and juniors Gavin Marshall (Troy), Sam McKee (Mason), Kellan Minch (Beavercreek), Nate Gottron (Centerville), Ashton Ochsner (Floyds Knobs, Ind./Floyd Central), Jacob Grant (Westerville/North), Stephen Duggan (Saginaw, Mich./Freeland) and Nolan Schirmer (Amelia/West Clermont).
Juniors Brian Watkins (Hilliard/Darby) and Ryan Sommerfeld (Dublin/Coffman) and sophomores Alex Shaffer (Galena/St. Francis DeSales), Jacob Davis (Louisville, Ky./Saint Xavier), Grant Israel (Canton, Mich./Salem), Gage Foster (Mason) and Isaiah Rodriguez (Beavercreek) round out the returning lettermen.
The Polar Bears enter 2023 ranked No. 13 nationally in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll and are set to host No. 5 Kenyon in their season opener on Sept. 1. That game is one of six in which Northern will face a preseason-ranked team this year, joining contests against No. 19 Calvin (Mich.), No. 20 North Central (Ill.), No. 22 North Park (Ill.), No. 23 John Carroll and No. 24 Ohio Wesleyan.
OAC play begins Sept. 30 against Mount Union, and the 2023 OAC Tournament is scheduled for Oct. 31 to Nov. 4.