Women's Soccer advances to OAC Tournament Championship with 2-0 shutout over Baldwin Wallace

By Caleb Scott

ADA — The Ohio Northern women's soccer team shutout Baldwin Wallace 2-0 Thursday evening at Kerscher Stadium and advanced to the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament Championship game Saturday.

The Polar Bears improve to 15-3-0 overall, while the Yellow Jackets fall to 12-9-1.

Northern will host the OAC Tournament Championship game on Saturday at Kerscher Stadium.

Senior Shelby Stephens (Cypress, Tex./Cypress Woods) and junior Anna Niemeyer (Loveland/Loveland) led the way for Northern offensively as each scored in the contest.

Stephens was able to give Northern an early advantage as she took a pass from freshman Haley Moses (Mason/William Mason) and found the back of the net from 30 yards out in the 12th minute to give ONU a 1-0 lead.

After a long defensive battle, the Polar Bears were able to add an insurance goal in the 72nd minute as Niemeyer stole the ball from the a BW defender and scored on a breakaway to seal the 2-0 victory. 

"We are really proud of this group," said head coach Mark Batman. "BW is an extremely dangerous team, and I thought we defended exceptionally well tonight. We really took advantage of our opportunities in the final third of the game and are excited to host the OAC Championship on Saturday."

Freshman Meagan Grierson (Miamisburg/Miamisburg) earned the victory in the goal as she recorded a game-best six saves.

The freshman posted her sixth shutout of the season.

Northern outshot the Yellow Jackets by an 18-11 margin, while BW won the corner kick battle 4-2.

The Polar Bears return to action Saturday as they host No. 3-seeded Mount Union in the OAC Tournament Championship game at a time to be announced.

Check back to ONUSports.com tomorrow afternoon for an official game time for Saturday.