No. 5-ranked Norse bump off 16th-ranked Miners in OT in GLVC semifinals

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - For the third straight season, the Miner soccer team found heartbreak in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament in the Cincinnati suburbs.

After tying the game on a goal by Peter Haw with just 2:09 left in regulation time, the 16th-ranked Miners suffered a 2-1 loss in overtime as Michael Holder scored 8:03 into extra time for fifth-ranked Northern Kentucky.

The loss marks the third year in a row that the Miners have been knocked out of the tournament by the Norse on a late goal. However, the Miner season won't necessarily end this time with the loss, as S&T is currently ranked second in the NCAA Division II Midwest region and appears to be heading to the national tournament.

Missouri S&T will find out about its NCAA fate on Monday night when the pairings are announced, but with NKU as the top-ranked team in the region, the Miners could now be returning to Highland Heights next week.   The university will hold a selection show party Monday at Havener Center as the pairings for the regional are revealed.

In Friday's contest, NKU grabbed the lead in the early stages of the game, as GLVC scoring leader Steven Beattie finished off a play where he got the ball off a pass from Jack Little and put a low shot by S&T goalkeeper Pat McNamee at the 18:18 mark.

The Norse had a 5-3 advantage in shots in the first half, but the Miners - playing into the wind on a cold night - got seven shots in the second half to NKU's four.

The Miners trailed throughout the second half and had a couple of opportunities after the clock wound inside of 10 minutes to get the equalizer. Trent Doerner hit a shot over the top of the net at the 82:31 mark, then Spencer Brinkmeyer was wide on an attempt with 5:47 to go.

A few moments later, Haw got to a feed from Ryan Muich in the box and put a shot from about 12 yards away past NKU goalkeeper Michael Lavric to knot the score at one and send the contest into overtime.
Northern Kentucky had all five shots in the overtime period. Holder had an attempt go off the crossbar 2:26 in, then made good on his second shot after Pat McNamee stopped a try by Beattie.   Holder, who scored in overtime to beat S&T when the teams met at NKU three weeks ago, headed in the loose ball to send the Norse to Sunday's championship game against Indianapolis.