Elkhart County Indiana Sports

10/27/2024

Zipse’s Late Goal Secures Tie on Senior Day



DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women’s soccer team earned a 1-1 draw with Toledo after Abby Zipse’s 86th minute direct corner kick goal against Toledo at the NIU Soccer Complex on Sunday.



NIU (9-4-5, 3-3-4 MAC) celebrated their seven seniors with a ceremony before kickoff. The Huskies seven seniors that were celebrated today are Reegan Kingpavong (Rockford, Ill./Saginaw Valley State), Edith Delgado (Aurora, Ill/East Aurora), Abby Zipse (Batavia, Ill./Batavia), Lea Gruennagel (Homburg, Germany/Saginaw Valley State), Chantelle Parker (Milton, Ontario/Pittsburgh), Ary Purifoy (Machesney Park, Ill. Oklahoma State) and Maddie Macon (Freeport, Ill./Freeport).



“It was a fantastic day to celebrate our seniors,” NIU head coach Michael O’Neill said. “We want to do it in the last home game and in big moments because that is what our seniors deserve and today the fight the team showed was for the seniors. This group has had a lot of ups and downs and I’m forever grateful I got to coach them.”



Zipse scored for the third straight game to secure the draw. The goal was Zipse’s third of the season and the third of her career. The senior midfielder set the NIU record for most games played in Thursday’s match against Ball State.



“Winning games and getting us back in games sums her up, she is a warrior,” O’Neill said. “She is a leader on and off the field and I’m very pleased with her.”



NIU outshot Toledo 11-3 and had seven shots on goal to just one for Toledo.



The Huskies controlled most of the first half and recorded multiple shots on net. Tyra King (Menifee, Calif./Metea Valley) had a look on net that was saved by Toledo goalkeeper Paige Dornheggen. King had five of the Huskies’ seven shots on net in the match.



Toledo (6-7-4, 3-4-3 MAC) was able to counter and took the lead in the 37th minute as Kayla Flory scored from close range. The Huskies then forced many chances on net throughout the second half before Zipse’s ‘Olimpico’ goal, scored directly from a corner kick.



“I’m proud of the resilience to come back from a goal down,” O’Neill said. “We put ourselves in a difficult position but the perseverance to come back and get that goal could be huge for us with one game left.”



The Huskies will go to Kalamazoo, Mich., on Thursday (Oct. 31) for the final game of the season against the regular season MAC Champions Western Michigan. NIU will kick off against WMU at 2 p.m. CT. The Huskies sit in a tie with Miami for the sixth, and final, place in the MAC tournament heading into that final match.



“It’s going to be absolute chaos on Thursday,” O’Neill said. “As the chaos ensues around us, we can only control ourselves. I will echo that message this week, what will be will be but if we take care of our business good things will happen.”

10/27/2024

NINOVA ADVANCES TO SEMIFINALS TO LEAD NIU AT MAC INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

Huskies Close Out Fall This Weekend at Home with the Huskie Indoor Invitational



DeKALB, Ill. – Northern Illinois University junior Nataly Ninova won a pair of singles matches to advance to the semifinals while the Huskie doubles team of Ninova and Erika Dimitriev split a pair of matches at the MAC Indoor Championships in Hamilton, Ohio this past weekend.



“Overall, really proud of our effort in our first ever MAC Individual tournament,” said NIU head coach Eric Burns. “This was a solid tournament for Erika and Nataly.”



The tournament featured two singles players and one doubles team from each of the league’s eight women’s tennis programs with the winners advancing to the ITA TA Masters Tournament in Rome, Georgia



Ninova advanced to the singles semifinals with a 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 win over Isabella Baker of Bowling Green in the first round, followed by a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Iva Daneva of Eastern Michigan. In the semifinal match, Ball State’s Annika Planinsek scored a 6-1, 7-5 win after fighting off a pair of set points.



“Nataly did a great job pulling out a three setter in the first round against a very good opponent from BGSU and then avenged a loss from ITA regional against a player from EMU she has now faced three times this fall,” Burns said. “She just came up a little short in the semifinals against a tough player from BSU. She battled back after a tough first set and had two set points in the second set but unfortunately wasn’t able to cash in.”



In doubles action, Ninova and Erika Dimitriev fell to Toledo’s Gaby Rondon and Jacklynka Scholten 10-5 in the deciding super tiebreaker in the first round. The Huskie duo came back to score a 4-6, 6-3, 10-7 win over Ball State’s Isabelle Tanjuatco and Sarah Shahbaz in the consolation round.



“In the first doubles match versus Toledo, we fought but didn’t play as well as we can, then did a great job of rebounding in the consolation with a very good win over Ball State,” Burns said. “BSU had just advanced to the quarterfinals of their ITA Regional a couple of weeks ago, so this was a good effort to get this win, and it was excellent doubles from both teams.”



Dimitriev drew eventual champion Catherine Denysiewicz-Slowek of Miam in the first round and moved into the consolation round, where her opponent from Eastern Michigan withdrew due to injury, giving Dimitriev the walk-over win.



The Huskies close out the fall tournament schedule this weekend when they host the 4th Annual Huskie Indoor Invitational at the Nelson Tennis Center at Chick Evans Field House. Teams from Marquette, Lewis, St. Thomas and IU Indy along with the host Huskies will compete on November 1-3 with action starting at 9 a.m. each day. Admission is free.



NIU SINGLES RESULTS

First Round: Nataly Ninova (NIU) def. Isabella Baker (BGSU), 6-2, 6(5)-7(7), 7-5

First Round: Catherine Denysiewicz-Slowek (Miami) def. Erika Dimitriev (NIU), 6-4, 6-2

Consolation: Erika Dimitriev (NIU) def. Sabina Brichackova (EMU) w/o

Quarterfinal: Nataly Ninova (NIU) def. Iva Daneva (EMU), 6-0, 6-4

Semifinal: Annika Planinsek (BSU) def. Nataly Ninova (NIU), 6-1, 7-5



NIU DOUBLES RESULTS

Quarterfinal: Gaby Rondon/Jacklynka Scholten (UT) def. Erika Dimitriev/Nataly Ninova (NIU), 7-6, 3-6, 10-5

Consolation: Erika Dimitriev/Nataly Ninova (NIU) def. Isabelle Tanjuatco/Sarah Shahbaz (BSU), 4-6, 6-3, 10-7

10/27/2024

North Semi States volleyball

1. Plymouth Class 3A Semi State Volleyball
M1: Angola vs Hammond Bishop Noll | 10 am ET
M2: New Castle vs NorthWood | 12 pm ET
Championship: M1 winner vs M2 winner | 7:30 pm ET

2. Huntington North Class 4A
M1: Crown Point vs Carroll (Fort Wayne) | 10:30 am ET
M2: Hamilton Southeastern vs Penn | 12 pm ET
Championship: M1 winner vs M2 winner | 7 pm ET

3. Frankfort Class 1A
M1: Faith Christian vs Seton Catholic | 10 am ET
M2: South Newton vs Culver Community | 12 pm ET
Championship: M1 winner vs M2 winner | 7 pm ET

4. Delta Class 2A
M1: Woodlan vs Jimtown | 10 am ET
M2: Southwood vs Western Boone | 12 pm ET
Championship: M1 winner vs M2 winner | 7 pm ET

10/27/2024

Saturday Results

10/27/2024

uskies Welcome Benedictine To Convocation Center For Sunday Exhibition
NIU Women’s Basketball Takes Floor Eight Days Before 2024-25 Season Opener

DeKALB, IL - The Northern Illinois University women’s basketball team takes the floor at the NIU Convocation Center for the first time this season on Sunday, Oct. 27 in an exhibition game against the Benedictine Eagles. Tip-off is at 1 p.m.

Tickets for Sunday’s game, as well as single-game and season tickets, are available now at NIUHuskies.com. Live stats will be available for Sunday’s game but there will be no other broadcast.

The Huskies return three of their top five scorers from last season’s squad in Brooke Stonebraker (Versailles, Ohio/Versailles), Sidney McCrea (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie) and Brooke Blumenfeld (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North). Stonebraker was named to the Mid-American Conference’s Preseason All-MAC Second Team on Tuesday. The graduate forward was an All-MAC Third Team selection in 2024 after leading NIU with 11.4 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.

NIU also returns guard Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) for her sixth year after missing the 2023-24 season due to injury. Koker has been an All-MAC selection three times in her career. In 2023 Koker was named to the All-MAC Second Team after averaging 15.4 points and 3.4 assists per game. She enters the year with 1,530 career points and is in the top-10 all-time at NIU in points per game (15.0), three-pointers made (199), and three-point field goal percentage (.366). Koker is NIU’s career leader in free throw percentage at 85.6 percent.

The Huskies open the regular season on Monday, Nov. 4 against Louisiana at the Convocation Center in the MAC-SBC Challenge. Tip-off for Education Day is set for 11 a.m.

Women's basketball season tickets, as well as single-game tickets, are on sale now at NIUHuskies.com and by calling the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at (815) 753-PACK (7225). Pricing starts at just $35 for general admission seats and $50 for reserved tickets located in section 103 as well as 111-113. Courtside seat season tickets for NIU women's basketball are available for $275 which includes the cost of a season ticket plus a $225 per seat license.

Season passes for the Huskie Athletic Fund Victory Pub are also available for $100 for men's or women's basketball, with a combo season pass for both men's and women's basketball available for $150. Access to the Victory Pub is included with a women's basketball courtside season ticket.

10/27/2024

Saturday Local News

Northridge Boys Cross County team wins Regional for the 12th time in School History

Elkhart's Max got 3rd and Otto got 18th at XC Regional at New Prairie

Boys Soccer 3A Semi State Lafayette Harrison 1 Concord 0 Concord ends season at 16-3-2
Boys Soccer 1A Semi State Covenant Christian 2 Bethany 0 (Covenant wins on Pks 4-3)

Girls Soccer 3A Noblesville 4 Penn 0
Girls Soccer !A Faith Christian 1 Westview 0
Girls Soccer 2A Mishawaka Marian 1 Hanover Central 1 Mishawaka Marian wins in Shootout

Volleyball Class 4A Regional
At Homestead FW Carroll 3 Warsaw 2
At LaPorte Penn 3 Chesterton 2
at Northwood Northwood 3 New Prarie 2
At NorthWood Class 2A Regional Woodlan 3 Lakeland 1

High School Club Hockey
Penn 4 LSJ 3
Battle Creek 4 Penn Varsity Black 1
Penn Varsity Gold 2 Culver 0

Penn Cross County Boys Placed 2nd at XC Regional today
Penn Girls Cross County Placed 2nd and will be going to State

Northridge News
Girls XC Team placed 12th at Regional
Dakotah finished 14 and will run as a Individual for the 3th Straight Year

Goshen News
Goshen XC Qualifiers for the XC State next weekend

Regional Volleyball
NorthWood 3 New Prarie 1

ISSMA Marching Band
Northridge had a Good Showing at Semi State
Goshen Marching Band Going to State
Concord Marching Band Going to State

10/25/2024

CINCINNATI - After an opening round of 306, the Purdue Fort Wayne men's golf team shot 287 in round two of the Xavier Invitational on Monday (Oct. 21).

Justin Hicks led Purdue Fort Wayne with a two-round total of 76-70-146. In the morning round, Hicks had nothing worse than a bogey with a birdie on hole 16. He finished his round with four pars in a row. The freshman was even in round two, starting with five pars in a row. He birdied holes 14 and 18 in his second time through the back nine. Later on, he birdied four and five back-to-back and wrapped up the day with a par. Hicks' 146 was good for 22nd place.

Brock Reschly was one shot behind Hicks after two rounds. Reschly started the day with five pars in a row. He was 1-over on the front nine later on, getting six pars and a birdie on hole seven. In the afternoon, Reschly started with a par and birdie on hole 11. In his final nine, he had three birdies and two bogeys for a 1-under side. He birdied one, seven and eight. The sophomore is tied for 27th after his 76-71-147.

Two shots behind Reschly, Nick Holder shot 76-73-149 and is tied for 38th. The Fort Wayne native had birdies on holes 11 and 14 in the middle of a seven-hole bogey-free stretch. In the afternoon round, he had four birdies, including back-to-back on 10 and 11. To finish the day, Holder was 1-under in his final three holes with birdies on five and seven.

AJ Agnew was within one of Holder after his 78-73-151. In the morning, Agnew had a birdie on 10 to set up an even back nine. Later on, he finished 2-over in round two thanks to a 1-under front nine. He bogeyed hole two, but then rattled off four pars in a row before finishing with birdies on seven and eight. Agnew is in 45th place.

In the fourth event of his career and first of the season, Jarred Bowser shot 80-84-164. He got birdies to fall on holes one and nine in round one. He is tied for 61st.

As a team, the Mastodons are in ninth place after two rounds. They are eight shots ahead of Oakland and within five of Detroit Mercy and Northern Kentucky.

The last round of Xavier's event will fire off on Tuesday morning (Oct. 22).

10/25/2024

Northern Indiana All District Soccer Team Boys and Girls

06/04/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/BMxCJGphRWg4jjUH/

03/26/2024