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PSU women's soccer slate announced

UNIVERSITY PARK – Penn State women’s soccer head coach Erica Dambach announced the season schedule for the program’s 32nd varsity campaign on Wednesday, with the Nittany Lions slated to participate in 18 regular season matches with 10 opportunities on the Blue & White’s home pitch at Jeffrey Field in 2025. “I am thrilled to announce […]

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PSU women's soccer slate announced

UNIVERSITY PARK – Penn State women’s soccer head coach Erica Dambach announced the season schedule for the program’s 32nd varsity campaign on Wednesday, with the Nittany Lions slated to participate in 18 regular season matches with 10 opportunities on the Blue & White’s home pitch at Jeffrey Field in 2025.

“I am thrilled to announce our 2025 schedule,” Dambach said. “Coming off another historic run in the NCAA Tournament to the Elite Eight a year ago, our team returns several key pieces that will look to continue our climb up the mountaintop this season. As always, our season schedule features a variety of challenges geared towards preparing us for postseason competition. Our staff has done an excellent job crafting a schedule that will test us while providing our student-athletes multiple opportunities for growth. Our returners know that the expectation has not changed, and our new arrivals are excited to take part in our program’s tradition of excellence. I am so excited to get back to work and join our amazing Penn State fan base at Jeffrey Field in 2025.”

Penn State will once again take on one of the most challenging schedules in women’s college soccer in 2025, with 10 fixtures scheduled against teams that reached the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Tournament a year ago. Headlining the list of opponents is Women’s College Cup participant Duke, which is fresh off one of the most consequential seasons in program history after reaching women’s soccer’s proverbial Final Four for the first time since 2017 last year. Six of PSU’s seven non-conference challengers made the NCAA’s field of 64 last year, with the lone exception of Liberty being excluded from the national postseason despite logging a 15-2-4 finish in 2024. Of PSU’s 11 Big Ten Conference competitors in 2025, four reached the NCAA Tournament with Ohio State and Wisconsin both headlining PSU’s list of foes with each side reaching the Sweet 16 last year. Additionally, Penn State will play host to the newest Pacific Northwest additions to the Big Ten Conference for the first time as league rivals, with Washington and Oregon set to travel to the Keystone State in early October.

The 32nd varsity season of Penn State women’s soccer kicks off in earnest with one of the nation’s premier non-conference matchups on Thursday night, August 14, as the Blue & White travel to square off against the Duke Blue Devils from Koskinen Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. Following a weeklong hiatus, Penn State returns to the friendly confines of Jeffrey Field for a four-match homestand beginning on Thursday, August 21, with the program’s home-opening test against the Saint Louis Billikens. Home-opening weekend continues on Sunday, August 24, with a border battle against the Big 12 rival West Virginia Mountaineers coming less than 24 hours prior to the start of Penn State’s 2025-26 academic year.

Another pair of pivotal non-conference tests come to Jeffrey Field the following weekend, with the Nittany Lions hosting their third straight home match on Thursday, August 28, against the Santa Clara Broncos. The Blue & White round out their four-match non-conference home stretch on Sunday, August 31, with a test against the James Madison Dukes slated to conclude the non-B1G home slate. Penn State’s final non-conference matchups of the 2025 regular season bring the Blue & White to the state of Virginia, where PSU will test the Virginia Cavaliers from Klöckner Stadium in Charlottesville on Thursday, September 4, before rounding out the non-conference campaign on Sunday, September 7, against the Liberty Flames in Lynchburg at Osborne Stadium.

The 32nd season of women’s soccer in the Big Ten Conference kicks off on Thursday night, September 11, with the Nittany Lions hosting the Maryland Terrapins at Jeffrey Field for the first of three home fixtures in league action. A weeklong hiatus precedes the arrival of the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Happy Valley on Thursday, September 18, with a contest against the Wisconsin Badgers on Sunday, September 21, closing out the three-match conference-opening homestand. The Blue & White gear up for their first road stretch in league play the following weekend, as PSU travels to Illinois to battle the Northwestern Wildcats on Thursday, September 25, and the Illinois Fighting Illini on Sunday, September 28.

Following a six-day break in league action, the Nittany Lions hit the road once again and ring in a new month against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Saturday, October 4, in Piscataway, New Jersey. From there, the Blue & White return home and welcome the Washington Huskies and Oregon Ducks to Jeffrey Field for the first time as Big Ten Conference members, with PSU’s clash against the Huskies slated for Thursday, October 9, followed by a Sunday, October 12, battle with the Ducks. Penn State travels to the state of Indiana for the final B1G road weekend of the regular season to test the Purdue Boilermakers on Thursday, October 16, and the Indiana Hoosiers on Sunday, October 19. The Nittany Lions close out the 2025 regular season on Big Ten Conference Decision Sunday, October 26, with PSU slated to host the Ohio State Buckeyes in Happy Valley.

Postseason competition opens on Thursday, October 30 with opening-round matches of the 2025 Big Ten Tournament. The league’s postseason event will run through the Championship Match on Sunday, November 9. Tournament format, as well as venue locations for the 2025 B1G Women’s Soccer semifinals and final, will be announced by the league office when available. The 2025 NCAA Tournament gets rolling with first round matches the weekend of November 14 through 16, followed by second and third round matches the weekend of November 20 through 23. National Quarterfinal matches will be contested the weekend of November 28 through 30. Every match in the opening four rounds of the 2024 NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament will be contested on campus sites. The Women’s College Cup will be contested at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, home to the National Women’s Soccer League’s Kansas City Current, the first purpose-built professional women’s soccer venue in the world. National Semifinal matches will take place on Friday, December 5, followed by the National Championship match on Monday, December 8.

A year ago, the Nittany Lions advanced to the National Quarterfinals for the second year in a row, extended the nation’s longest streak of consecutive Sweet 16 appearances to eight-straight, secured the program’s 30th consecutive NCAA Tournament bid and booked the program’s 31st consecutive season with at least 10 victories, the second-longest stretch of that nature in women’s college soccer. The Blue & White return six starters from last year’s Elite Eight run, including goalkeeper Mackenzie Gress, defenders Kayleigh Herr and Bella Ayscue, midfielder Molly Martin, and forwards Kaitlyn MacBean and Amelia White. MacBean, a native of Excelsior, Minnesota, is PSU’s lone returning United Soccer Coaches All-American, coming off the most prolific scoring season by a Nittany Lion in over a decade following a 34-point season comprised of 16 goals and two assists. Penn State additionally boasts the nation’s sixth-ranked recruiting class and strongest signing group in the Big Ten Conference per TopDrawerSoccer, while landing a pair of extra additions in UCLA transfer forward Taylor Cheatham and German midfielder Sophia Weixler.

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2025 U.S. Classic Recap – GymCastic

Claire Pease is our 2025 U.S. Classic Champion! What are our biggest takeaways from this meet, favorite moments and what USAG said about the judging error. If you missed our immediate recap live from Chicago on Saturday night, listen here. GymCastic LIVE in CHICAGO: REPLAY Tickets on sale now Get Tickets HEADLINES Claire Pease is […]

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Claire Pease is our 2025 U.S. Classic Champion! What are our biggest takeaways from this meet, favorite moments and what USAG said about the judging error. If you missed our immediate recap live from Chicago on Saturday night, listen here.

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GymCastic LIVE in CHICAGO: REPLAY Tickets on sale now

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HEADLINES

  • Claire Pease is our U.S. Classic all-around and vault champion!
  • Myli Lew took the bars title, but first, a judging controversy
    • In a GymCastic exclusive: USAG issued a statement to us about the bars error
    • How can we fix these types of errors in the future?
  • Ashlee Sullivan and her Arabian took the beam title
  • Reese Esponda qualified herself to Championships ANNDDD took the floor title while she was at it

Classic

  • Important updates heading into Championships
    • Skye Blakely submitted a successful petition to compete at U.S. Championships
    • Tiana is coming back from her Pan Ams ankle injury and is resting for Championships
    • Members of the 2024 Olympic team and alternates are eligible to petition to U.S. Championships
  • Who were our E-score champions of the meet?

Mind Changers at U.S. Classic

  • What were our biggest takeaways?
  • Should we be worried about the state of elite gymnastics in the United States after this meet?!!???
  • Why Jessica thinks this group of elites is the “confidence generation”
  • Why Nola Matthews and Pacific Reign are leading the artistry game
    • Who else finally got the artistry memo here?
  • What new skills are we seeing in response to the new code?
  • The skill Ally Damelio does on bars that should automatically make her the winner of everything
  • Reese Esponda’s crazy new floor combination and Vivi Crain’s scorpion turn
  • Why Dulcy Caylor’s new tumbling pass is giving us 1992 flashbacks
  • Our way-too-early Worlds team predictions
  • Opportunities for comedy during the meet
  • Important art and leotard fashion updates

RELATED:

Live Reaction Podcast from Chicago

Videos and interviews from 2025 U.S. Classic

Photo Galleries from 2025 U.S. Classic

Classic Preview podcast

UP NEXT:

  • Behind The Scenes: Live Q&A podcast every Friday at noon Pacific/7 GMT
  • July 28th podcast: Drag icon, actor and Drag Race winner, Katya Zamolodchikova joins us for a gymnastics coffee klatch episode.

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MERCH

  • GymCastic Store: clothing and gifts to let your gym nerd flag fly and even “tapestries” (banners, the perfect to display in an arena) to support your favorite gymnast!

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Jonathan “Jon” Ambrose MacDonald | Obituaries

Jonathan (Jon) Ambrose MacDonald, age 52, devoted father, son, brother, and beloved friend, passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Carlsbad, CA. Born on October 27, 1972, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Michael John and Kathryn Mary (McFadden) MacDonald, Jon was raised in Madison, Wisconsin where he cherished his Midwest upbringing spending his winters […]

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Jonathan (Jon) Ambrose MacDonald, age 52, devoted father, son, brother, and beloved friend, passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Carlsbad, CA.

Born on October 27, 1972, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Michael John and Kathryn Mary (McFadden) MacDonald, Jon was raised in Madison, Wisconsin where he cherished his Midwest upbringing spending his winters playing ice hockey and downhill skiing and summers water skiing at the family cabin in Minocqua, Wisconsin. Jon attended Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic School and graduated from Edgewood High School in Madison in 1991. A highlight of his time at Edgewood was winning three Wisconsin Private School State Hockey Championships alongside his lifelong best friends as well as leading his team as captain his senior year. Jon continued his hockey career at Choate Rosemary Hall and at Union College before transferring to Boston College for his sophomore year. At BC, he dedicated himself to his studies, formed additional lifelong friendships, and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1996. He went on to earn his JD from Duke University School of Law in 1999 and subsequently relocated to the San Diego area where he built a successful career in real estate law.

Above all, Jon’s greatest love and most cherished role was as a father to his four beautiful children: Sydney (17), Peter (15), Emily (15), and Benjamin (13), all of Carlsbad, CA. Jon is also survived by his devoted parents, Michael and Kathryn MacDonald of Madison, WI and Naples, FL; his sister, Michelle Eigner (Troy Eigner) of Edina, MN; his brother, Kevin MacDonald (Amy Ostendorf MacDonald) of Seattle, WA; as well as many nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.

Jon will be deeply missed and forever remembered for his kind heart, gentle smile, humble manner, and unwavering character by all who loved him.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, July 26 at 11am with visitation at 10am at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church, 401 S. Owen Drive, Madison. A luncheon will follow at Nakoma Country Club 4145 Country Club Road, Madison.

Memorials may be made in Jon’s name to Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic School, Edgewood High School or Boston College.

Please share your memories at www.cressfuneralservice.com

​COPYRIGHT 2025 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.



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World Junior Summer Showcase Starts Sunday at Ridder Arena

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. –  The 2025 World Junior Summer Showcase, which will include teams from the U.S., Canada, Finland and Sweden, begins Sunday (July 27) and runs through August 2 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis.  The Showcase serves as an evaluation for athletes seeking to make their respective national teams for the 2026 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship which will […]

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. –  The 2025 World Junior Summer Showcase, which will include teams from the U.S., Canada, Finland and Sweden, begins Sunday (July 27) and runs through August 2 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. 

The Showcase serves as an evaluation for athletes seeking to make their respective national teams for the 2026 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship which will take place Dec. 26, 2025, through Jan. 5, 2026, in Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

SHOWCASE FEATURES 11 GAMES

The World Junior Summer Showcase features 11 international games and tickets are available by clicking HERE. In addition, all games from the Showcase will stream live at USAHockeyTV.com.

“We’re excited to bring the World Junior Summer Showcase to Minnesota” said John Vanbiesbrouck, general manager of the U.S. National Junior Team and also assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey. “It provides us a great opportunity to evaluate our players, and is also a chance for fans to see so many of the future stars of the NHL.”

FABER, LaCOMBE TO SERVE AS ALUMNI AMBASSADORS

Brock Faber (Maple Grove, Minn./Minnesota Wild) and Jackson LaCombe (Eden Prairie, Minn./Anaheim Ducks) will be on the ice for select practices and also behind the bench for select games during the Showcase, serving as Alumni Ambassadors. Both Faber and LaCombe were part of the gold medal-winning 2021 U.S. National Junior Team in the IIHF World Junior Championship. LaCombe also helped Team USA win gold in the 2025 IIHF Men’s World Championship, only the second gold medal ever won by the U.S. in the event and first since 1933. Faber was part of the 2022 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team and also played for Team USA in this past February’s 4 Nations Face-Off.

“We’re excited to have Brock and Jackson be around our players and staff,” said Bob Motzko(Austin, Minn.), head coach of the 2026 U.S. National Junior Team and also the head men’s ice hockey coach at the University of Minnesota. “They know what it takes to win on the international stage and I know our group will enjoy engaging with both of them.”

For the full Showcase schedule, click HERE.

NOTES: Tickets for the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship are on sale now and can be purchased by click HERE. The event will be staged at the Xcel Energy Center, home of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, and 3M Arena at Mariucci, home of the University of Minnesota men’s ice hockey team … The 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship will mark the 50th anniversary of the tournament … Team USA has won the last two gold medals in the World Juniors and has medaled in eight of the last 10 tournaments … A total of nine players from the gold medal-winning 2025 U.S. National Junior Team have an opportunity to return in 2026, including defenseman Logan Hensler (Woodbury, Minn./University of Wisconsin), Cole Hutson (North Barrington, Ill./Boston University) and Adam Kleber (Chaska, Minn./University of Minnesota Duluth), along with forwards Trevor Connelly (Tustin, Calif./Providence College), Cole Eiserman (Newburyport, Mass./Boston University), James Hagens (Hauppauge, N.Y./Boston College), Max Plante(Hermantown, Minn./University of Minnesota Duluth), Teddy Stiga (Sudbury, Mass./Boston College) and Brodie Ziemer (Hutchinson, Minn./University of Minnesota) … The 43 players invited by USA Hockey to the World Junior Summer Showcase include nine first-round NHL draft picks, 13 second-round choices and five third-round picks. All but three players have been drafted.





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UMaine men’s hockey schedule available but not officially released yet

The University of Maine men’s hockey schedule is now available for the coming season, though it has yet to be officially released by the school. The schedule was first reported by Eastern Maine Sports on Monday. A UMaine athletics official confirmed to the Bangor Daily News that the reported schedule is accurate at this point, pending unresolved […]

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The University of Maine men’s hockey schedule is now available for the coming season, though it has yet to be officially released by the school.

The schedule was first reported by Eastern Maine Sports on Monday. A UMaine athletics official confirmed to the Bangor Daily News that the reported schedule is accurate at this point, pending unresolved game contracts.

UMaine will open the season by hosting reigning Atlantic Hockey America regular season champion Holy Cross on Oct. 10-11. The Black Bears will play Colgate on Homecoming weekend on Oct. 24-25 and Lindenwood University on Dec. 13-14.

UMaine will open its 24-game Hockey East schedule by hosting NCAA runnerup Boston University on Oct. 31, Nov. 1. Arch-rival University of New Hampshire will be in Orono for a two-game series Dec. 5-6.

College hockey teams typically enter into game contracts with their opponents that outline terms for game details like team travel and accommodations, cancelation dates, responsibility for providing officials, and the allocation of game proceeds.

Schools may also enter into contracts with outside facilities that host games. UMaine will formally release its schedule once the unresolved contracts are finalized, the athletic department official said.

UMaine will travel for two-game series against two of Division I college hockey’s elite programs, Quinnipiac University and the University of Denver, as part of its 10 non-conference games. The Black Bears will also host Colgate from the ECAC, Holy Cross from Atlantic Hockey America and Division I independent Lindenwood from Saint Charles, Mo.

Lindenwood is in its fourth season as a Division I program after moving up from club status and will be playing UMaine for the first time.

ECAC powerhouse Quinnipiac, which has earned six consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and won its first NCAA title in 2022-23, will entertain the Black Bears on Oct. 17-18 and Denver, which has averaged 31 wins the past four seasons and won national championships in 2023-24 and 2021-22, will host UMaine on Jan. 2-3.

UMaine swept Quinnipiac at Alfond Arena 2-1 and 6-5 in overtime last season and split 2-1 games with visiting Denver.

Quinnipiac was 24-12-2 last season. The Bobcats won the ECAC regular season title before losing to Cornell, 3-2 in overtime, in the ECAC tournament semifinals and to UConn, 4-1, in the NCAA’s Allentown Regional.

Rand Pecknold’s Quinnipiac team has gone 117-33-10 over the last four seasons.

Denver has reached the Frozen Four three times over the past four seasons. David Carle’s Pioneers went 31-12-1 last season, losing to National Collegiate Hockey Conference rival and eventual national champion Western Michigan 3-2 in double overtime in their Frozen Four semifinal.

UMaine is 12-9-1 all-time against Quinnipiac and 12-10 vs. Denver.

UMaine went 24-8-6 a year ago and won the Hockey East Tournament title for the first time since the 2003-04 season. UMaine also earned its second consecutive NCAA Tournament berth and that’s the first time th Black Bears have done that since the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons.

UMaine lost to Penn State 5-1 in the first round of the Allentown (Pa.) Regional.

This season, the Black Bears will play Boston University, Providence College, Vermont and UMass Lowell three times each and the other six Hockey East schools twice apiece.

UMaine is slated to play UMass Lowell in a Hockey East game at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland on Wednesday, Dec. 10.

The Black Bears’ series against Holy Cross from Worcester, Mass. will be the first time the schools have met since the Black Bear shut out the Crusaders 7-0 on Oct. 18, 2003.

UMaine holds a 4-2 lead in the all-time series.

Holy Cross is coming off a 24-14-2 campaign, 19-5-2 in Atlantic Hockey America. Holy Cross lost to Bentley 6-3 in the AHA tournament championship game.

The Crusaders went 21-14-4 two years ago.

Colgate went 18-15-3 overall and, for the second straight season, went 13-7-2 in league play.

UMaine and Colgate have met four times over the past three seasons and each posted a win and tie in its home series.

Colgate leads the all-time series 8-6-4.

Lindenwood went 8-22-2 a year ago including road wins over Wisconsin, Nebraska-Omaha and Notre Dame. Eleven of the Lions’ losses were by one goal.

In Hockey East play, UMaine will travel for two-game series against UMass (Nov. 6-7), Boston College (Nov. 21-22), Providence (Jan. 9-10), UMass Lowell (Jan. 23-14) and Northeastern (Feb. 27-28) and one game at BU (Feb. 6) and at Vermont (March 7).

The Black Bears will host two-game series against BU (Oct. 31, Nov.1), Vermont (Nov. 14-15), New Hampshire (Dec. 5-6), UConn (Feb. 13-14) and Merrimack (Feb.20-21) and single games with Providence (Jan. 31) and the Portland game against UMass Lowell (Dec. 10).

UMaine will return seven of its top 10 scorers off last year’s team although top two point-getters Harrison Scott (18 goals, 17 assists) and Taylor Makar (18 & 12) have departed.

UMaine will return a veteran defense corps and All-Hockey East second team goalie Albin Boija.

The Black Bears will have 13 newcomers including five National Hockey League draft choices.



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Utah State Soccer Announces Amended 2025 Conference Schedule

LOGAN, Utah – Utah State soccer released an amended version of its conference slate for the 2025 season on Tuesday. The new schedule accounts for the addition of Grand Canyon, which will join the Mountain West as a full member this fall.  Utah State’s league schedule will remain the same as its previously announced slate, with […]

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Utah State Soccer Announces Amended 2025 Conference Schedule

LOGAN, Utah – Utah State soccer released an amended version of its conference slate for the 2025 season on Tuesday. The new schedule accounts for the addition of Grand Canyon, which will join the Mountain West as a full member this fall. 
 
Utah State’s league schedule will remain the same as its previously announced slate, with one exception — The Aggies’ previously scheduled home contest against San José State on Sunday, Oct. 12 will now be played on Sunday, Oct. 26, replacing the team’s previously scheduled home game against UNLV that day. 
 
All Mountain West teams will move from an 11-game conference ledger to a 10-game schedule, each playing regular season games against 10 of the league’s 13 schools. The 2025 Mountain West Soccer Championship will take place from November 2-8 in Boise, Idaho.  
 
2025 Fall Schedule

Date Opponent Location Time
Thur., Aug. 14 at Washington State Pullman, Washington 8 p.m.
Thur., Aug. 21 at Pacific Stockton, California 8 p.m.
Sun., Aug. 24 KANSAS LOGAN, UTAH 1 p.m.
Thur., Aug. 28 UTAH LOGAN, UTAH 7 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 6 at BYU Provo, Utah 6 p.m.
Thur., Sept. 11 WEBER STATE LOGAN, UTAH 7 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 14 at Texas Tech Lubbock, Texas 12 p.m.
Thur., Sept. 18 UTAH VALLEY LOGAN, UTAH 3 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 20 at Portland Portland, Oregon 8 p.m.
Thur., Sept. 25 COLORADO STATE* LOGAN, UTAH 7 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 28 WYOMING* LOGAN, UTAH 1 p.m.
Thur., Oct. 2 at Air Force* USAFA, Colorado 6 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 5 at Colorado College* Colorado Springs, Colorado 12 p.m.
Thur., Oct. 9 FRESNO STATE* LOGAN, UTAH 7 p.m.
Thur., Oct. 16 at New Mexico* Albuquerque, New Mexico 7:30 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 19 at San Diego State* San Diego, California 2 p.m.
Thur., Oct. 23 NEVADA* LOGAN, UTAH 7 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 26 SAN JOSÉ STATE* LOGAN, UTAH 1 p.m.
Thur., Oct. 30 at Boise State* Boise, Idaho 7 p.m.
Sun.-Sat., Nov. 2-8 MW Tournament Boise, Idaho TBA

*All times MT. Home matches listed in bold and all caps.
 
FOLLOW
Fans can follow the Aggie soccer program on Twitter, @USUSoccer, on Facebook at /USUSoccer and on Instagram, @USUSoccer. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program on Twitter, @USUAthletics, Facebook at /USUAthletics and on Instagram, @USUAthletics.
 
-USU-

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Bornhoffer named head coach of women's soccer

Story Links LOUISVILLE, Ky. — After a highly successful tenure as an assistant coach at Northern Kentucky University, Steve Bornhoffer has been hired as the head coach of the Bellarmine University women’s soccer team, director of athletics Scott Wiegandt announced Tuesday. Bornhoffer spent 14 seasons (2011-24) as an assistant coach at Northern Kentucky and was on […]

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Bornhoffer named head coach of women's soccer

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — After a highly successful tenure as an assistant coach at Northern Kentucky University, Steve Bornhoffer has been hired as the head coach of the Bellarmine University women’s soccer team, director of athletics Scott Wiegandt announced Tuesday.

Bornhoffer spent 14 seasons (2011-24) as an assistant coach at Northern Kentucky and was on the ground floor of the Norse’s transition from the Great Lakes Valley Conference of Division II to the Atlantic Sun Conference of Division I, the same path Bellarmine took in its ascension to the NCAA’s highest level.

The bulk of Bornhoffer’s time with Northern Kentucky was spent in the Horizon League, where he helped guide the Norse to the 2016 conference tournament title — and first-ever appearance in the NCAA I Tournament — and the 2020 regular-season championship. NKU was a model of consistency with Bornhoffer on the sideline, earning a Horizon League Tournament berth in nine of the last 10 seasons while finishing third or higher in the league eight times.

“Steve is a highly skilled, highly accomplished D1 assistant who is fully prepared to lead a college program,” Wiegandt said. “In addition to the significant amount of team success he’s experienced and helped author, he possesses a vast knowledge of the region’s recruiting landscape. He also has familiarity with the ASUN from the early stages of his time at NKU.”

Bornhoffer joined Northern Kentucky as an assistant in 2011 and helped the Norse go out with a bang in their final season in D2 as the team finished 16-2-2, captured the GLVC regular-season championship (12-1-1) and advanced to the Midwest Region finals of the NCAA II Tournament.

Bornhoffer then helped Northern Kentucky navigate the reclassification process as the Norse entered D1 in 2012 and subsequently spent three seasons in the ASUN, where they were competitive from the get-go with a pair of six-win seasons followed by a nine-win campaign and push to the conference tournament semifinals.

From the moment it entered the conference with Bornhoffer onboard, Northern Kentucky was among the Horizon League’s elite. An 11-win season — the program’s first in double digits in D1 — was produced in the Norse’s introductory year in the league in 2015. In the next, the Norse piled up 13 victories while securing a landmark Horizon League Tournament title, which represented the first D1 championship in school history. Four years later, in 2020, NKU went unbeaten (7-0-1) in Horizon League play en route to a regular-season championship.

In total in Bornhoffer’s tenure as an assistant at Northern Kentucky, the Norse went 129-95-28 overall and a combined 77-41-15 in conference play, including 57-25-12 in the Horizon League. NKU amassed 10 or more wins six times in that span, with at least eight victories in 10 of the last 11 years. The Norse registered six Horizon League wins or more in seven of 10 seasons (largely in a 9-10 game conference format).

“I’m beyond thrilled to be named the next head women’s soccer coach at Bellarmine University,” Bornhoffer said. “I’m excited to lead the program going forward. I want to thank Scott Wiegandt, (Bellarmine President) Dr. (Susan M.) Donovan and the rest of the hiring committee for this amazing opportunity. We have the resources and people to take the program to the next level. I’m looking forward to starting with the team right away.”

Between the Horizon League and ASUN, Bornhoffer’s term with Northern Kentucky included an All-America accolade, nine All-Region honors, 10 postseason conference superlative awards, 28 All-Conference citations and 12 All-Freshman Team laurels. The Norse were showered with awards in their final D2 season (one All-American, Regional Player of the Year, GLVC Offensive Player of the Year, five All-Region honors, six All-GLVC accolades).

Bornhoffer preceded his stint at Northern Kentucky with eight seasons as the head coach of the Newport Central Catholic (Ky.) High School boys’ soccer team, where he was a two-time NKY Coach of the Year while posting a 90-52-17 record.

Bornhoffer was also a standout player at Northern Kentucky, starting all four years under Hall of Fame coach John Toebben and wrapping up his playing career in 1997 before serving as a graduate assistant coach for the NKU men. A team captain, he was twice named an All-Great Lakes Valley Conference and Academic All-GLVC honoree and was a recipient of the NKU Career Achievement Award in his senior year. He still ranks among the program’s all-time leaders in goals (37), points (87) and games played (83), and went on to play for the USL’s Cincinnati Riverhawks.

Bornhoffer earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education at Northern Kentucky. In addition to his high school and college background, he has over two decades worth of head-coaching experience in competitive club soccer.

For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow BUKnights on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.
 
 

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