Valparaiso (8-9-0, 4-4-0 Horizon)

Crusaders close out regular season

Friday, Oct. 28 - at Northern Kentucky (10-5-1, 6-1-1 Horizon) - Highland Heights, Ky. - 6 p.m. CT

This Week in Crusader Soccer: The Valparaiso University women's soccer team heads to Northern Kentucky this Friday for the 2016 regular season finale. The Crusaders enter Friday's match in the midst of a battle for spots in the Horizon League Championship.

Previously: Valpo split a pair of matches last week to remain at .500 within Horizon League play. The Crusaders earned a 2-1 win in extra time at UIC in mid-week action before falling to Oakland by a 1-0 final on Brown Field.

Looking Ahead: Should the Crusaders qualify for the Horizon League Championship, the first-round game would be played on Monday night at 7 p.m. local time.

Following the Crusaders: Friday's match at NKU can be seen live on ESPN3, WatchESPN and the ESPN app. Links for the live video, as well as live stats, will be available via ValpoAthletics.com.

Head Coach John Marovich: The 2014 Horizon League Coach of the Year, John Marovich holds a 81-61-27 record both overall and with Valpo in his ninth season at the helm of the Brown and Gold. Just the third head coach in program history, Marovich became the winningest coach in program history with Valpo's victory over Milwaukee earlier this year.

Series Notes: Valpo and NKU squared off in their first-ever matchup last season, as the Norse competed in 2015 as a member of the Horizon League for the first time. NKU earned a 3-2 win in double overtime at Brown Field in that meeting.

Scouting the Opposition: The Norse enter Friday's matchup at 10-5-1 overall and with a 6-1-1 mark in Horizon League play, currently good for second place and still with a possibility of claiming the league regular-season title. Macy Hamblin has been involved in 14 of NKU's 26 goals this year, recording eight goals and six assists, while Jessica Frey has scored seven goals. In goal, Emily Lohmann has seen the majority of action and owns a 0.94 GAA with four clean sheets.

Crusaders Picked Fourth in Preseason Poll: Valpo has been chosen to finish in a tie for fourth place in the Horizon League preseason poll, as voted on by the league’s head coaches. The Crusaders totaled 57 points in the preseason polling, in which coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team, to tie Wright State for fourth place. Oakland edged out Milwaukee by one point to top the preseason poll.

Looking Back at 2015: Last year's Crusader squad posted a 7-8-3 record, including a 4-4-1 mark in Horizon League play. April Cronin and graduated senior Rita Craven both repeated as First Team All-League honorees and were NSCAA Third Team All-Region choices, while Kelsey Jahn represented the Crusaders on the league's All-Freshman Team.

Everything to Play For: Entering the final match day of the regular season, Valpo is among a group of four teams battling for three spots in the Horizon League Championship. Wright State currently sits on 13 points in fourth place, while the Crusaders are level with Oakland and UIC at 12 points apiece in a three-way tie for fifth, with only the top six teams in the standings making the league tournament. Valpo would guarantee itself a tournament berth with a win at NKU, while a draw would put the Crusaders in unless UIC wins versus Detroit and Oakland earns points against Wright State. With a loss, Valpo could still make the field if UIC loses to Detroit.

Hosting Still a Possibility: The Crusaders could still rise up as high as fourth position in the final standings and host a first-round game at Brown Field on Monday evening. If Valpo wins at NKU, while the Wright State-Oakland match finishes in a draw, the Crusaders would finish ahead of both squads and guarantee themselves the fourth seed.

Cronin Ties Pair of Records: With her golden goal in overtime in the Crusaders' win at UIC, senior April Cronin not only secured a big three points for Valpo, but moved into a tie atop a pair of charts in the Crusader record books. The match-winner against the Flames was her fourth of the season and 10th of her career, tying the Valpo record in both categories. Cronin moved alongside Lori Moore for career match-winners, while joining a multitude of others - including her own 2014 campaign - in the single-season category. Cronin now owns 25 career goals and 59 career points, both second in program history.

All the Match-Winners: So with Cronin owning four match-winners for the Crusaders this year, that leaves four match-winning goals for the rest of the team, and sophomore Cory Griffith has bagged all four of those. Griffith, who is tied with Cronin and the multitude of others for the most match-winners in a season in program history, has scored the match-winner in each of the four matches she has registered goals in, as she scored both Valpo goals in its win over New Mexico State and won games against Morehead State, Milwaukee and Green Bay with her tallies.

Manzke Equalizes: Junior Morgan Manzke has scored just two goals on the season, but both of them have been key tallies. Manzke scored goals against Milwaukee and at UIC, both of which leveled matches at 1-1 after the Crusaders had fallen behind early. In both games, the Crusaders would go on to win in overtime.

Marovich Sets Wins Record: The dramatic win over Milwaukee was extra-special for the leader of the Crusaders. Head coach John Marovich won his 79th career match with the victory over the Panthers, becoming the winningest coach in Valpo women's soccer history as he surpassed his predecessor, Stephen Anthony. Marovich, who now has 81 victories, also holds the program record for winning percentage by a head coach (.559).

Weekly League Honors: Griffith was tabbed the Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 3 for scoring the pair of match-winners, becoming the third Crusader to earn the honor this season. Ava Porlier received the award earlier this year for her two-goal performance at Western Michigan, while April Cronin picked up the honor early on following a seven-point weekend - including her hat trick at Loyola. Entering this year, Valpo had not earned a Horizon League Offensive PoW award since the league split offense and defense in 2012.

Experience Back in 2016: Among the 18 letterwinners who return for the Crusaders in 2016 are seven of last season's 11 most regular starters. The team features plenty of new blood as well, however, as nine freshmen are in their first year at Valparaiso.