Buckeyes Host Mercyhurst – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/26/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
February 26, 1999
Columbus – The Ohio State women’s lacrosse team opens its 1999 season at home vs. the Lady Lakers of Mercyhurst College, Saturday, Feb. 27. The game will be held on the artificial turf field inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center at 1 p.m. This date marks the earliest start for the Buckeye women’s lacrosse team in its four-year history.
SCOUTING OHIO STATE The top three leading scorers from the 6-9, 1998 campaign all return to lead the Buckeye offense. High school teammates Mara Simpson and Laurie Rybak, along with sophomore Celeste Cianfrani, accounted for 76 of the team’s 158 goals. Simpson led all scorers in 1998 by topping the 40-point mark for the second time in her career. She finished the season with 42 total points off 27 goals and 15 assists. Rybak scored 40 total points off 25 goals and 15 assists. Cianfrani tallied 30 total points with 24 goals and six assists. On the defensive side of the ball the entire Buckeye unit returns. Juniors Carla Pavone and Miranda James will lead the Buckeye defense. James led all defenders in scoring last season with 16 goals and one assist. The Buckeyes will start freshman Megan Barnett in goal.
SCOUTING MERCYHURST The Lady Lakers finished the 1998 season with a record of 5-7 under first-year coach Kevin Cooke. They will be led by midfielder Nadia Shabanza and attacker Amy Perry. Shabanza scored 55 total points with 50 goals and 5 assists. Perry scored 30 total points last season off 20 goals and 10 assists. Sophomore Nicole Bonvouloir will be in the goal for the Lakers. Last season she tallied 126 saves and a .578 save percentage.
OHIO STATE VS. MERCYHURST This weekend’s game marks the second time the Lady Lakers and the Buckeyes have played. The Buckeyes lead the series 1-0. The Buckeyes defeated the Lady Lakers in 1997 by a score of 22-6 in a game played in Columbus.
RETURNING HOME Mercyhurst defender Sarah Carleton will return to Columbus for this weekend’s game. Carleton is a freshman from nearby Hilliard. HEAD COACH SUE STIMMEL Sue Stimmel, a native of Boyertown, Pa., is entering her fourth season as head women’s lacrosse coach at Ohio State. She has compiled a 17-21 mark at OSU thus far, and is the only head coach in the brief history of the varsity women’s lacrosse program. Last season, against the toughest schedule ever assembled for an Ohio State women’s lacrosse team, the Buckeyes were extremely competitive in every game and lost four games by a total of nine goals. Stimmel came to Ohio State from Denison University where she guided the Big Red to a 76-24 record during her career. While at Denison, she was named NCAC Coach of the Year in 1990, 1992 and 1993. Denison won five NCAC championships and made five appearences in the NCAA tournament during Stimmel’s tenure. Stimmel is a 1984 graduate of Temple University, where she received a degree in mathematics. She was a four-year varsity starter and a member of Temple’s national championship teams in 1982 and 1984. Stimmel is a member of the mid-Atlantic NCAA Regional Advisory Committee and the IWLCA Rules Committee.
