Women’s Lacrosse Readies for 1999 Season – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/26/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
February 26, 1999
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Four years after becoming the first head women’s lacrosse coach at Ohio State, Sue Stimmel leads what she believes is the most talented team in school history into the 1999 season.
She finally feels the team is on a level playing field with its opponents. After three seasons of .500 or under play, Stimmel believes this season will be a turnaround year for the program.
“This is the most talent we have had on one team,” Stimmel said. “We have depth and great athletes that can play the style of lacrosse we want to play without having to adjust players and their positions. We also have our best and biggest class of freshmen that will add a tremendous amount of depth.”
A trio of returners, two of whom were high school teammates, will lead the Buckeye offense. The top three leading scorers from the 1998 campaign all return as high school teammates Mara Simpson and Laurie Rybak along with sophomore Celeste Cianfrani accounted for 76 of the 158 team goals.
Thomas Worthington products Simpson and Rybak are ranked first and second in career goals, career assists and total points at Ohio State, respectively. Simpson, who plays attack, has led the Buckeyes in scoring the past three seasons. In two of those three seasons she has topped the 40-point mark with 46 in 1996 and 42 in 1998.
Rybak, a senior midfielder for the Buckeyes, scored 25 goals and added 15 assists last season. She is currently second all-time in the OSU record book in career goals and assists with 49 and 34, respectively. The pair have also gained academic all-Big Ten honors the past two seasons.
Cianfrani, a sophomore from Telford, Pa., was a close third in last year’s scoring attack. She added 24 goals and six assists and ranks fourth all-time in career goals at Ohio State.
“We are counting on these three upperclassmen to continue to contribute and lead the attack, but we are also looking for some of our freshman to come in and compete for time,” Stimmel said.
On the defensive side, the entire unit returns.
“Carla Pavone and Miranda James will direct our defense,” Stimmel said. “Having our entire defense back will help us be a much stronger team. Their maturity will help the entire team.”
James, a junior from Belair, Md., will once again split time between the defense and midfield. As a sophomore last season, she scored 16 goals and added one assist. She ranks fifth in scoring among those returning for the 1999 season.
Pavone, a junior from Newton Square, Penn., is the backbone of the Ohio State defense. Megan Barnett, a freshman from Charlottesville, VA will be the starter in the cage. Megan helped lead her high school team to two Virginia State Championships.
“I am extremely excited about this season as we have the personnel to play our style of lacrosse,” Stimmel said. “We have more experience and a very talented group of freshman. I believe if things go the way we would like to see them and we play up to our potential, we can become a top 20 team.”
The goals for this season are very clear to Stimmel and her staff.
“This year we are definitely aiming for our first winning season,” Stimmel said. “We had some close games last year that I think we are very capable of winning this year.”
The one goal loss to Notre Dame and the two goal loss to Virginia Tech are the kind of games that Stimmel points to as “must wins” for this season to be a success.
“Our schedule starts off with a bang, playing North Carolina who was a Final Four team last year,” Stimmel said. “We played them at the beginning of last season and I don’t think we were quite ready for them. This year, with our experience and our freshman, I believe we will give them a better game. We are also looking forward to playing Boston University and Vanderbilt, two programs that started at about the same time we did. I also believe we will give traditional power Penn State a better game this season. This will be the third time we have played them. The first game wasn’t real close and last year we kept it tight in the first half but I think this year we can give them a good game for two halves.”
Stimmel also has the luxury of working with a talented and large group of freshman.
“This is the best and biggest class of freshman we’ve ever had,” Stimmel said. “Their athleticism is phenomenal. These players come from great programs.”
Ohio State has begun to sign prospects from the east coast schools. The Buckeyes now have girls from the Virginia state championship team, three from the Maryland state championship team and three from teams that went to the playoffs in Pennsylvania. Stimmel expects big things from several freshmen this season. Megan Barnett will see time in the cage. Megan Mirick will give much needed depth on attack. Lauren Cochran will be a big contributor in the center. Kylee Reade is a scrappy player that will add another dimension to the 1999 Buckeyes.
“We’re excited to start the 1999 season,” Stimmel said. “Things are in place for us to be successful. Now we have to go out and get things done on the field.”
