Women’s Lacrosse Prepares for Duquesne – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/15/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
March 15, 2000
COLUMBUS, Ohio–The Ohio State women’s lacrosse team will take on the Duquesne Dukes Friday, March 17, at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The Buckeyes enter the game with a 2-1 record, while the Dukes are 1-0.
Last Weekend
On Friday the Ohio State women’s lacrosse team traveled to Virginia Tech for its first road game of the season. Tech’s Dawn Will scored five goals, and Courtney Hubbard finished with two goals and three assists to lead the Hokies to a 13-10 victory. The Buckeyes were led by Megan Mirick who scored three goals and added three assists. Goalie Megan Barnett recorded 10 saves while playing all 60 minutes. On Sunday the Buckeyes returned home to face Bucknell. OSU dominated every aspect of the game, defeating the Bison 17-0. Eleven different Buckeyes contributed to the offense. Erin Andersen led Ohio State with four goals. Mirick also got in on the offense by recording two goals and adding two assists. Barnett played all 60 minutes and recorded six saves.
Head Coach Sue Stimmel
Sue Stimmel is in her fifth season as head lacrosse coach at Ohio State. Last season Stimmel led OSU to a stellar 10-5 finish, marking the first 10-win season in the history of Ohio State women’s lacrosse. With a 23-3 win over the Ohio Bobcats April 10, 1999, Stimmel earned her 100th career victory.
Scouting Duquesne
Duquesne returns all 12 starters from last year’s 11-6 squad which finished fourth in the inaugural Atlantic 10 championship. Leading the Dukes in 2000 will be junior midfielder Meghan Hungate, a 1999 second team Mid-Atlantic Regional All-American, all-Atlantic 10 and all-Atlantic 10 Tournament selection. Hungate, the No. 7 returning scorer in the nation, led Duquesne with 44 goals and 32 assists. She is one of just two players in the country who finished last season ranked nationally in the Top 10 in both scoring (10) and assists (8). Sophomore goalkeeper Becky Stauffer is back and assumes the starting role once again after leading the Dukes and ranking 19th in the country last year with an 8.85 goals against average. Duquesne Coach Eldridge
In just three short years, head coach Kim Eldridge has guided Duquesne women’s lacrosse from an up-start program into a contender in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Before coming to Duquesne, Eldridge was an assistant for two years at James Madison with its nationally ranked program. JMU finished the 1995 season with a 12-6 record, a No. 6 ranking and earned a bid into the NCAA post-season tournament for the first time in the school’s history. She is a 1993 graduate of the College of William and Mary.
The Series
Ohio State and Duquesne have met on the lacrosse field three times. Ohio State has come out victorious in all of those meetings. The Buckeyes won the last meeting 13-12 last season in Pittsburgh.
Largest, Toughest Schedule
Ohio State will play the most regular season games in the program’s history–16. The Buckeyes also will face the toughest schedule in the program’s five-year history. The Scarlet and Gray will face six opponents that were ranked in the final IWLCA poll last season. The Buckeyes’ schedule includes games against No. 3 Penn State, No. 9 North Carolina, No. 15 Syracuse, No. 17 Boston University, No. 20 Virginia Tech and Division II power Gannon. The Buckeyes will have the difficult task of playing their last four games on the road, including games at North Carolina, Vanderbilt and Syracuse.
Young, But Experienced
The Buckeyes return only four seniors for the 2000 season. However, they do return 10 starters who are sophomores or juniors.
“We are a young team,” Stimmel said. “But we had the opportunity to play and even start many of our freshmen last year.”
More on Sue Stimmel
Sue Stimmel is entering her fifth season as head women’s lacrosse coach at Ohio State. She has compiled a 27-26 mark at OSU, the only head coach in the brief history of the varsity women’s lacrosse program. Stimmel came to Ohio State from Denison University where she guided the Big Red to a 76-24 record during her career. She took over the Big Red program in 1989 and was named the IWLCA Regional Coach of the Year in 1991, 1992 and 1994. Stimmel was honored as the NCAC Coach of the Year in 1990, 1992 and 1993. Denison won five NCAC championships and made four appearances in the NCAA tournament during Stimmel’s tenure. She also coached the North Team in the Division III North/South All-Star Game in 1995. Her coaching career began in 1984 when she was named an assistant coach at the University of Massachusetts, where she stayed until 1986. 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. She was named a Regional All-American in 1984 and was invited to the U.S. team tryouts.
Looking Back at 1999
The Ohio State women’s lacrosse team finished the 1999 season with the program’s best record, 10-5. The Buckeyes were led by a powerful attack of underclassmen. Freshman Megan Mirick led the team in goals with 39. Sophomore Erin Andersen finished a close second with 36 goals. Andersen also led the team in total points with 53. Sophomore Celeste Cianfrani also contributed to the offense with 47 total points, 32 goals and 15 assists. Megan Barnett had an amazing freshman campaign in goal. She recorded 154 saves. Her goals-against average of 9.00 was good enough for a No. 23 NCAA ranking. The Buckeyes as a team were ranked seventh in scoring, averaging 13.13 goals per game. The Scarlet and Gray ranked 12th in scoring margin, averaging 4.07 more goals per game than their opponents. Ohio State also was ranked 25th in scoring defense, allowing only 9.07 goals per game. The 1999 season was marked by milestones. On April 10, against Ohio University, head coach Sue Stimmel earned her 100th career victory. Postseason awards were earned for the first time in program history. Miranda James was named a Mid-Atlantic Regional second-team All-American for her defensive efforts. Throughout the season the Buckeyes broke 11 team and individual records.
