Women’s Soccer Opens Big Ten Tournament Play – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/5/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Nov. 5, 2002
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
COLUMBUS, Ohio– The Ohio State women’s soccer team (7-10-1, 4-5-1), winners of three of its final four Big Ten regular season matches, opens Big Ten Tournament action at Michigan State’s Old College Field Thursday at 10 a.m. against No. 24 Michigan (13-5-1, 7-2-1). The seventh-seeded Buckeyes face the No. 2-seed Wolverines in a rematch of a tightly contested 1-0 UM victory in Ann Arbor on Oct. 6. The winner of Thurdsay’s match will advance to the semifinals to face the winner of the Purdue-Indiana quarterfinal on Friday at 3 p.m.
BUCKEYES IN POSTSEASON PLAY
Ohio State has qualified for the Big Ten tournament in seven of its nine years of existence and has compiled an all-time postseason record of 3-7. OSU looks to claim its first Big Ten tournament title and initial berth into the NCAA tournament.
LAST WEEK’S ACTION
OSU split its two games in the final week of regular season play topping Kent State 3-0 on Wednesday and dropping a 1-0 contest to Cincinnati on Saturday.
Ohio State opened the week’s action with the 3-0 victory over Kent State on senior night. The Buckeyes controlled play from the kick off until the final buzzer as OSU held Kent State without a single shot attempt until the 89th minute of play, including a shutout in the shots on goal department.
The OSU veterans served its youth in the first half as seniors Lindsay Eckles, Jen Miller and Sarah Lanham each registered assists on goals by freshman forwards Danielle Dietrich and Colleen Hoban. In the second half, OSU midfielder Heather Miller connected with fellow midfielder Liz Mumley for an insurance goal at the 79:08 mark of play.
Ohio State concluded the 2002 regular season against defending Conference USA champion Cincinnati falling in a tight 1-0 contest.
The game was a tale of two halves as the Bearcats controlled play for nearly all of the first stanza and carried a 1-0 advantage into halftime on a goal by forward Tianna Oliver at the 17:18 mark of play.
The Buckeyes, however, bounced back to control the action in the second half collecting 11 shots, with six on goal, while holding the Bearcats to zero shot attempts in the final stanza.
The UC defense was up to the challenge stifling each Buckeye threat to record its 10th shutout of the 2002 season.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN AND THE BIG TEN FIELD
Michigan’s 7-2-1 mark in conference play qualified for the second seed in the 2002 tournament draw behind Big Ten regular season champion Penn State. Seeded third through eighth are Purdue, Michigan State, Indiana, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio State and Illinois.
Michigan is led by the Big Ten’s leading scorer in senior forward Abby Crumpton. Crumpton is tops among all Big Ten participants with 20 points on seven goals and six assists in conference play. Overall, Crumpton has netted 30 points on 10 goals and 10 assists.
UM head coach Debbie Radenmacher is in the midst of her ninth season coaching the Wolverines and has compiled a 134-75-16 all-time record.
BUCKEYES VS. WOLVERINES
Michigan topped Ohio State 1-0 during the 2002 regular season in Ann Arbor on Oct. 6. UM defender Andrea Kayal netted a header in the 33rd minute following a corner kick from Amy Sullivant for the game-winner.
The Michigan victory is its eighth consecutive win in the series between the two schools as the Wolverines hold a 8-3 edge in the all-time series.
UM and OSU have met twice in the Big Ten Tournament with the Wolverines claiming quarterfinal victories in 1996 and 1997.
WALKER INKS NEW CONTRACT
Ohio State women’s soccer head coach Lori Walker signed a new three-year contract on October 4th that will keep her at the helm of the Buckeye program through the 2006 season.
“The three-year contract exemplifies the commitment Ohio State has to the women’s soccer program and the trust that the athletics department has in my goals for the program and the direction we are headed,” Walker said. “That sense of trust validates our pursuit of being a national contender for years to come. The new contract will definitely help us in recruiting.”
Ohio State director of athletics Andy Geiger is pleased to extend coach Walker’s tenure at the university.
“We are delighted to have Lori continue her work in building the Ohio State women’s soccer program into a Big Ten and national contender,” Geiger said.
WALKER AT THE HELM
Now in her sixth season as head coach, Walker has amassed a 57-55-6 record (.508) with OSU, including two 12-plus win campaigns. She is 21-32-5 (.405) in Big Ten play and stands 70-78-7 (.474) overall as a collegiate coach following a two-year stint at Kansas.
MILLER HONORED BY SOCCER AMERICA
Ohio State senior co-captain Jen Miller was recognized by Soccer America for her efforts in consecutive 1-0 wins over both Wisconsin and Minnesota on the weekend of Oct. 18-20. In the Minnesota match, Miller netted the game-winning goal in the 107th minute of play for the double-overtime victory.
HAYNAM-BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ohio State sophomore goalkeeper Emily Haynam earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors for her efforts in shutout wins over both Wisconsin and Minnesota on Oct. 18 and Oct. 20, respectively. Haynam, who was inserted into the starting lineup in OSU’s 2-1 win over Illinois on Oct. 13, has fueled Ohio State to wins in three of its last four contests since taking over the OSU net.
Hayman collected five saves in the 1-0 win at Wisconsin and two saves in another 1-0 triumph over Minnesota in double-overtime.
MARKS SET IN 2002
Numerous Buckeyes set new standards in OSU women’s soccer history during the 2002 season as Lindsay Eckles, Lisa Grubb, Emily Haynam and Jen Miller each broke into the Top 10 in all-time season records.
Grubb, who tied for the team-lead in scoring, is now tied for fifth in all-time season shots with 63 passing her own mark of 62 during the 2001 season.
Lindsay Eckles, who holds the team record for career shots, notched 52 shot attempts in 2002, which is good for ninth in school history.
Defender Jen Miller enjoyed a stellar season on the offensive end as she tallied 13 points on three goals and five assists. Those five assists tied her with a host of Buckeyes for fifth place all-time in season assists.
Defensive cohort and OSU goalkeeper Emily Haynam has moved into second place all-time in season goals against average at 1.15, just 0.8 goals per game behind the top performance in Ohio State team history.
RAPID FIRE-BUCKEYES No. 1 IN SHOTS
Ohio State is tops in the Big Ten in shot attempts averaging 17.3 per conference contest and have continued to add to its staggering advantage in the shot attempt department this season as the Buckeyes out shot Kent State on Wednesday by a astounding 27-1 figure and Cincinnati 11-6 on Saturday.
The Buckeyes held both the Golden Flashes and Bearcats to zero shots in at least one half in each game. OSU shutout KSU in the shot department in the first half of play and held Cincinnati shot-less in the second period. OSU combined to out shoot Wisconsin and Minnesota by a combined figure of 44-16 in both of its shutout victories the week of Oct. 14. This week’s performance has widened the margin of shots to a 299-160 Buckeye edge, including a 159-85 ledger in shots on goal. Ohio State is averaging 16.6 shots per game compared to their counterparts at 9.2.
BUCKEYE DEFENSE
Ohio State held their opponents to 26 goals on the season and just 1.44 goals per game. The 26 goals allowed are just two more than the OSU all-time low mark of 24 goals allowed in the 1996 and 1998 seasons.
RUNNING THE GUANTLET IN 2002
The OSU match with No. 24 Michigan on Thursday will mark its seventh match with a nationally-ranked opponent in 2002. So far the Buckeyes are 0-5-1 versus the country’s elite, but has held each contest to within two goals or less.
