Women’s Lacrosse Faces Notre Dame in NCAA First Round – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/7/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
May 7, 2002
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The 12th-ranked Ohio State (11-4 overall, 4-2 American Lacrosse Conference) women’s lacrosse squad received an at-large bid to the 16-team NCAA Championship and will face seventh-ranked Notre Dame (12-4) at 4 p.m., Thursday, May 9 at Moose Krause Stadium (5,000) on the campus of the Fighting Irish.
MIRICK, OLIVER AND BOUNDS HONORED BY ALC
The American Lacrosse Conference has announced its honors for the inaugural season. Ohio State’s Megan Mirick (Sr., Burke, Va.) and Regina Oliver (Fr., Pottstown, Pa) have been selected as the Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, respectively. Both Mirick and Oliver were also named to the All-Conference Team, as was OSU’s Tracey Bounds (Jr., Ellicott City, Md.). Mirick has scored an OSU record 52 goals this season. Oliver is the team leader in ground balls (43) and caused turnovers (49) and has 26 goals and 12 assists. Bounds has an OSU record 24 assists and 59 points this season. The trio is part of a 12-player squad voted on by the conference coaches.
OLIVER NAMED ALC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ohio State’s women’s lacrosse student-athlete Regina Oliver has been named the American Lacrosse Conference Player of the Week. Oliver played an important defensive role in OSU’s 12-6 win over Ohio. She had six caused turnovers and added five ground balls and two draw controls in the contest. Her play helped the Buckeyes hold Ohio to six goals below their average (12.29) and held Bobcat Lindsey Hart, the nation’s top goals scorer (4.00 per game) to one goal. Offensively, Oliver recorded a goal and an assist in the 11th win of the season for Ohio State (11-4).
A LOOK AT NOTRE DAME
The Fighting Irish, coached by Tracy Coyne, finished the regular season with a 12-4 record. Notre Dame was 5-1 in the Big East, finishing second. The seventh-ranked Fighting Irish finished the regular season with a 10-9 overtime win against 10th-ranked Vanderbilt. Danielle Shearer is the top scorer for Notre Dame with 36 goals. Alissa Moser is second with 27 goals and Natalie Loftus third with 24. Shearer is the team leader in assists with 19 with Loftus second with 11. Defensively, Tina Fedarcyk has a team-high 24 caused turnovers while Kathryn Lam has collected 53 ground balls to lead the team. In goal, Jen White has started all 16 game for Notre Dame. She has 145 saves (.549) and has given up 119 goals (7.30 per game). Notre Dame is averaging 10.74 goals per game and is giving up 7.30.
THE OHIO STATE – NOTRE DAME SERIES
Ohio State has a 4-2 lead in the series with Notre Dame. The squads have played each season since 1997. The Buckeyes won the series opener, 11-7 at Notre Dame. The Irish won 10-9 at Columbus in 1998. OSU won 15-12 at Notre Dame in 1999 and 10-9 in 2000 at Ohio State. The Irish won 18-12 in 2001 at Notre Dame. Ohio State won 12-11 this season in a match played in Columbus. The Buckeyes are 2-1 in games played at Notre Dame and won a 12-11 game against Delaware, that was played indoors at Notre Dame earlier this season.
A LOOK AT OHIO STATE
The Buckeyes are 11-4 overall and finished 4-2 in the American Lacrosse Conference. The 12th-ranked Buckeyes defeated Ohio, 12-6, last Saturday. Megan Mirick (Sr., Burke, Va.) is the team leader in goals with 52. Tracey Bounds (Jr., Ellicott City, Md.) is second with 35. Regina Oliver (Fr., Pottstown, Pa.) ranks third on the squad with 26 goals and Shannon Wilson (Jr., Sherkston, Ontario) is fourth with 23. Bounds has a team-high 24 assists with Alexia Vogler (Jr., Ellicott City, Md.) second with 15. Defensively, Regina Oliver has a team-high 49 caused turnovers and leads the squad in ground balls with 43. Shannon Wilson ranks second in caused turnovers with 31 and is second in ground balls with 42. In goal, Erin Forquer (Fr., Shaker Heights, Ohio) has started all 15 games and has recorded 164 saves (.564) and has given up 127 goals (8.71 goals against average). The Buckeyes are averaging 13.60 goals per game and are giving up 8.60 per game.
OHIO RECAP Ohio State used solid defense in defeating Ohio, 12-6 to end the regular season with an 11-4 record. The 11 wins is a school record. The Buckeyes held the Bobcats to six goals under their 12.29 goals per game average (9th nationally). Regina Oliver was a major part of the defense with a game-high six caused turnovers. She added two draw controls, five ground ball, a goal and an assist in the game. Offensively, Tracey Bounds scored a game-high four goals with Lauren Cochran and Noemi Hites adding two each for OSU. The Buckeyes built a 7-2 halftime lead opening with goals by Bounds and Oliver. Ohio made it 2-1 with an Alyssa Trocher goal. Hites, Cochran and Megan Mirick made it 5-1. An Ohio goal by Lynz Keys made it 5-2. OSU goals by Carrie Weatherill and Bounds ended the half at 7-2. The Bobcats opened the second half with goals by Lindsey Hart and Keys to cut the lead to 7-4. OSU responded with goals by Hites, Shannon Wilson and Bounds to take a 10-4 lead. A third goal by Ohio’s Keys cut the margin to 10-5. Cochran and Bounds added goals to made it 12-5. Bobcat Becky Oxman finished the scoring for a 12-6 Ohio State win. OSU’s Erin Forquer had 17 saves in the contest while OU’s Jennifer Cassidy had 13 as the Buckeyes finished in a three-way tie for second place in the American Lacrosse Conference.
OLIVER SHINES IN 12-6 WIN OVER OHIO
With six caused turnovers, five ground balls, two draw controls, a goal and an assist, Regina Oliver played an outstanding game last week against Ohio in a 12-6 Buckeye win. Oliver helped hold the Bobcat offense to six goals below their average. She is Ohio State’s team leader in caused turnovers with 49 and ground balls with 43. Oliver ranks third in draw controls with 22. Offensively she has 26 goals and 12 assists for 38 points.
FORQUER MOVES TO SECOND IN SINGLE SEASON SAVES
Erin Forquer recorded 17 saves against Ohio and has moved to second place on the Ohio State single season saves list with 164. She passed Megan Barnett marks of 155 in 2001 and 154 in 1999.
BOUNDS MOVES AHEAD OF MIRICK IN SEASON POINTS
Tracey Bounds, with four goals against Ohio, has moved into first place on the Ohio State season points record list. She currently has 59 points on 35 goals and 24 assists. She passed teammate Megan Mirick who has 58 points on 52 goals and six assists.
OHIO STATE IN THE ALC STATISTICS
The Buckeyes have two student-athletes atop the American Lacrosse Conference overall statistics from this week. OSU’s Regina Oliver leads the conference in caused turnovers at 3.27 per game and is sixth in ground balls at 2.87. Goalkeeper Erin Forquer leads the conference in goals against average at 8.72 and is second in save percentage at .564. Megan Mirick is second in goals per game at 3.47 and is third in scoring at 3.87 points per game. Lauren Cochran ranks fourth in draw controls at 2.00 per game while Shannon Wilson is eighth in ground balls with a 2.80 per game average. Tracey Bounds ranks second in scoring with a 3.93 per game average and is third in assists at 1.60. Ohio State ranks first in team offense with a 13.60 goals per game average and in defense with a 8.60 goals against average. OSU is first in draw controls averaging 13.00 per game and is ranked third in ground balls at 22.73 per game.
BOUNDS SETS SEASON ASSIST RECORD
With her four assists against Davidson, Tracey Bounds has broken the Ohio State season assist record. Her 24 assists this season broke the record of 21 held by Celeste Cianfrani in 2000.
MIRICK BREAKS HER OWN SEASON GOAL RECORD
With her five goals at Virginia Tech, Megan Mirick raised her season goal total to 42 and broke her own OSU record for goals in a season. Mirick set the record in 1999 with 39 goals. She has raised her season goal record to 52.
BUCKEYES RANKED NO. 12 IN IWLCA POLL
Ohio State moved up two spots to No. 12 in the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association weekly poll. This marks the highest ranking for Ohio State this season. The Buckeyes received 64 points this week, moving up from 14th last week. Princeton holds No. 1 in the poll with 139 points.
BUCKEYES IN THE NCAA STATISTICS
In NCAA statistics released this week, Ohio State is sixth in the country in scoring offense at 13.60 goals per game. The Buckeyes are seventh in scoring margin at 5.00 and tied for 13th in scoring defense at 8.60. Ohio State is tied for sixth in draw controls at 13.00 and is second in caused turnovers at 15.87. Individually, Megan Mirick is fifth in goals per game at 3.47 and 15th in points per game at 3.87. Regina Oliver is second in caused turnovers at 3.27 per game. Tracey Bounds ranks 13th in ;points per game at 3.93 and tied for 13th in assists per game at 1.60. Erin Forquer is 13th in the country in goals against average at 8.72 and 14th in saves percentage at .564. Shannon Wilson is tied for 23rd in caused turnovers at 2.07 per game.
HEAD COACH SUE STIMMEL
Sue Stimmel is in her seventh year as the head coach for Ohio State. A 1984 graduate of Temple University, Stimmel is the only coach that the Buckeye program has had. She spent six years has the head coach of Denison prior to coming to Ohio State. Stimmel is 54-45 at Ohio State and is 129-63 in her career.
AMERICAN LACROSSE CONFERENCE 2002 ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Student-Athlete Pos. Cl. School Tracey Bounds A Jr. Ohio State Jen Cassidy G So. Ohio University Kate Darmody D Fr. Northwestern Ali DeCecco D Sr. Penn State Lindsey Hart M Jr. Ohio University Lacey Hentz D Fr. Johns Hopkins Jamie Larrimore A Sr. Johns Hopkins Megan Lewis D Sr. Vanderbilt Megan Mirick A Sr. Ohio State Colleen O’Hara A Jr. Penn State Regina Oliver M Fr. Ohio State Heidi Pearce M So. John Hopkins
Player of the Year: Megan Mirick, Attack, Sr., Ohio State
Rookie of the Year: Regina Oliver, Midfield, Fr., Ohio State
Coach of the Year: Cathy Swezey, Vanderbilt
