Women’s Soccer Kicks off 2002 with Title in Mind – Ohio State Buckeyes
8/26/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Aug. 26, 2002
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COLUMBUS, Ohio– Head Coach Lori Walker begins her fifth season at the helm of Ohio State’s women’s soccer program and will look for more consistent play out of her squad in the 2002 campaign. What appeared to be a strong start in 2001 soon turned sour as the Buckeyes fell from claiming victory in each of their first three contests to dropping five of their next seven. However, OSU rebounded over the final seven games of the regular season, winning five, tying one and suffering its only defeat to top-ranked North Carolina by a 2-0 score at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. “Streaky” could be the best term used to describe the 2001 squad, but the strong finish and superb play from All-Big Ten Second Team forward Lindsay Eckles and reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year Lisa Grubb combined with the defensive prowess of All-Big Ten Second Team member Jen Miller has Buckeye fans hungry for a run at a conference title.
LADIES, START YOUR SEASON!
Ohio State has enjoyed great success in season openers. The Buckeyes currently hold a 6-1-2 mark in opening games and have actually faired better in openers held on the road. OSU has yet to suffer a defeat in such games as they look to improve upon a 3-0-1record in season openers held outside of Columbus vs. Cal in Berkeley on Friday. CAL INVITE SCHEDULE AND INFORMATION
The Cal Invite will be contested at Cal’s Edwards Stadium in Berkeley, Calif. Schedule for the tournament is as follows (all times PDT):
Aug. 30 St. Mary’s vs. Purdue 2 p.m. OSU vs. Cal 4:30 p.m. Sept. 1 St. Mary’s vs. OSU 2 p.m. Purdue vs. Cal 4:30 p.m.
SOPHOMORE SENSATION
Sophomore forward Lisa Grubb made quite a first impression on Buckeyes fans in her initial season sporting the scarlet and gray. Grubb, a Portage, Mich native, lead OSU in all major offensive categories netting 25 points on 10 goals and five assists, including three game-winners. Her efforts merited the Big Ten Freshman of the Year award as she finished among the Top 6 leading scorers in the conference.
Grubb tied for second in shots (62) among the conference ranks, fifth in goals (10) and tied for fifth in gamewinning goals (three), while her 25points tied her for fifth in the Big Ten.
MAKING THE GRADE
The Buckeyes epitomized the term “student-athlete” in 2001 as 12 individuals on the team earned OSU Scholar-Athlete status, included were five members who acheived Academic All-Big Ten honors. Stacia Daum, current seniors Shelly Besson, Lindsay Eckles, Kiley Enmark and Jen Miller were recognized by Big Ten officials for there academic efforts.
IT’S A RECORD
The OSU-UNC match on Nov. 3 of last season drew a record home attendance of 3,006 fans to Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The previous mark was 804 when Notre Dame visited Columbus Oct. 1, 1995, a 2-1 loss for the Buckeyes. UNC won the tilt, 2-0.
2001 RANKINGS
Despite losing two out of three to end the 2001 seaosn, OSU remained in the No. 3 and No. 4 spots in the Great Lakes region according to the Nov. 5 NSCAA/adidas and SoccerBuzz polls, respectively. Nationally, the Buckeyes received votes in both polls, placing them just outside the Top 25.
A TALL ORDER TO OPEN THE SEASON
OSU has five nationally ranked opponents slated for the 2002 schedule. The Buckeyes faired well against the nation’s elite during the 2001 season, collecting a 2-2 record that featured wins at No. 9 Connecticut and and over No. 4 Penn State. In addition, OSU pushed top-ranked North Carolina last November as the Tarheels escaped Columbus with a tightly contested 2-0 victory. The Buckeyes ended their season with a 2-0 loss to Penn State in the Big Ten Tourney semi-final.
Ohio State gets the ball rolling early in regard to top-ranked opponents as the Buckeyes face California and St. Mary’s (Calif.) at the Cal Invite held in Berkeley, Calif. Cal and St. Mary’s are ranked 15th and 16th, respectively, in the NSCAA/adidas 2002 Preseason Poll.
WALKER AT THE HELM
Now in her fifth season as head coach, Lori Walker has amassed a 50-45-5 record (.525) with OSU, including two 12-plus win campaigns. She is 17-27-3 (.394) in Big Ten play and stands 63-68-6 (.482) overall as a collegiate coach following a two-year stint at Kansas.
SCOUTING CALIFORNIA
The California Golden Bears, ranked 15th in the current preseason NSCAA/addidas poll, are led by head coach Kevin Boyd who became the winningest women’s soccer coach at the school in 2001. He has compiled an impressive 66-32-5 (.665) mark and returns eight starters to a Golden Bear team that finished with a 12-7-2 ledger last season to qualify for the NCAA tournament for the fourth-consecutive year, a first in school history.
The Cal attack is spearheaded by senior forward and two-time defending PAC-10 scoring leader Laura Schott. Schott is on track to break the school career marks for both points and goals, needing just 24 points and seven goals to claim the top spot in school annals. Senior Kim Stocklmeir and junior Lucy Brining combine to lead a formidible Cal defense that held opponents under two goals in 15 of 21 contests last season.
OHIO STATE VS. CALIFORNIA
OSU’s opener against Cal is the first meeting between the two teams. It marks just the second match with a PAC-10 opponent. OSU was defeated by Washington in the 2000 season.
A LOOK AT ST. MARY’S
St. Mary’s enjoyed it’s finest season in school history in 2001, advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament with a win over fellow Cal Invite foe California. The Gaels are lead by fourth-year head coach Paul Ratliffe who is 46-25-5 (.638) in his tenure at St. Mary’s. Ratliffe’s squad bosted a record of 15-3-2 last season, finishing second in the West Coast Conference to eventual NCAA champion Santa Clara. St. Mary’s shutout five ranked teams in 2001 behind the stellar goalkeepeing of senior Ruth Montgomery. Montgomery registered 9.5 shutouts last season on her way to being honored by Soccer America as their 2001 Most Valuable Player for the 2001 season.
OHIO STATE VS. ST. MARY’S
OSU and St. Mary’s meet for the first time.
LAST TIME OUT–EXHIBITION MATCH
The Buckeyes faced Ohio Premier, a squad built of Ohio’s best high school talent, Saturday night in an exhibition match at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium and pulled out a 1-0 victory in a tightly contested defensive match.
The lone goal of the game actually was bumped in by an Ohio Premier defender, as a shot by OSU freshman midfielder Danielle Dietrich bounced off the legs of a Premier defender and into the back right side of the net for a 1-0 Buckeye advantage in the 43rd minute.
RECORDS SET TO FALL
A handful of career records are in jeopardy of falling in the 2002 season as senior Lindsay Eckles eyes the top spot in school history for both career goals and career shots. Eckles, a Hilliard, Ohio native, needs just five goals to take over the top spot from Lisa Suttmiller (1994-97), who finished her Buckeye career with 30 goals and needs to fire just 17 shots on goal to surpass Suttmiller for the top spot in that respective category. In addition, Eckles is just 11 points shy of overtaking second place on the all-time points list.
Sophomore Lisa Grubb will be knocking on the door of the top spots in the record books very soon. Following just one season with OSU, Grubb is already ranked as the eighth all-time career scorer with 25 points and is currently slotted in the seventh position in school history with 10 career goals.
Jen Miller also has a shot to climb up the OSU charts in career assists. She is currently tied for seventh all-time with nine career marks and needs eight this season to take over as second in assists in Buckeye history.
NEXT UP
OSU will travel to the University of Dayton Invitational and will take on Marquette Sept. 6 at 6 p.m. and Georgetown Sept. 8 at 2:30 p.m.
