Athletics Good Stuff – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | General
Sept. 5, 2006
oAthletes of the Week
Field hockey’s Yesenia Luces was named Big Ten Defensive Playerof the Week, the conference announced Monday. The junior midfielderearned the honor after she helped the Buckeyes sweep through theBlue Hen Classic, defeating Delaware, 2-1, and Penn, 4-0.
Luces, a native of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, led an outstanding Ohio State defense which allowed one goal on the weekend. She was a mainstay on the midfield defense that helped the Buckeyes hold Delaware and Penn to a combined nine shots in the two games. OSU allowed just three shots in each half to the Blue Hens Saturday and shut out Penn on shots in the first half of the game Sunday. Delaware scored the lone goal against the disciplined Buckeyes for the tournament as the team shutout Penn, 4-0. Luces also contributed offensively, scoring the game-winning goal Saturday against the Blue Hens.
Senior quarterback Troy Smith opened the 2006 season bycompleting his first five passes, including three for touchdowns,as Ohio State rocketed out to a 28-0 lead on its way to a victoryover Northern Illinois. The senior quarterback left the game in thefourth quarter after completing 72 percent of his passes(18-for-25) for 297 yards and three scores, the seventh time in hislast eight games he has surpassed 200 yards through the air. ThePreseason Big Ten Player of the Year led OSU to touchdowns in eachof its first four possessions, connecting with high school teammateTed Ginn Jr. on scoring strikes of five and 58 yards to open thegame before hitting Anthony Gonzalez for a 15-yard touchdown laterin the opening stanza. Smith was named Big Ten Co-Offensive Playerof the Week for the second time in his career after his performancevs. the Huskies.
Athletics Good Stuff
The men’s and women’s cross country teams open the 2006 seasonSaturday at the Xavier Invitational in Cincinnati. Both Buckeyesquads won the event last season. Ohio State holds its only homemeet of the season Sept. 15 at the OSU Golf Course. The men’ssoccer team dropped a pair of one-goal matches at the Carolina NikeClassic in Chapel Hill, N.C., last weekend, falling to No. 5 UNC,1-0, and to No. 16 Wake Forest, 3-2, in double-overtime. The TarHeels are now No. 1 in two national polls and the Demon Deacons arein the Top 10 in both. In the loss to Wake Forest, OSU freshmanDouglas Verhoff scored his first collegiate goal just 51 secondsinto the match, while junior Xavier Balc scored his second goal ofthe season in the 22nd minute. Verhoff and junior Eric Brunner werenamed to the all-tournament team. Former collegiate All-Americanand current National Pro Fastpitch All-Star Erica Beach has beennamed an assistant softball coach at Ohio State, OSU head coachLinda Kalafatis announced. Beach, who also was a four-time VerizonAcademic All-American at Arizona State (1999-02), completes thestaff of Kalafatis and former Nebraska All-American Ali Viola. No.19 women’s volleyball stands at 6-0 after winning the BuckeyeInvitational with 3-0 victories over Lehigh, Iona and NorthernIllinois last weekend. In the 30-11, 30-6, 30-16 win over Lehigh,Danielle Meyer collected 15.5 points with 12 kills, two ace serves,a solo block and an assist block and added a match-high 13 digs.Ami Stevens posted a match-high 18 points in the 30-9, 30-11, 30-14win over Iona. She had 14 kills, three ace serves and two assistblocks while hitting .667 (14-0-21). OSU won the BuckeyeInvitational championship with a 30-17, 30-23, 30-16 sweep ofNorthern Illinois behind Stevens’ match-high 14.5 points with 12kills, two ace serves and an assist block while adding a match-high13 digs.
Ohio State continues its home stand by hosting the Sports Imports Classic. Friday matches begin at 4:30 p.m. with Michigan State (6-0) facing Arizona State (5-1). Ohio State host Tennessee Tech (1-5) at 7 p.m. Saturday at 3:30, Michigan State plays Tennessee Tech with Ohio State hosting Arizona State at 6 p.m.
Women’s soccer went 1-1-0 during the weekend at the PumaClassic in Malibu, Calif., posting a 4-1 victory over San Diego,but dropping a close 1-0 decision to tournament host and No. 20Pepperdine. Lisa Collison highlighted the weekend for the Buckeyes,tallying five points on two goals and one assist against SDU.Collison, who missed the first two OSU matches, joined the Buckeyesfor their West Coast trip after competing with the Under-20 Women’sCanadian National Team at the U-20 Women’s World Championship inSt. Petersburg, Russia.
Junior Lara Dickenmann also notched a multiple-point weekend, recording a goal and an assist for three points. Jenna Greenwood rounded out the Buckeye scoring for the weekend, scoring a goal with senior tri-captain Lisa Grubb earning the assist.
The Buckeyes are back in action Friday when they face SEC opponent Kentucky at 7:30 p.m. at the UK Soccer Complex in Lexington, Ky.
Baseball sophomore two-way player J.B. Shuck was named the topprospect in the Great Lakes Summer League last week by BaseballAmerica, which ranked the Top 10 players in each of the 17collegiate summer leagues. The 2006 Big Ten Freshman of the Yearand Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American continued to excel inboth areas during the summer when he carried a 0.95 ERA and batted.364 with the Columbus All-Americans. Shuck and the Buckeyes beginfall practice Monday. Senior men’s swimmer Joe Doyle has been namedto the USA national team for the 2007 World University Games inBangkok, Thailand, USA Swimming announced Sept. 1. Doyle iscurrently ranked third in the nation in the 100-meter butterfly,the event in which he will compete. Doyle qualified for the teamwith the third fastest time in the 100 fly in preliminarycompetition of the U.S. national championships in early August. TheWorld University Games will be held in Bangkok, Thailand July29-Aug. 16, 2007. The sixth-ranked field hockey team swept throughthe Blue Hen Classic Sept. 2-3 in Newark, Delaware to remainundefeated this season at 3-0. The Buckeyes rallied to defeatDelaware, 2-1, Saturday and then shut out Penn, 4-0, Sunday.Against the Blue Hens, sophomore Emily Mikac tied the game at 1-allin the second half before junior Yesenia Luces scored thegame-winning goal on an assist from classmate Michaela O’Malley.OSU followed the win up with a 4-0 victory vs. Penn. The Buckeyesout-shot the Quakers 29-3 with goals by seniors Lauren Kruse andSaskia Mueller, sophomore Linda Haussener and O’Malley. Haussenerhad an assist vs. Penn as well for her second multiple-point gameof the season. She and Mueller are tied for the team-lead in pointswith six each. Freshman goalkeeper Lindsay Quintiliani picked upthe win in both games to move to 3-0.
After three games on the road, Ohio State will next play in its home opener Sept. 10. The Buckeyes face the Pacific Tigers at noon at North Turf Field.
Women’s hockey defenseman Tessa Bonhomme and former Buckeyeforward Jana Harrigan have been invited to attend the CanadianNational Hockey Team Fall Festival, Hockey Canada announcedWednesday. Bonhomme and Harrigan are two of 57 of Canada’s topfemale hockey players who will attend the festival Sept. 2-10 inKenora, Ontario.
The invitees are competing for positions on Canada’s National Women’s Team roster for events during the 2006-07 season, including the 2006 Four Nations Cup and the 2007 IIHF World Women’s Championship. The coaching and scouting staff will also evaluate and identify players for upcoming seasons leading up to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Ohio State Athletics Schedule
September 2006
Friday, Sept. 8
Women’s Volleyball Sports Import Classic
Michigan State vs. Arizona State, 4:30 p.m.
Ohio State vs. Tennessee Tech, 7 p.m.
St. John Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Men’s Soccer vs. Boston University, 5 p.m.
Penn State Classic
State College, Pa.
Women’s Soccer at Kentucky, 7:30 p.m.
Lexington, Ky.
Saturday, Sept. 9
Women’s Volleyball Sports Import Classic
Michigan State vs. Tennessee Tech, 3:30 p.m.
Ohio State vs. Arizona State, 6 p.m.
St. John Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Football at Texas, 8 p.m.
Austin, Texas
Cross Country at Great Lakes Invitational
Cincinnati, Ohio
Sunday, Sept. 10
Field Hockey vs. Pacific, Noon
North Turf Field, Columbus, Ohio
Men’s Soccer vs. San Francisco, Noon
Penn State Classic
State College, Pa.
Tuesday, Sept. 12
Women’s Volleyball vs. IPFW, 7 p.m.
St. John Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Wednesday, Sept. 13
Field Hockey vs. Miami (Ohio), 3 p.m.
North Turf Field, Columbus, Ohio
Women’s Volleyball at Youngstown State, 7 p.m.
Youngstown, Ohio
Thursday, Sept. 14
Men’s Soccer vs. Bowling Green, 7:30 p.m.
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Friday, Sept. 15
Cross Country Buckeye Invitational, 4 p.m.
OSU Golf Courses, Columbus, Ohio
Women’s Soccer vs. Cal, 7:30 p.m.
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Women’s Tennis at Princeton Invitational
Princeton, N.J.
Saturday, Sept. 16
Football vs. Cincinnati, Noon
Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Women’s Tennis at Princeton Invitational
Princeton, N.J.
Women’s Golf at Lady Northern Invitational
East Lansing, Mich.
Men’s Golf at Gopher Invitational
Wayzata, Minn.
Sunday, Sept. 17
Field Hockey at St. Louis, 1 p.m.
St. Louis, Mo.
Women’s Soccer vs. Washington, 2 p.m.
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Men’s Soccer at Northwestern, 4 p.m.
Evanston, Ill.
Men’s Golf at Gopher Invitational
Wayzata, Minn.
Women’s Golf at Lady Northern Invitational
East Lansing, Mich.
Women’s Tennis at Princeton Invitational
Princeton, N.J.
Tuesday, Sept. 19
Field Hockey at Ohio, 6 p.m.
Athens, Ohio
Wednesday, Sept. 20
Men’s Soccer at Butler, 3 p.m.
Indianapolis, Ind.
Women’s Volleyball at Penn State, 8 p.m.
State College, Pa.
Friday, Sept. 22
Women’s Soccer vs. Wisconsin-Green Bay, 7:30 p.m.
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Women’s Tennis at Wake Forest Fall Invitational
Winston-Salem, N.C.
Women’s Tennis at Penn Cissie Leary Invitational
Philadelphia, Pa.
Saturday, Sept. 23
Women’s Volleyball at Iowa, 7 p.m.
Iowa City, Iowa
Football at Penn State, TBA
State College, Pa.
Women’s Tennis at Wake Forest Fall Invitational
Winston-Salem, N.C.
Women’s Tennis at Penn Cissie Leary Invitational
Philadelphia, Pa.
Sunday, Sept. 24
Field Hockey at Iowa, 1 p.m.
Iowa City, Iowa
Women’s Soccer at Indiana, 1 p.m.
Bloomington, Ind.
Women’s Tennis at Wake Forest Fall Invitational
Winston-Salem, N.C.
Women’s Tennis at Penn Cissie Leary Invitational
Philadelphia, Pa.
Tuesday, Sept. 26
Men’s Soccer vs. Akron, 7:30 p.m.
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Wednesday, Sept. 27
Field Hockey vs. Ball State, 3 p.m.
North Turf Field, Columbus, Ohio
Friday, Sept. 29
Women’s Volleyball at Purdue, 7 p.m.
West Lafayette, Ind.
Women’s Soccer vs. Wisconsin, 7:30 p.m.
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Saturday, Sept. 30
Women’s Ice Hockey vs. Wilfrid Laurier, 1:07 p.m.
OSU Ice Rink, Columbus Ohio
Women’s Volleyball at Indiana, 7 p.m.
Bloomington, Ind.
Football at Iowa, 8 p.m.
Iowa City, Iowa
Women’s’ Golf at Wolverine Invitational
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Cross Country at Louisville
Louisville, Ky.
