Ohio State Opens 15th Season of Women’s Soccer at Noon Friday Against Butler – Ohio State Buckeyes
8/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s soccer team, under the direction of 11th-year head coach Lori Walker, opens its 2007 season at noon Friday (Aug. 31) by hosting Butler University at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. This is the season opener for both teams. Ohio State was 10-8-1 in 2006 while Butler was 5-11-3.
Walker has been Ohio State’s coach since the 1996 season. She has coached the Buckeyes to two Big Ten Tournament championships 2002 and 2004 and into the NCAA Championship field three times (consecutively between 2002-04).
Ohio State has had a women’s soccer program since 1993, making this season the 15th in school history. The program’s all-time record is 146-120-18, with Walker guiding the team to a 109-82-15 ledger. Ohio State is 9-2-3 in home openers and 6-2-3 under Walker. The Buckeyes are unbeaten in their last four home openers (3-0-1).
GAME BROADCAST – The game against Wake Forest can be heard via the internet at http://ohiostatesportsradio.blogspot.com/. Calling the action will be Gabe?Norris and Josh Ellis. Live stats will also be available at www.ohiostatebuckyes.com. From the women’s soccer home page, click on the “live stats” link in the upper right corner of the page.
OSU: 30-7-5 AT JESSE OWENS LAST FOUR YEARS – This is the ninth season that Ohio State has played its home soccer games in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The Buckeyes are 49-22-7 all-time at Jesse Owens and in the last four seasons they are an impressive 30-7-5 at home (.773).
BALL, DICKENMANN AND MITCHELL ARE CAPTAINS – Three seniors will serve as team captains: Amanda Ball, Lara Dickenmann and Keiana Mitchell. A quick look at the careers of the captains:
- Defensive center midfielder Ball has 42 games to her credit and 31 starts. She was the most improved player on the team last year.
- Dickenmann, an All-American in 2004 who ranks among Ohio State’s all-time Top 5 in career assists (third with 21) and career points (third with 73) and is seventh in career goals (23), has started 58 of 59 games since arriving on campus from Kriens, Switzerland.
- Defensive specialist Mitchell has started 42 games, played in 59 and contributed three goals, four assists and 10 points.
FIVE ADDITIONAL UPPER CLASSMEN MUST ALSO LEAD – Five additional juniors and seniors will provide leadership to a large contingent of freshmen and sophomores that will hopefully result in the team being in contention for the Big Ten championship and an NCAA berth. Senior Carla Arbulu has 25 starts to her credit and she can play the dual positions of forward and defender and senior Kate Linehan has utilized her counter-attacking style in 32 games. Three juniors to watch are Lisa Collison (32 starts, 24 goals, four assists and 54 points), playmaker Caitlin Colfer (24 games played with nine assists) and defender Amy Graeff (24 games and 14 starts).
HELP FROM THE UNDERCLASSMEN – Sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Robertson was 10-7-1 with an 0.95 goals-against average last season. Midfielder/forward Ashley Bowyer started all 19 games and registered 26 shots and one goal. Forward Ali Schwach scored two goals in 12 games and forward Lauren Thomas played in all 19 games and had two assists.
THIS IS BUTLER – Butler, under the direction of second-year head coach Tari St. John, is predicted to finish fourth in the Horizon League, according to the league’s pre-season poll of its head coaches. Milwaukee, last year’s regular season champion, finished as the top team in the poll while league tournament champ Loyola placed second and Wright State, which Ohio State hosts Sept. 4, came in third with 42 points. A few Bulldog notes to chew on:
- The team went 1-1 during its exhibition season, defeating Eastern Illlinois, 1-0, and losing by the same score to No. 20 Illlinois.
- The Bulldogs will feature eight starters returning from last year’s squad that advanced to the semifinals of the Horizon League Championship.
- The team returns three of its top four scorers. Junior forward and team co-captain Angie Muir led the team and was seventh in the Horizon League with six goals and 17 points.
- Muir took more than one-fourth of the team’s shots in 2006.
- Jenny Southard (3-4-11) and Carrie Twyman (four goals) are offensive leaders. The same will be expected from Louisville transfer Lindsey Fox, who scored 10 points for the Cardinals last season.
- Newcomers will be expected to step up at midfield, while Abbie Kaul, Laura Miller and Crystal Wright are experienced defenders.
- Senior co-captain Annalise Larkin has 16 starts in goal.
- Butler boasts the second-best recruiting classes in the Horizon League and the 25th-rated class in the Great Lakes Region, according to Soccer Buzz Magazine.
QUOTABLE…FROM BUTLER COACH TARI ST. JOHN – “This year’s team has a bit of an edge to them. It’s something I haven’t seen in the last three years since I have been here. They get on each other for not working hard, for bailing out of tackles and for spending too much time on the ground after a foul. They have created their own standard and they hold each other accountable to that. I think this will translate into a game day intensity that will make things rather difficult for opponents.”
OHIO STATE’S RECRUITING CLASS IS NO. 1 IN BIG TEN; 13th NATIONALLY – Ohio State’s 13-member freshmen class was judged the No. 1 incoming class in the Big Ten and the No. 13-ranked class nationally, according to SoccerBuzz.com.
DICKENMANN NAMED TO PLAYER OF THE YEAR WATCH LIST – Senior midfielder Lara Dickenmann has been named to the preseason watch list for the Hermann Trophy, the most prestigious individual award in intercollegiate soccer. The list, announced by the Missouri Athletic Club, was compiled by a panel of coaches from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).
“It is a terrific honor for Lara to be named to the Hermann watch list,” Walker said. “She is arguably the most well rounded soccer player in the college game with a knack for scoring goals and the vision to place an assist. This honor extends beyond just Lara, though. This will be a tremendous responsibility for the team to perform well, to outwork other teams, and to position Ohio State to be a Big Ten champion and an NCAA tournament contender.”
COLLISON AND DICKENMANN ARE NATIONAL TEAM MEMBERS – Lisa Collison is a member of the Canadian National Team and Lara Dickenmann is a member of the Swiss National Team. Coach Lori Walker’s goal this season is to have these two international stars they tied for the OSU team lead last year with 23 points apiece become one of the most prolific scoring tandems in the country. “Lisa and Lara have spent a lot of time working on how to play together,” Walker said. “It takes effort. You have two very different international styles. Lara likes to play at the feet and Lisa likes to get the ball in behind. They have learned to combine better and look for one another and they really have started to develop a nice rhythm. I think they will really blossom this fall.”
BUCKS PICKED FOURTH IN BIG TEN – The Big Ten Conference women’s soccer coaches have picked Ohio State as the No. 4 team in the conference according to the preseason poll released by the league. Penn State was selected by the 11 conference coaches as the team to beat with Illinois and Purdue ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.
TWO THOUGHTS FROM LORI WALKER – “We always start out a season by getting in order [the responsibility of] defending our goal. This is an area that we can control at the beginning. We’re starting to get a good idea of how we are going to press…and where on the field we are going to get the ball back.
“This team will blossom at a different rate than previous teams and we as a coaching staff are giving our student-athletes time to do just that. We’ve pushed in the past, but we have enough creative and special players in the program that we want to give them time to let the game come to them.”
THE 2007 SCHEDULE – The Butler game will kick off six consecutive home games in 13 days at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The team also will entertain Saint Louis (Sept. 2), Wright State (Sept. 4), Pepperdine (Sept. 7), San Diego (Sept. 9) and Ohio (Sept. 13) during the home stand.
BUCKS HOST BIG TEN’S PRESEASON TOP 3 – Ohio State will host all three teams that are ranked ahead of it in the Big Ten preseason poll. Illinois comes to town Sept. 28. Purdue and Penn State close out the home season. The Buckeyes and the Boilermakers will meet Oct. 28, while the regular-season ending Penn State contest is set for Nov. 2.
TOUGH STRETCH – Within eight days in September the Buckeyes will play Louisville, defending national champion and Lori Walker alma mater North Carolina and Duke on the road. Louisville and Duke were NCAA Championship participants last year.
THE COACHING STAFF – Lori Walker is assisted by associate head coach Greg Miller and assistant Stephanie Gabbert. Miller, a former Xavier soccer player, is in his seventh season at Ohio State. Gabbert, a former head coach at Iowa State, Iowa and Northeast Missouri State, is in her first season on the staff. In his fourth year as team manager is Stuart “Duece” Bownas.
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