No. 15/18 Ohio State Opens NCAA Tournament Play Against Oregon State – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The 15th-ranked Ohio State women’s soccer team will commence NCAA tournament play against Oregon State 7:30 p.m. Friday evening at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The first game Friday pits third-seeded Florida against Illinois State at 5 p.m.
The top defensive team in the Big Ten, Ohio State finished second in the league after posting a 7-2-1 mark in conference play. Both the seven wins in conference play and the 14-3-2 regular season record mark the best in school history.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
Oregon State, coached by second-year head coach Linus Rhode, has wins over a pair of top 25 teams in Denver and Southern California. This is Oregon State’s second NCAA tournament appearance and first since 1994 after going 12-7-1, 4-5-0 in the Pac-10.
Freshman Chelsea Buckland leads the Beavers with seven goals in 2009.
SCOUTING THE GATORS
Under 15th year head coach Becky Burleigh, the Gators posted a 15-5-2 record overall and 8-1-2 in the SEC, en route to a regular season championship. Florida, ranked ninth in the country and playing in its 13th NCAA tournament, has reached the Round of 16 each of the last three seasons.
Sophomore Lindsay Thompson has tallied 10 goals and two assists for the Gators while junior keeper Katie Fraine has posted a 0.75 goals-against average and nine shutouts.
SCOUTING THE REDBIRDS
Led by third-year head coach Drew Roff, the Redbirds won the Missouri Valley Conference tournament after posting a 12-6-1 record, 5-1-0 in conference play. This will mark the first postseason appearance for Illinois State since 2003.
Sophomore Jessica Carlson leads the Redbirds with 11 goals and five assists.
AGAINST THE BEST
Ohio State has posted a 4-0-1 record against ranked opponents in 2009. The four wins against Top 25 opponents this year match the total number of wins against ranked opponents over the last five seasons.
THE COACHING STAFF
Ohio State is under the direction of 13th-year head coach Lori Walker. She has guided the team to five NCAA tournament berths (2002-03-04-07-09) as well as two Big Ten tournament championships (2002 and 2004). Greg Miller is in his second season as associate head coach and ninth overall with the Buckeyes. The 2009 season marks the second season for assistant coach Glen Tourville.
SOLID START
The Buckeyes’ 14-3-2 record marks the best regular season in school history, just ahead of the 2003 and 2004 teams. The 2003 team finished the season with a 13-5-3 record, advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament and the 2004 squad finished 19-4-3 before falling to UCLA in the NCAA Elite Eight.
Ohio State posted a 7-2-1 record in Big Ten play. The seven wins are the most by a Buckeye team in conference play.
TAKING THEIR SHOTS
Ohio State has outshot its opponents 292-125 overall and 123-40 on goal. The Buckeyes have been outshot in just one game this year, a scoreless tie at West Virginia.
There also has been a huge disparity on corner kicks as the Buckeyes hold a 140-44 advantage over their opponents in that category.
GETTING DEFENSIVE
The Buckeyes are tied for fourth in the NCAA in shutout percentage after posting clean sheets against 13 of their first 19 opponents. Ohio State has trailed in fewer than 165 of 1,760 minutes played.
SHUTTING THEM DOWN
Goalkeeper Lauren “Taz” Robertson leads the Big Ten and is 12th nationally with a 0.51 goals-against average. The senior co-captain and Ohio State career shutout leader with 29 has 12 clean sheets in 19 games in 2009, setting the single-season school record. The 29 career shutouts put Robertson in sole possession of second place all-time in the Big Ten.
The winningest goalkeeper in Ohio State history with 42, Robertson has been named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week four times in 2009 and nine times in her career.
HAPPY TO HELP
Lauren Steuer’s move from the back line to the midfield in 2009 has added a huge boost to the Buckeye offense. The Cincinnati native and fourth-year junior tallied her first career goal, a game-winner against Iowa, and has added three more in the seven games since then. In addition, three of her seven assists have come on Ohio State game-winning goals.
Steuer was named a collegesoccer360.com Primetime Performer of the Week after scoring a goal and adding a pair of assists, one on the game-winner, against Indiana. It was the third time Steuer received the honor in 2009.
ALWAYS THERE
On Nov. 1 against Indiana, Ashley Bowyer became just the sixth player in Ohio State history to start 80-plus games.
LAUREN TO LAUREN
After Lauren Granberg assisted on Lauren Steuer’s game-winner Oct. 9 against Iowa, the junior returned the favor, playing a perfect corner kick on Granberg’s game-winning header with 49 seconds remaining Oct. 11 against Northwestern.
Steuer has assisted on four of Granberg’s six goals in 2009.
TOP TWO
Forwards Paige Maxwell and Lauren Granberg lead the team and rank ninth in the Big Ten with six goals each in 2009. Maxwell notched her second career hat trick in Ohio State’s 6-0 win over Youngstown State. She is just the second Buckeye in history to record multiple hat tricks.
OH CANADA!
Freshmen Lauren Granberg and Tiffany Cameron have combined to account for 10 goals and four assists for the Buckeyes in 2009. The Canadian U-17 teammates have notched a total of three game-winners.
In all, freshmen or sophomores have accounted for 24 of the 38 Buckeye goals this season and eight of the 14 game-winning goals.
DISHING IT OUT
Junior Lauren Steuer sits third in the Big Ten with seven assists, a total that ranks eighth all-time at Ohio State.
EVERYBODY’S INVOLVED
Eighteen Buckeyes have recorded at least one point in 2009. Only the 2004 team has had more Buckeyes contribute offensively with 19.
MOVING ON UP
The Buckeyes are ranked No. 15 in the NSCAA/adidas rankings and No. 18 in Soccer America. It marks the ninth-consecutive week Ohio State has been ranked.
The No. 11 ranking was the highest for the Buckeyes since Sept. 4, 2005.
BUCKEYES IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Ohio State is 4-4 all-time in NCAA tournament play, all under head coach Lori Walker. The Buckeyes’ last appearance was in 2007 when they dropped a 1-0 decision to Hofstra in the opening round. The last time the Buckeyes hosted NCAA tournament play was in 2004 when they advanced all the way to Elite Eight before falling 1-0 to UCLA.
BUCKEYES IN THE RPI
In the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) rankings published by the NCAA Nov. 3, Ohio State moved up to 12th nationally and second in the Big Ten, two spots behind Penn State. The RPI will be released every two weeks for the remainder of the season.
AT HOME AT JESSE OWENS
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium has proved to be a more than advantageous home for the Buckeyes in its 10 years of existence. Consider:
– The home team is 74-30-9 all-time.
– Ohio State is 55-13-7 since 2003 and 30-8-3 since 2006.
– The Buckeyes went 6-3-2 at home in 2008.
– So far this season, Ohio State is 9-1 at home.
– The Buckeyes are 3-1-0 all-time at home in the NCAA tournament.
