Golden Eagles and Purple Eagles Land in Columbus for Pair of Weekend Contests
2/28/2019 4:39:10 PM | Women's Lacrosse
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s lacrosse team hosts its fourth and fifth consecutive home games this weekend, taking on Marquette at 1 p.m. on Friday at Ohio Stadium followed by a tilt with Niagara at noon on Sunday indoors at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. Both games are free admission and will be streamed on BTN Plus.
| Ohio State vs Marquette • The Basics | |
| Date: | March 1, 2019 |
| Time: | 1 p.m. ET |
| Venue: | Ohio Stadium | Columbus, Ohio |
| Watch: | BTN Plus |
| Live Stats: | StatBroadcast |
| Game Notes: | Ohio State | Marquette |
| All-Time Series: | First Meeting |
PARKING ADVISORY FOR OHIO STADIUM
• The Ohio Stadium lots will be the only free lots for spectators on Friday at 1 p.m. All other lots and garages are pay-to-park.
• Fans are encouraged to arrive early, as lots and garages will also be occupied by Ohio State students, faculty and staff.
• Enter the stadium through Gate 16.
• See parking map: HERE.
| Ohio State vs Niagara • The Basics | |
| Date: | March 3, 2019 |
| Time: | Noon ET |
| Venue: | Woody Hayes Athletic Center | Columbus, Ohio |
| Watch: | BTN Plus |
| Live Stats: | StatBroadcast |
| Game Notes: | Ohio State | Niagara |
| All-Time Series: | Ohio State leads, 1-0 |
| Last Meeting: | Ohio State won, 15-2, in Columbus (March 1, 2015) |
FOLLOW THE BUCKEYES
• All Ohio State home games will be streamed on BTN Plus this season, featuring play-by-play and color analysis from professional announcers and Buckeye alumni.
• Fans must purchase a BTN Plus membership in order to watch. Both monthly and annual packages are available at BTN2Go.com.
LAST TIME OUT
• Ohio State suffered its first setback of the season, falling to No. 20 Notre Dame on Friday, Feb. 22 at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, 19-10.
• Senior Baley Parrott led the team with five goals, notching her fourth multi-point and multiple goal game of the season. She also extended her consecutive point streak to five games.
• Junior Liza Hernandez registered five points on two goals and three assists, scoring a point in nine consecutive games. She took all three of Ohio State’s free-position shots, converting on two.
• Junior Jill Rizzo made 11 saves, and the defense was able to stop 11 of Notre Dame’s 14 free-position attempts.
CONFERENCE LEADERS
• Ohio State currently leads the conference in ground balls, averaging 29.3 per game, and in caused turnovers, with an average of 14.8. The Buckeyes are also fourth and seventh in the NCAA in ground balls and caused turnovers, respectively.
• Liza Hernandez is tied for first overall in the conference with points per game, averaging 6.00, which is also good for seventh in the nation.
• Hernandez and Baley Parrott are tied for second-most goals per game in the Big Ten, both with 3.75 a game.
• Jill Rizzo leads the Big Ten in saves per game, posting an average of 11.0, and in ground balls per game with 3.75.
HISTORY WITH THE GOLDEN EAGLES
• Ohio State and Marquette meet for the first time in program history. Marquette is in its seventh season as a women’s lacrosse program.
SCOUTING MARQUETTE
• Marquette is 3-2 on the season and has met three of Ohio State’s opponents already on the young season. The Golden Eagles fell to Notre Dame (19-4) and Cincinnati (22-18), and defeated Detroit Mercy, 22-9.
• The team is currently on a two-game winning streak following the win against the Titans and a 19-15 victory over Kennesaw State.
• Senior midfielder Grace Gabriel (19G, 2A) and senior attacker Cate Soccodato (4G, 17A) lead the team in point production. Soccodato’s 17 assists is first overall in Division I women’s lacrosse this season, while Gabriel’s 19 goals rank third overall in the NCAA.
• Graduate attacker Charlotte McGuire is second on the team in goals, finding the back of the net 16 times this season and assisting on three for 19 points in total.
• Gabriel has won 43 draw controls, good for fifth in the NCAA. As a team, Marquette is eighth in the nation on the draw.
• Both junior Julianna Horning and sophomore Sophia Leva have seen action in net for the Golden Eagles this season. Horning has played a majority of the minutes, with over 202 and a 2-2 record. Leva has played just over 97 minutes and is 1-0.
• Marquette is coached by Meredith Black, who enters her seventh season as the head coach for the Golden Eagles. Black led the team to 10 victory season in 2018 and its first-ever Big East semifinals appearance.
HISTORY WITH THE PURPLE EAGLES
• Ohio State has met Niagara only once before, resulting in a win for the Buckeyes on March 1, 2015, 15-2.
SCOUTING NIAGARA
• Niagara is undefeated, going 3-0 so far this season with wins against St. Bonaventure, Binghamton and Central Connecticut State.
• Senior attacker Rachel MacCheyne is the team’s leading scorer, posting 13 goals and one assist for 14 points. MacCheyne also leads the team with 28 draw controls, slotted third in the nation.
• Freshman Maren Geiger has seen a majority of the action in net for the Purple Eagles, posting a 6.23 goals-against average and a save percentage of .600, both numbers ranking fourth in the NCAA.
• The Purple Eagles are second overall in the NCAA in scoring defense, holding opponents to 5.67 goals per game. The squad is also second in the nation in save percentage, with a team percentage of .063.
• Niagara is coached by Wendy Stone, in her seventh season as the head coach for the Purple Eagles. Stone has won 42 games in her first six seasons.
WEEKLY HONORS
• After her career night against Brown (Feb. 18), Parrott was named the Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week for her efforts.
• Parrott earned her first Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week nod and last earned a conference weekly honor on Feb. 16, 2016, when she was named Freshman of the Week. The Airmont, N.Y., native gave Ohio State the first goal of the game 40 seconds in and scored the last of regulation to force overtime, finishing with a career-high of six in total. She also registered three ground balls, a draw control and a caused turnover.
• On Tuesday, Feb. 12, the Big Ten Conference named midfielder Hernandez and goalie Rizzo the conference offensive and defensive players of the week, respectively.
• Hernandez earned her first Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. Nine of Hernandez’s 10 points came in the first half, giving her the second-most in a half in school history.
• Rizzo claimed her second Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. She currently leads the conference in saves-per-game, averaging 11.00, and owns an impressive save percentage at .600.
IN A NUTSHELL
• Eighty-six percent of the offensive effort from last year returns to the lineup for the 2019 season, including 100 percent of the assists led by senior Sara Dickinson, who added 20 helpers. Eighty-two percent of the goals last season were scored by Buckeyes who are back on the team for another season.
• Also returning to the starting lineup is junior goalie Jill Rizzo, who saved a program-best 187 shots during the 2018 campaign. Rizzo was the NCAA leader in saves per game, averaging 12.47 stops and led the conference in save percentage at .503.
• Overall, OSU returns nine to the starting lineup.
• The veteran scoring duo of seniors Sara Dickinson (20G, 20A) and Baley Parrott (35G, 4A) are back for one final season in the Scarlet and Gray. Redshirt junior McKayla Conti (24G, 5A) and junior Liza Hernandez (23G, 4A) were the third and fourth-most prolific scorers on the team and return to make their mark as well.
• OSU must replace Molly Wood in the center circle, who finished her Buckeye career as the program leader with 237 draw controls.
• The Buckeyes possess 10 newcomers, including nine freshman and sophomore transfer Caroline Tatsuoka, who played for Northwestern last season.
BUCKEYE NATION
• The Buckeyes host the most home games in program history with 10 this season in Columbus.
• Fourteen states and one province of Canada makes up the hometowns of the 2019 Buckeyes – one of the most diverse teams in the country.
• Seven players hail from New York, the most represented state on the team and home state of head coach Alexis Venechanos.
• Four players are native to Ohio – Caroline Tatsuoka (Hunting Valley, Ohio), Liza Hernandez (New Albany, Ohio), Catie Beg (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) and Jaclen Moxley (Granville, Ohio).
BUCKEYE FAMILY
• This season, two pairs of sisters play on the Ohio State roster at the same time.
• Junior midfielder Sarah George and freshman midfielder MK George are siblings from Monmouth Beach, N.J.
• Additionally, junior attacker Alex Vander Molen is the older sister to freshman midfielder Mekenzie Vander Molen, both from Ada, Mich.
• Senior Erika Keselman is the younger sister of four-year letterwinner Hallie Keselman (2012-15), though the two did not play together in a season.
• Though not related, sophomores Lindsay Epstein and Riley Ewing were also teammates in high school at Walton in Marietta, Ga.
CAPTAINS
• Junior Jill Rizzo and senior Meg Camden captain the 2019 Buckeye squad, Venechanos announced in October.
• Rizzo returns to the captaincy for her second season after being named a team leader as a sophomore. Rizzo ranked eighth in the nation in saves with 187 overall last season. She notched a career-high 23 saves on March 11, 2018 in a contest with UMass.
• Camden is a first-year captain entering her senior season. She appeared in nine games last season, and saw action in all 17 games as a sophomore.
• Venechanos on the captains: “Megan and Jillian both exhibit hard work, dedication and inspiration the program both on and off the field. They both have very strong character, put the team first and lead by example.”
B1G PLAYERS TO WATCH
• Senior Baley Parrott and juniors Jill Rizzo and Liza Hernandez were tabbed as Ohio State’s Big Ten Players to Watch.
• Parrott was the team’s leading scorer last season, finding the back of the net for 35 goals in total. The Airmont, N.Y., native is No. 9 all-time in draw controls with 79, 20 away from the eighth-most in program history. She is also a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and three-time Ohio State Scholar-Athlete.
• Rizzo, from Queensbury, N.Y., is one of two team captains and returns to the team as the starting goalie. Rizzo owns the program record for saves made in a season (186) and was the conference leader in both ground balls (46) and ground balls per game (3.13) last season.
• Hernandez is a local from New Albany, Ohio, and totaled 27 points last season off 23 goals and four assists in 10 games played. As a freshman, Hernandez was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week four consecutive times.
LEADERSHIP COUNCIL
• Nine members of the team make up the 2019 Leadership Council – freshmen Clare Johnston and Chloe Johnson, sophomores Lindsay Epstein, Ali Beekhuizen and Carli Mager, juniors Emily Skrzypczak and Liza Hernandez and seniors Mackenzie Maring and McKayla Conti.
• The leadership council is made up individuals that the team goes to for guidance and assists in schedule agreement, weekend occurrences, setting goals to accomplish in areas of high intensity and achieving ultra clarity with the coaches.
B1G STAGE, B1G TEN
• Three of the seven Big Ten teams are ranked in the women’s NCAA Division I Media Poll, with Maryland leading the pack at No. 2. Northwestern is slotted seventh, while Penn State rounds out the rankings at No. 10.
• In the 2019 Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Pre-Season Poll, four Big Ten teams rank in the Top 25. Maryland (No. 2), Northwestern (No. 7) and Penn State (No. 12) are all ranked again, as well as Johns Hopkins at No. 23.
• Those four teams also appeared in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, highlighted by top-seeded Maryland’s appearance in the semifinal round.
NEW DIGS IN THE ATHLETIC DISTRICT
• Ohio State women’s lacrosse recently moved into the brand new Schumaker Complex on OSU’s developing athletic campus. This new facility is the training “hub” for 33 Olympic sports teams, located in the heart of the Athletic District and connected to the iconic Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
• The Schumaker provides a state-of-the-art facility for the nutritional, physical and psychological development of the student-athletes on 33 teams at Ohio State. Over 800 student-athletes lift, condition, train and rehabilitate injuries in the complex, while also benefitting from nutritional and mental preparation for peak performance.
PRIMETIME BUCKEYES
• Buckeye women’s lacrosse will be featured on Big Ten Network three times this season, twice at home and once on the road.
• The rivalry between Ohio State and Michigan will be on full display on Thursday, March 21, as the Buckeyes take on the Wolverines on network television at 7 p.m. ET.
• OSU will be featured on the Big Ten Network again on Thursday, April 4, against Penn State in University Park, Pa at 7 p.m.
• The Scarlet and Gray will close out the season on network television, hosting Northwestern on Thursday, April 25 at 4:30 p.m.
UP NEXT
• Following the two-game weekend, Ohio State closes a six-game homestand against Binghamton on Saturday, March 9 at noon.
