Ohio State Opens 2019 Season at Cincinnati
2/6/2019 3:46:11 PM | Women's Lacrosse
RELATED INFO: Coach Venechanos Interview | 2019 Schedule/Results | 2019 Roster | Big Ten Lacrosse | Women’s Lacrosse Homepage | Follow the Buckeyes on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s lacrosse team is set to commence the 2019 season on Friday, Feb. 8 with an interstate clash against Cincinnati at Gettler Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. The game is set to begin at 3 p.m. ET and will be streamed live on GoBearcats.com at no cost. Live stats will also be available on GoBearcats.com.
| Ohio State at Cincinnati • The Basics | |
| Date: | February 8, 2019 |
| Time: | 3 p.m. ET |
| Venue: | Gettler Stadium | Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Watch: | GoBearcats.com |
| Live Stats: | GoBearcats.com |
| Game Notes: | Ohio State | Cincinnati |
| All-Time Series: | Ohio State leads, 6-1 |
| Last Meeting: | Ohio State fell, 17-12, in Cincinnati (Feb. 26, 2018) |
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.
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 186 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 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.
HISTORY WITH THE BEARCATS
• Ohio State leads the series history with Cincinnati, 6-1.
• The two teams last met on Feb. 26, 2018 in Cincinnati. The Bearcats topped the Buckeyes, 17-12.
• On April 23, 2008, the Bearcats and Buckeyes met for the first time in program history. Ohio State earned a decisive victory in Cincinnati, 17-2.
• This marks the fifth consecutive season with an interstate clash between Ohio State and Cincinnati.
SCOUTING CINCINNATI
• The Bearcats finished the 2018 season with a record of 8-9, posting a Big East Conference record of 1-8.
• The 2019 season marks Cincinnati’s first in the American Athletic Conference.
• Junior Monica Borzillo was the team’s leading scorer last season, notching 42 goals and 27 assists for 69 points total. The team’s next top returning scorer is redshirt junior Sam Mlkvy (36G, 8A).
• Cincinnati also returns senior goalie Giuliana Durso, who started all 17 games last season. Durso set the program record for wins in a single season (8), and is tied for first all-time in single-season saves (161) and saves-per-game (9.47).
• Cincinnati is coached by Gina Thomas (Oliver), a familiar face to Buckeye Nation. Thomas enters her seventh season at the helm of the Bearcats, after a program-record eight-win season that included a six-game winning streak, the longest in Bearcat history.
• Thomas lettered from 2002 to 2005 at Ohio State, ending her playing career as a three-time All-American, the 2003 American Lacrosse Conference (ALC) Player of the Year and 2002 Rookie of the Year. Thomas helped the Scarlet and Gray to its first NCAA Tournament win, and left the program with the most ground balls (236) and caused turnovers (201).
BUCKEYE NATION
• Ohio State opens the season on the road for the second year in a row.
• 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.”
Playing for a team with tradition like @OhioStateWLAX is what keeps Jill Rizzo and the #Buckeyes motivated during the season. pic.twitter.com/bIK7C8A7ZY
— Big Ten Lacrosse (@B1GLacrosse) January 30, 2019
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 (187) 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 Chloë 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, off-the-field activities, setting goals to accomplish in areas of high intensity and achieving ultra clarity with the coaches.
THE VENECHANOS FILE
• Ohio State head coach Alexis Venechanos enters her ninth season as the leader of the Buckeye women’s lacrosse program, and 13th overall as a head coach.
• In season-openers, Venechanos is 5-3 as the head coach of Ohio State.
.@OhioStateWLAX head coach Alexis Venechanos is eager to return to the field this season, as preseason training has the team prepared for their 2019 campaign. pic.twitter.com/mcMPLOwa4q
— Big Ten Lacrosse (@B1GLacrosse) January 29, 2019
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 twice this season, once 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.
• OSU will be featured on the Big Ten Network again on Thursday, April 4, against Penn State in University Park, Pa.
• Both game times are to be announced.
UP NEXT
• Following the season opener, the Buckeyes return to Columbus for their home opener on Sunday, Feb. 10 against Detroit Mercy at 3 p.m. at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. The game will be streamed on BTN Plus.
