Season
to Begin for Womens Lacrosse
by Colin
Smith
Oberlin
womens lacrosse has a history of winning. The
team won the North Coast Athletic Conference championship in both
1997 and 1998, and finished second in the NCAC tournament in 1999
and 2000, before slipping to sixth last year with the loss of key
players.
The 2002 season will see the team working back toward that level,
as the Yeowomen look to improve upon last years marks of 3-10
overall and 2-5 within the NCAC.
I hate to use the word rebuilding, but in some ways it is,
Head Coach Liz Graham said of this season. I think were
going to be very successful. Whether or not we win the conference
championship is another question.
This
will be a largely inexperienced team, with only six starters returning
from last year.
The returning players we have are very good, Liz Graham
said. All six of them are key players and will see a lot of
playing time.
The
20-member squad features 10 first-years, as well as a senior and
three sophomores who havent played Oberlin lacrosse before.
The new people who have never played before are doing an incredible
job, one of the returning players, junior co-captain Briana
Quinn, said.
Also among the returning players are last years number-one
and number-two goal scorers; seniors Laura Kent-Monning and Selena
Kansal scored 21 and 10 goals, respectively, last year. Kent-Monning
and Kansal join Quinn as the teams captains. Quinn was tied
for fourth on the team last year with nine goals, and Graham said
she expects even more this year.
Sharing
that fourth spot was sophomore Maggie Douglas. Douglas was injured
through much of the 2001 season, but averaged 1.13 goals a game
when she was able to play. Between her nine goals and eight assists
she had the best points per game average on the team with 2.13.
Rounding out the returning players are sophomore attacker Susie
Armitage and sophomore goalkeeper and attacker Alexis Stoller. Stoller
minded the Yeowomens net for much of last season, posting
a 4.82 goals against average and a .459 save percentage. This year,
however, she will likely see most of her action as an attacker,
leaving the goalkeeping chore to first-year Sarah Pilzner.
New
attackers this year are first-years Victoria Clark and Annie Gaus.
New at midfield are sophomore Chelsea Wallis and first-years Anna
Ialeggio and Yukiko Shishikura. New defenders are senior Nicole
Falk, sophomores Libby Brouwer and Justine Strayhorn, and first-years
Alison Evans, Andrea Hawkins, and Ann Stewart. First-years Holly
Rousmaniere and Alison Olbrycht will split time between midfield
and defense.
In
terms of team dynamic were a lot better, Quinn said
in comparing this years team to last years. We
want to be in [the conference tournament], especially since were
hosting it. We want to be in the top four.
The
Yeowomen open their season with non-conference action tomorrow at
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the first of eight road games
for the team. Last year, Oberlin suffered a 7-2 defeat at Division
II Indiana, but Graham said it has been a good matchup for the Yeowomen
in the past.
Theyre usually a good first game. Its typically
a very close game and theyve been a very aggressive team in
the past, Graham said.
Asked if the team was ready, Graham said, I think weve
hit the point where we need to see the challenge of another team.
Only that challenge, she said, can help the team improve at this
point.
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