In a hotly-contested season opener that had 35 fouls and three lead changes, the No. 11 Ohio State women’s lacrosse team (0-1) ended up on the losing side, falling to the Stanford Cardinal (3-0) with a score of 11-10 on Friday at the North Turf Field of the Woody Hayes Athletic Complex.
The most disappointing part of the loss was that OSU did not make many mistakes in the game, committing just 12 turnovers compared to Stanford’s 21. The Buckeyes caused 12 of the Cardinal turnovers and outshot them 28-27, but OSU could not capitalize early on.
“Things just weren’t falling,” OSU coach Sue Stimmel said. “We hit the post five times in the first half, and there were plenty of opportunities. It’s hard to figure out what to fix. There’s really nothing to fix; we just have to do it better.”
OSU jumped out to an early lead when midfielder Shannon Wilson fired a close-range shot past Stanford goalie Christina Saukus 2:25 into the game. Stanford would answer with a goal at the eight-minute mark before OSU rattled off four straight goals in less than four minutes.
Buckeye midfielder K.C. Carter began the scoring run when OSU’s defense created a fast-break opportunity. Carter took advantage of it by beating Stanford’s defense and finishing with a shot the goalie could not handle.
Midfielder Regina Oliver increased the lead, scoring off a free start attempt.
Attacker Tracey Bounds, who was OSU’s top scorer last season, was held to one goal.
“Stanford was trying to not let me get the ball, and when I did they double teamed me,” Bounds said.
The fourth goal came as a result of good passing out of the midfield that left Wilson open for a fast break and led to a one-on-one with the goalie.
But the Cardinal were able to answer every one of the Buckeyes’ scoring runs. Before halftime, Stanford scored three consecutive goals, cutting OSU’s lead to 5-4 at the break.
“The whole game, it was kind of like, we were either scoring or they were scoring,” said OSU attacker Caroline Weatherill.
The Buckeyes came out scoring in the second half with Wilson getting back-to-back goals. Sixteen seconds in, Wilson slashed her way through the Cardinal defense and buried a line drive shot. Just under a minute later, Wilson scored again by drawing the goalie out from her goal crease.
Stanford midfielder Kelsey Twist cut OSU’s lead to 7-5 off a free position shot that goalie Kim Hastings could not save.
OSU then scored two goals in a one-minute time span. Wilson began the offensive spurt by charging at the heart of Stanford’s defense and netting a goal. Weatherill scored by cutting towards the middle of the goal box and whipping a high-rising shot by the goalie.
The Cardinal made another comeback with a 6-0 scoring run, giving them their first lead of the game at 11-9, proving to be too much for the Buckeyes to overcome.
“I thought the Stanford defense was crashing really well, so it was hard for us to get off our shots quickly,” Weatherill said. “Stanford’s goalie made some nice saves, and there’s nothing you can do about that.”
The Buckeyes made an effort to cut into the lead in the final two minutes, but Stanford controlled the ball in the last 30 seconds to come up with the hard-fought win.
Wilson, who wreaked havoc on Stanford’s defense the whole game, led OSU in scoring with five goals and one assist.
Stimmel said last year OSU had big wins after some losses, so this year the team is hoping that by having a loss in the first game, it can catapult them to success the remainder of the season.
“It’s a wake up call, when we get up we need to finish it,” Stimmel said.
