Ohio State’s women’s lacrosse team rebounded from its season-opening loss with a 16-7 victory over American University.
Coach Sue Stimmel said that she was happy about the play of her team’s defense. Before American was able to find the back of the net, the Eagles were down 4-0.
“Our offense started off slow and sloppy but then picked up,” Stimmel said.
The offense did step up, securing a 10-1 advantage in the first half. In this near-flawless session, the Buckeyes scored more goals than American attempted shots.
“We came out strong. After the loss last week we knew we had to play strong,” sophomore Gabby Capuzzi said.
Six different Buckeyes scored goals in the first half, including Capuzzi with two.
OSU flexed its muscles at the end of the first half and the start of the second half, scoring eight consecutive goals.
“In the second half, we tried to get some different people in and got out of rhythm,” Stimmel said.
With an 11-goal lead the Buckeyes started to substitute. Stimmel was able to allot 26 different players some time on the field.
However, with the giant lead sophomore Alayna Markwordt said the team, “stooped down” to American’s level, but picked up the pace again. In the second half, both teams scored six goals.
This lack of intensity with a big lead, Markwordt said, is something the team needs to work on.
Whether it was a lack of intensity or mixing different lineups, OSU didn’t play as well in the second half.
Along with only scoring six goals, the Buckeyes also only had three more shots on goal.
With American stepping up its game, Stimmel inserted the starters back in the game.
OSU takes its 1-1 record to Cal-Berkeley on Friday and Stanford on Sunday.
