The Ohio State women’s lacrosse team continues its season with a matchup at Denver. Credit: Katie Good | Asst. Photo Editor
With hopes to bounce back after its first loss of the season to the USC, the Ohio State women’s lacrosse team prepares to face No. 9 Denver this Saturday.
After an 18-10 loss against then-No. 20 USC that halted their season-opening three-game win streak, the Buckeyes (3-1) will be back at home to host a top-ranked Denver (3-0) team with intentions to end their perfect record thus far.
Ohio State played against Denver in Colorado last season and failed to come out on top, losing 12-5, but playing on home turf this year gives the team high ambitions to change the narrative.
“It feels great to be home and we’re excited to play a top opponent in our stadium on Saturday, so we’re really looking forward to that,” head coach Amy Bokker said.
Bokker is aware of the loss to Denver last season and said she’s taken the opportunity to play the Pioneers again very seriously. She said the Buckeyes need to focus on attacking harder and being more aggressive when playing a familiar opponent , something the team lacked in the loss last season.
The Pioneers have won 27 draw controls in the past two games, not much more than the 25 the Buckeyes have in the same span. Denver junior draw specialist Abby Jenkins is fourth in career draw controls with 164 as a Pioneer, and Buckeyes junior attack Jamie Lasda said she observed Jenkins and improved this week so she can win possessions to improve on her 18 draw controls this season.
“Right now coming off of playing USC, our main focus is balancing out the offense,” Lasda said. “Denver has a really strong draw girl so right now that is a big focus of mine. I want to make sure we have possessions in order to get on offense because that was a big struggle during the USC game.”
Despite Lasda’s improvement on draw controls, Bokker mentioned the faceoff battle Ohio State won last season against Denver. The Buckeyes won 14 draw controls compared to the Pioneers’ six.
Bokker said draw controls weren’t the problem in the loss last season, and she wants the team to focus more on valuing the ball.
“It was one of the games where we had a really high level [of draw controls], and we were not taking care of it in our transition and on our offensive end,” Bokker said. “We track our possessions and what they lead to, and we want to be in a position where we have more possessions that lead to quality looks.”
This season, the Buckeyes distribute the ball well and have 13 players who have found the back of the net. Specifically, graduate midfielder Jamie Level recorded her second hat trick this season against USC and is second in most goals scored with eight behind senior attack and captain Nicole Ferrara with 13 goals.
Level had a career-best three goals, three caused turnovers and two ground balls despite the loss to USC. It was her sixth game with three or more goals as a Buckeye, and Level intends to continue this and bring momentum to the team as a leader.
“From a leadership standpoint, it’s important to bring other people along with us personally,” Level said. “Against USC, there was a lot of room for growth, and it really shows where we lacked in those areas. So now, we can use those things to carry on to the next game.”
The Pioneers faced Colorado in their last game, coming out on top in a close 9-8 contest. Denver came out strong, scoring three goals in the first quarter to lead 3-0 and another three goals in the second to lead 6-3 at the break.
Despite a three-goal fourth quarter by Colorado, the Buffaloes were unable to tie the score before the game was over. Denver had 19 shots on goal with senior attack Julia Gilbert leading the way scoring three goals.
Denver has scored 25 goals this season in three games. The leading goal-scorer is currently a three-way tie between sophomore attack Lauren Black, senior midfielder Ellie Curry and Gilbert with five goals each.
The Buckeyes look to change the outcome this season against Denver by controlling the game and increasing their possessions.
Faceoff is set at 1 p.m. Saturday and will be broadcasted on BTN+.
