Ohio State Hosts A Big Ten Weekend

Illinois Friday at 7:30 p.m., Northwestern Sunday at noon at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium

Columbus, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s soccer team (5-3-1, 0-0-1) continues Big Ten conference play this weekend hosting Illinois and Northwestern at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
 
The Illini (6-2-1, 0-0-1) will visit for a 7:30 p.m. match Friday evening that will be Student Welcome Night; fall classes start Wednesday on the Ohio State campus.
 
Sunday, Northwestern (1-7-0, 0-1-0) faces Ohio State in a noon match at Jesse Owens that will be Alumni Day and Picnic Day.
 
200 BUCKEYE WINS
Ohio State is approaching its 200th win in program history. Since women’s soccer became a varsity sport in 1993, Ohio State has an overall record of 199-151-28. Some of the previous milestone wins in Buckeye history:
 
1st           1-0 vs. Dayton (1993)
25th         4-1 vs. St. John’s (1996)
50th         4-0 vs. Purdue (1998)
100th      3-1 vs. Coastal Carolina (2003)
150th      2-1 in 2OT vs. Illinois (2007)
 
SCOUTING ILLINOIS
Ohio State (5-3-1) continues its Big Ten conference slate vs. Illinois on Friday. The Fighting Illini (6-2-1) are also coming off their first Big Ten game of the season, coming back to force a 2-2 tie with Iowa. The leading scorer so far for Illinois has been Vanessa DiBernardo, scoring nine goals in as many games. Ohio State is 8-6 all time vs. Illinois.
 
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN
Northwestern, the third straight Big Ten opponent for the Buckeyes, dropped its first Big Ten match of the season vs. Nebraska 1-3. Northwestern plays at Penn State Friday before coming to Columbus. Leading the Wildcats in scoring this year is Kate Allen, who has four goals and an assist. Ohio State is 10-6-1 all-time vs. Northwestern.
 
IN THE BIG TEN
Now into its 19th season of conference play, Ohio State holds a 75-76-13 all-time record in Big Ten competition. The Buckeyes are 10-6-2 in Big Ten home openers and 8-5-1 in conference home debuts under Lori Walker.
 
The Buckeyes are 6-10-3 in Big Ten openers and 2-14-3 in Big Ten road openers overall; under Lori Walker, they are 6-6-3 in Big Ten openers and 2-10-3 in Big Ten road openers
 
Ohio State is 52-28-7 all-time in Big Ten games in Columbus, and 44-24-6 at home under Lori Walker. Ohio State is 35-58-7 all-time in Big Ten road games, and 32-43-7 on the road in Big Ten games under Lori Walker. The Buckeyes are 10-12-2 away from home in conference play over the last four seasons. The Buckeyes won the 2010 regular season Big Ten title and the 2002 and 2004 Big Ten tournament championships.
 
VERSUS MINNESOTA
Ohio State women’s soccer team tied Minnesota 1-1 in double overtime in soggy conditions Sunday afternoon at Minneapolis. It was the Big Ten conference opener for both teams.
 
Minnesota got on the scoreboard first, on a right-footed Shari Eckstrom laser shot from 25 yards away that just found the corner of the goal. The halftime score was 1-0; the Gophers outshot Ohio State 6-3 and led 4-1 in corner kicks in the first period. The Buckeyes tied the contest in the 52nd minute, when Danica Wu found the net from 23 yards out off a shot that hit the crossbar; the assist was by Danielle Scoliere. Minnesota finished the match with a 14-13 lead in shots attempted; each team recorded four saves and seven corner kicks.
 
IN OVERTIME
Ohio State is now 1-0-1 in overtime contests this season. The 1-0 double-overtime win over Ohio University was Ohio State’s first overtime decision of the 2011 campaign; the Buckeyes played to a 1-1 draw at Minnesota.  All-time, Ohio State is 25-16-25 in overtime games, and 7-3-18 in double overtime contests.
 
NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
The Buckeyes concluded non-conference play with the match versus Dayton. In 2011, Ohio State posted a 5-3 record against its non-conference opponents, with wins over Xavier, Radford, Wright State, West Virginia and Ohio, and losses to No. 1 North Carolina, No. 24 Dayton and at Missouri.
 
THE COACHING STAFF
Ohio State is under the direction of 15th-year head coach Lori Walker. She has guided the team to six NCAA tournament berths (2002-03-04-07-09-10) as well as two Big Ten tournament championships (2002 and 2004). Her record at Ohio State is now 163-114-25 and her career record is 176-137-26.
 
Greg Miller is in his fourth season as associate head coach and 11th overall with the Buckeyes. The 2011 season marks the fourth campaign for assistant coach Glen Tourville; former team manager Spencer Bownas serves as a volunteer coach this season.
 
MAXWELL ON MAC HERMANN LIST
Forward Paige Maxwell has been named to the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy watch list. The senior from Medina, Ohio, is the reigning Offensive Player of the Year in the Big Ten after leading the Buckeyes and tying for second in the conference with 10 goals, including five game-winners, while adding a pair of assists. The 2010 NSCAA third team All-American has led the team in goals in each of her three seasons and ranks seventh in program history with 24 career goals.
It marks the third time in program history that a Buckeye was named to the Hermann Trophy watch list after Lara Dickenmann was selected in 2007 and Cassie Dickerson was chosen in 2010. The award is considered the highest individual honor in collegiate soccer.
Voting for the MAC Hermann Trophy is conducted in late November, when a field of 15 semifinalists is reduced to three finalists. Those three will be invited to the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis on Friday, Jan. 6, 2012, where a news conference will be held to announce the winner, followed by a banquet to honor the three finalists.
BUCKEYES PICKED SECOND IN BIG TEN
Ohio State was picked by Big Ten head coaches to finish second in the conference this season. Penn State garnered the top spot in the preseason poll, followed by the Buckeyes, Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan. Each team was a 2010 NCAA tournament team; it marks the ninth-consecutive season the Nittany Lions were picked to win the Big Ten.
 
The Buckeyes, returning eight starters from their Big Ten co-champion and NCAA College Cup team a year ago, also had 2010 NSCAA third team All-American Paige Maxwell, co-captain Danielle Scoliere and Danica Wu named Players to Watch by the Big Ten.
 
MAXWELL, CAMERON CLIMBING CAREER RANKINGS
Senior Paige Maxwell has moved to eighth place on the Ohio State all-time list in career points (56), and is now seventh in career goals scored (25). She ranks 10th in career shots (161). Junior Tiffany Cameron is now 13th in career goals (13) and 15th in career points scored (35).
 
THE BUCKEYE CAPTAINS
Danielle Scoliere and Liz Sullivan have been named captains of the 2011 squad and Lauren Granberg has been named assistant captain.
 
Scoliere is a captain for the second consecutive season after appearing in 61 games, making 34 starts, over her first three seasons. The Dublin, Ohio, native has primarily been an outside back for the Buckeyes but has been able to move up and provide an offensive spark because of her speed and work rate. She is a three-time OSU Scholar-Athlete and a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
 
Sullivan, from Powell, Ohio, played in all 24 games as an outside back as a junior last season, scoring a pair of goals and adding five assists. A quick and talented defender who can also move up to the midfield, Sullivan scored her first career goal, a game-winner, last season in a 2-0 win over Pitt. Sullivan is a three-time OSU Scholar-Athlete and a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection.
 
Granberg, from Edmonton, Alberta, was third on the team in scoring last season, tallying four goals and five assists while appearing in all 24 games. She is a two-time OSU Scholar-Athlete and an Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
 
A LOOK BACK AT 2010
Ohio State advanced to its first-ever College Cup in 2010, reaching the NCAA semifinals after winning the Big Ten regular-season championship. With its record of 17-5-2, the 2010 team has recorded the second-most wins in program history behind the 2004 squad's 19 wins. The Buckeyes' 14-4-1 regular season was also the second best in school history.
 
A “NEW” HOME FIELD
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium is sporting a new playing surface this season. Now a 100% Kentucky Bluegrass surface, the sod from the Tuckahoe Sod Farm was put down in July after work to the drainage, sprinkler and conduit systems underneath.
 
Some more “stats” about the home of the Buckeyes:
- The home team is 87-35-11 all-time.
- Ohio State is 68-18-9 since 2003 and 43-13-5 since 2006.
- The Buckeyes went 9-2-0 at home in 2009 and were 9-2-2 in 2010.