COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Capital University women's lacrosse team will host its first home postseason game in the opening round of the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament on Wednesday, May 4. The Crusaders will take on the Blue Streaks of John Carroll University in a battle between the second- and third-seeded teams of this year's tournament. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. from Bernlohr Stadium.
Where: Bernlohr Stadium (Columbus, Ohio)
When: 6:30 p.m.
Links: Live stats | Video
OAC Tournament Site
Capital enters this contest now having won 10 or more games in each of its three seasons of existence. Now, the Crusaders host their first home postseason game in its history and look for their first OAC Championship appearance.
THE OPPONENT – JOHN CARROLL (11-4, 5-2 OAC)
John Carroll's only two conference losses come at the hands of the top two seeds in this year's OAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament. Prior to their 10-7 loss to the Crusaders, JCU also fell to the Raiders of the University of Mount Union, 17-7. Other common opponents include Kenyon College and Wittenberg University, which also resulted in two losses by a combined nine goals. John Carroll has won four straight and seeks its first postseason win.
The Blue Streaks have the top two point scorers in the conference in Grace Curatolo and Gina Vilsack, who combine for 151 points, 95 goals, and 56 assists. They also have a third 40-goal scorer in Jillian Millard (41). Meghan Harte provides a nice combination of offense and defense, posting 25 goals and a team-leading 29 caused turnovers. She also has the third-most ground balls on the team with 48. The Blue Streaks lean on their offense, and justifiably so. In the OAC, they currently rank third in goals scored (232), second in assists (107), first in goals per game (15.47), and third in shot attempts (444).
However, the defense is allowing 11.04 goals per game, which ranks fifth in the OAC. They are fourth or lower in caused turnovers and goals against, while ranking last in saves and save percentage. To the defense's credit, they have only allowed goalkeeper Caroline Smith to see 214 shots, and a total of 323 compared to opponent's goalies that have had 444 shots put on them.
YOUR CAPITAL CRUSADERS (11-4, 6-1 OAC)
The return of senior midfielder Kim Hoerauf (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) has made the team, as a whole, a much strong unit than without her. That was seen immediately as Capital started the year with five straight wins and scored 15 or more goals four times. They hit a bump in the road, losing back-to-back games against top competition out of the North Coast Athletic Conference with two-goal defeats to Kenyon and Wittenberg. A third straight loss left some skeptical, but the team did an about-face and won six of the last seven games to close out the regular season, earning the second seed in this year's tournament.
When looking for Capital's goal scorers, three names come to mind. Each has scored 30 or more goals over the 15-game season. Look no further than sophomore Kara Hines (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne), who leads the team and the conference with 57 goals. Hoerauf comes in second on the squad and eighth in the OAC with her 41 goals. Rounding out that trio and the top-15 in the conference is sophomore Taylor Thomas (Massillon, Ohio), who has set a new career high with 32 goals this year. Last year, Thomas scored 24.
The Crusaders have two primary setup women who each are top five in the conference with 20-plus assists. From the middle, junior Korri Titus (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North) and sophomore Victoria Husain (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville South) have combined for 49 assists, 27 of those belonging to Husain.
When talking defense, the numbers highlight junior goaltender Maddie Wilson (Chagrin Falls, Ohio), but the rest of the defensive front should not be neglected either. Wilson does lead the OAC in save percentage (.497), which highlights her own skill set that tabbed her Defensive Player of the Year in 2014. Wilson also leads the conference in goals-against average (6.83) which also supports Capital's team GAA (6.73), which ranks second in the league only to top-seeded University of Mount Union (6.55). Mary Manos, Julie Duren and all-conference defender Alexis Juergensen lead that front of offense stoppers that has allowed a league-low 101 goals.
LAST TIME THEY MET
Capital and John Carroll met back on April 16 in the Crusaders' first conference home game of the season, which ended in a 10-7 win for CU. Down 2-1, Capital rattled off six straight goals to end the first half and take a 7-2 lead. Hoerauf scored three times, twice during that run, while Hines scored twice.
John Carroll answered with a small run of its own, trimming the lead to two goals with 3:13 to go. Capital ran out the clock as best as it could, and then scored their final tally with eight seconds to go, closing the door on the Blue Streaks for good. Curatolo was held to zero goals and one assist, while Vilsack scored four times.
THIS TIME ONE YEAR AGO
Capital was in a win-to-get-in position in its regular season finale against Baldwin Wallace University, but lost, 8-6, to keep them out of the postseason. John Carroll snuck into the tournament behind a 10-4, 3-2 OAC record but suffered a first-round loss to Baldwin Wallace, 22-9, thus ending their season.
TICKET INFORMATION
Quarterfinals/Semifinals/Finals - $7
OAC Student with valid ID - Free
Non-OAC Students 18 years and under - $2
Senior 62 years and older - $5
OAC Lifetime Passes will be honored for all championships (regular-season passes will not)
