COLUMBUS, Ohio – After a limited season last year that featured only conference games, the Capital University women's lacrosse team is excited to get back to a sense of normalcy this spring as they will once again play a full 17-game season, featuring nine non-OAC opponents.
Head coach
Stacey Florence returns for her ninth season at the helm of Capital women's lacrosse and is again joined by her assistant,
Kaela Smith. The coaching duo has their sights set on a berth in the OAC Tournament Championship game, excited to get over the bump this year. The team last played in the OAC final during the 2019 season.
Last Season in a Nutshell
Playing a limited, and COVID affected 2021 campaign, the Comets put together a 12-3 record, including an 11-2 regular season record. Their season came to a narrow close in the OAC Tournament Quarterfinals with a 20-18 loss to Mount Union. Prior to that loss, Cap was on an exciting six-game winning streak that included handing John Carroll their only regular season loss of the season. Trailing 17-15 with 4:25 remaining in that game, Capital exploded for three late goals from
Skyla Caito,
Luci Kanowsky, and Kat Walton to take the win 18-17.
During last season, Capital scored at-will for much of the season, eclipsing the 20-goal mark on six different occasions, and scoring no less than 11 all season.
Top Returners
Heading into 2022, Coach Florence will return her top-two scorers from a season ago in the form of
Brooke Delara and
Luci Kanowsky. Delara, who is back for her graduate year, netted 40 goals and dished out an incredible 57 assists last season to lead the team with 97 points. Kanowsky scored a school-record 69 goals, paired with 23 assists to tally 92 points. Other top offensive players returning to the fray include
Dylan Smith (17 goals, 10 assists) and
Skyla Caito (15 goals, four assists).
On the defensive end of the game, Capital returns top defenders
Hanna Searles and
Molly Searles. The twin-sister pairing combined for 46 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers last season. Also returning on the defensive side is
Rylee Jarvis who recorded 10 ground balls, two caused turnovers, and four draw controls.
Bee Kuehn returns in the cage for the Comets in 2022. Last spring, Kuehn played every minute of the season in goal, stopping 110 shots and recording a 42.3% save percentage.
After a season off last campaign,
Maddy Radanof and
Avery Hart will also be returning to the team this spring, alongside others such as
Abigail Midnight,
Kori Barrett, and
Haleigh McPhillips.
New Faces
After graduating a healthy group last season, Coach Florence needed to reload this season, and she did just that by bringing in five new faces. Three of the incoming players are freshmen, while the other two are transfers. One comes to Capital as a sophomore, while the other is playing her graduate season during 2022.
The Schedule
As mentioned, Capital will return to a full competition calendar this season as they will play a full 17-game campaign. Things will get started this coming Saturday, February 19th as the Comets will host Albion College for a 2 p.m. contest. The next game will come quickly as they host Centre College on Sunday, February 20th.
After a home opening weekend, Capital will hit the road for their next three, including a trip to the Chicago area with games scheduled against Illinois Wesleyan and Aurora over spring break. Cap will then return home for three games against Hope, Transylvania, and Oberlin on March 12th, 16th, and 19th. Their final non-conference tune-up will come on March 23rd at Wittenberg University.
The OAC slate will feature the likes of Muskingum, John Carroll, Otterbein, Ohio Northern and Heidelberg at home. The team will travel to Baldwin Wallace, Marietta, and Mount Union this season.
