Zerhusen's 10 Points Propel Ohio State Upset
from press release
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Brittney Zerhusen tallied 10
points off five goals and five assists as the Ohio State women's
lacrosse team upset No. 14 Vanderbilt, 17-16, Sunday afternoon at
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The Buckeyes improve to 7-4 on the
season and 1-1 in the ALC after winning five of their last six
contests, while the Commodores dip to 7-6 overall and 1-3 in the
conference.
"We're happy to get our first ALC win of the season," Alexis
Venechanos, first-year Ohio State head coach said. "I think having
that four or five-goal lead obviously helped us because we knew
Vanderbilt would be able to put some goals on the board ... I was
proud of how we took advantage of our opportunities at the end of
the game when we didn't have the ball that much ... but were able
to close it out in the final two minutes. This was a great
win."
Zerhusen's 10 points tie her career high and stand as fourth
all-time in single-game points by a Buckeye. She led all five
Buckeye goal scorers on the day, with Alayna Markwordt also scoring
five, Gabby Capuzzi adding four, Jacqueline Orona two and Lindsey
Gysin had her first of the season. Capuzzi won a game-high five
draw controls and added three caused turnovers to her defensive
totals.
The game is scheduled to re-air on the Big Ten Network at 2 p.m.
Wednesday with Sam Obermeyer, from Scarlet & Gray Sports Radio,
and Kimberly Lowe, former Buckeye lacrosse All-American, calling
the action.
This is the second victory over a Top 15-ranked opponent for the
Buckeyes this season, after they knocked off then-No. 11 Notre
Dame, 13-8, March 10. The last time Ohio State defeated a pair of
ranked opponents in one season was 2009, when it took out Johns
Hopkins and Vanderbilt. Though the Buckeyes have captured two of
the last three meetings with the Commodores, Vanderbilt still owns
a commanding 13-3 advantage in the all-time series.
After the teams kept it within one or two for much of the first
half, Capuzzi scored at 4:22 with an unassisted goal to give Ohio
State a 7-5 lead and start a six-goal scoring spree that would end
with the Buckeyes having their largest lead of the contest, 12-5,
with 24:39 to play in the game. Markwordt and Zerhusen teamed up
for three-consecutive goals in the stretch, each taking turns
feeding off each other and eventually ending the game as the
scoring tandem on four goals.
"We've been working a lot on our team offence and just getting
each other open and working together really well in order to see
different opportunities," Zerhusen said after the game. "Today, I
got some points and tomorrow, it could be any of us. The team is a
unit and we have seven girls on the field who can score at any
time."
Vanderbilt began edging its way back into the contest with 22:54
to play, scoring four in a row and seven of the next nine goals of
the game to pull back within two at 14-12, Ohio State. Gysin took
that moment to score her first goal of the season, finishing off a
pass from Zerhusen and setting up Zerhusen and Capuzzi to team up
the score that gave Ohio State back the four-goal lead, 16-12, with
7:14 remaining.
"We just bring it together after a goal or after they score,"
Capuzzi, a 2011 co-captain, said of keeping it together after a
Vandy run. "Keep our confidence up and we have to stay poised. That
starts with leaders on the field and bringing it in."
The Commodores were not deterred, adding four goals in the final
6:37 of action, but the early Buckeye lead could not be overtaken
as Ohio State earned its first win over a conference opponent since
March 27, 2010, a 14-9 victory over Florida, a span of four ALC
games.
Just like the score, the stat breakdown could not have been much
closer. Vanderbilt held a 32-31 edge in shots and 21-19 advantage
in groundballs, while Ohio State came out on top in the draw,
18-17. Both goalies - Annie Carruthers for Ohio State and
Chelsea Pasfield for Vanderbilt - posted nine saves in their
respective decisions.
The Buckeyes have their final non-conference game of the year
against Detroit at 4 p.m. Tuesday in the Motor City. Following the
game with the Titans, the Buckeyes head to State College, Pa., for
a 1 p.m. game Sunday vs. Penn State. The Ohio State-Penn State
contest will be shown on same-day delay at 4 p.m. on the Big Ten
Network with Mike Wolf and Kara Lentz calling the action.
