Head Coach Nancy Beck counsels her players from the sidelines during a win over Puget Sound earlier this season.
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - She may have earned her 100th coaching victory on Sunday against Allegheny College, but Wittenberg University Women's Lacrosse Head Coach Nancy Beck was more concerned with the impact of a second consecutive one-goal overtime win on her team's psyche than on her career record.
"I'm more concerned with how the team does as a whole," said Beck, who arrived at Wittenberg prior to the 1987 season and has guided the Tiger women's lacrosse program to a 100-137 record since. "We had a total team effort this weekend, and I was really pleased with the way our players responded in the game situations. This is something that our team can be proud of - as always, if there's no team, there are no wins."
The 13-12 win over Allegheny, which came less than 24 hours after the Tigers rallied for a 9-8 overtime win over Oberlin College, pushed Wittenberg into the early lead in the race for the 2002 North Coast Athletic Conference women's lacrosse championship. The Tigers are 2-0 in the NCAC and 4-3 overall in this still-young 2002 campaign.
For Beck, one of the most exciting things was to see former standout player Ali Livingston in the stands, cheering for the team and then taking part in the postgame celebration of a hard-fought win and her old coach's 100th career victory. "You always look back a little," Beck said. "You think of the people who contributed to the program, whether they were a star player or not."
There are many small victories along the way, Beck said. The highlights may have been a landmark 1989 win over national power Denison when the Tigers rallied from five goals down in the final three minutes of the game, a national tournament appearance later that year, wins over conference rivals Oberlin and Ohio Wesleyan for the first time in several years during the 2001 season and Kati Robbins' record-breaking offensive performance a year ago, but Beck is just as pleased with the little things. "What's important to me is that each player improves their personal skills while they are in this program," she said.
Also Wittenberg's director of intramurals and recreation, Beck came to Springfield after serving as the assistant lacrosse coach and head field hockey and swimming coach at the College of Notre Dame in Maryland. She is a native of Baltimore, Md., and she holds a bachelor's degree from Lynchburg College and a master's from Towson State University.
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