The 2004 Wittenberg women's lacrosse team in a state of transition. The fresh faces are everywhere, starting with Head Coach Katherine Haney, who arrived last summer and is ready to put her stamp on this team.
No stranger to successful women's lacrosse after graduating from Denison in 2000, Haney will build her program this year around a strong core of returning players. Leading the charge is junior midfielder Jenny Burns (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman), a first-team All-North Coast Athletic Conference and third-team All-America selection in 2003. She led the team with 62 total points on 44 goals and 18 assists.
Burns, junior attacker Erin Kelly (Edina, Minn./Hopkins) and junior midfielder Rachel Ridgeway (Montclair, NJ/The Taft School) were three of the team's top four scorers in 2003, and all are back in the fold to spearhead the offense. But they will be forced to pick up more of the scoring load this year with the departure of the top goal scorer in school history, Cara Romanowski. The 2003 NCAC Defensive Player of the Year, Romanowski had 54 goals in 14 games a year ago, while also leading the team in caused turnovers with 31 and ranking among the leaders in ground balls with 46.
Several freshman will be asked to step into that scoring void as attackers, includingLauren Bouton (Roswell, Ga./Roswell), Melissa Jackson (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) and Michelle Hanners (Columbus, Ohio/School for Girls). In the midfield, Kari Thomas (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) is the lone new face, joining holdovers Emily Hiscar (Pataskala, Ohio/Watkins Memorial), a sophomore, and Ridgeway, Burns and Motoko Hanatani (Kyoto, Japan/The Perkiomen School (Pa.)), all juniors.
Defensively, the team's lone senior is Katie Babcock (Phoenix, Md./Dulaney), who is coming off a strong 2003 season in which she started every game and led the team with 56 ground balls and ranked second in caused turnovers with 19. JuniorCarrie Happ (Pittsburgh, Pa./Vincentian) finished with 30 ground balls in 14 starts in the defensive backfield. Three rookies will get their opportunities as well, Lauren Fraley (Delaware, Ohio/Olentangy), Carly Mayer (Westerville, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) and Sarah Buchenroth (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington).
Perhaps the area of greatest concern is in goal. All-NCAC honoree Rebecca Russ, who started 10 games in net and four others in the field in 2003, has departed, taking a league-leading .615 save percentage with her. Freshman Clare Bucheit (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) will attempt to fill that void in her first collegiate experience.