Setting the Scene:
The Wittenberg University women's lacrosse team made significant strides in 2005, improving to 6-8 overall and 2-4 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, a four-win improvement from the previous season.
The season started with two wins in three Spring Break games in West Palm Beach, Fla., meaning that in one week the Tigers had already matched their 2004 win total. Four straight mid-season losses, including three to NCAC foes, dropped Wittenberg below .500 at 4-7, but the Tigers rallied for a pair of one-goal wins before capping the campaign with a loss to perennial powerhouse Denison.
The Tigers were a far more dynamic, competitive team in 2005, as evidenced by their scoring output. Wittenberg scored just 66 goals in 10 games in 2004, compared to 126 in 14 games in 2005, a 60-goal increase and a rise of more than three scores per outing.
Defensively, the improvement was more modest, with 120 goals in 2004 compared to 159 in 2005. But that still translates into 12 goals against per game in 2004 against just over 11 per outing in 2005 - and that was accomplished without the services of starting goalkeeper Clare Bucheit (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) for all or part of four games.
Postseason Honors:
Four players earned All-NCAC awards, including second-team honorees Jenny Burns (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman), a senior attacker and the team's leading scorer (goals and assists combined) in three of her four seasons in the Red & White, andMelissa Jackson (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington), the team leader in goals with 31. Junior midfielder Emily Hiscar (Pataskala, Ohio/Watkins Memorial)and sophomore attacker Kari Thomas (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) claimed honorable mention honors.
Super Seniors:
Burns returned to form in 2005 after a tough junior season, and she will undoubtedly be missed as the Tigers move forward.
After a stellar first collegiate season, Burns exploded as a sophomore and helped the Tigers to their best season in the last 15 years at 8-6 overall in 2003. Burns scored a team- and NCAC-best 62 total points that year, including 44 goals and 18 assists, and she garnered first-team All-NCAC and All-West Region honors after the season. She capped the year with a third-team All-America award.
The next year, graduation losses decimated the Tigers and injuries took their toll on Burns, but she rallied for a fine senior campaign in which she led the Tigers with 40 total points. Her 28 goals ranked second on the team and her 12 assists were tops on the squad.
Burns ranks third in school history in career assists and she is in the top 10 for career points, season assists and season points.
Defender Carrie Happ (Pittsburgh, Pa./Vincentian) was the team's other senior in 2005, and she too will be missed, even if the postseason accolades and statistical landmarks aren't as numerous as they are for Burns. The 2004 NCAC Field Hockey Defensive Player of the Year, Happ was the team leader on defense in lacrosse as well. She was a three-year starter and four-year letterwinner, ranking among the team leaders in ground balls in each of the last three seasons.
A Bright Future:
Jenny Burns
The Tigers were a young team in 2005, and many inexperienced players emerged from the season more confident and prepared to not only contribute in the future, but to help lead Wittenberg into contention in the NCAC.
Six of the team's seven double figures scorers on the season were junior or younger in terms of academic standing, making the task of replacing leading scorer Jenny Burns in 2006 that much more realistic. Similarly, the defensive unit that showed improvement in 2005 included just one senior starter, meaning that Carrie Happ will be missed but there are young players ready for their collegiate opportunities waiting in the wings.
Sophomores Kari Thomas (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) and Melissa Jackson (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) figure to lead the offensive charge in 2006. The two shared team scoring honors as freshmen, and in 2005 they combined for 74 total points.
Fellow sophomore Michelle Hanners (New Albany, Ohio/Columbus School for Girls) posted a 26-point total in 2005, a significant increase over her freshman season, and she figures to be a factor next year along with freshmen Amber Cupples (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster) and Emine Cirpili (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman), who combined for 21 goals and 33 total points in their inaugural collegiate campaign.
On defense, freshman Abby Freeman (Louisville, Ky./duPont Manual) started all 14 games and finished among the team leaders in ground balls on the season. Junior Ann Lutz (Marysville, Ohio/Marysville), who transferred from Roanoke College, started all 11 of the games in which she appeared and was a solid defensive player in her first year in the Red & White.
The Coach:
Katherine Haney (Denison, 2000) was named head women's lacrosse coach at Wittenberg in July 2003, and her overall record now stands at 8-16, including a 4-8 mark in the North Coast Athletic Conference.
Previously, Haney spent a year as an assistant women's lacrosse and women's soccer coach at Utica College in New York and two years as head girls' lacrosse coach at Smoky Hills High School in Aurora, Colo.
As a player, Haney helped Denison to two NCAC championships, two berths in the NCAA Division III Tournament and four straight winning seasons as the team's starting goaltender from 1997-2000. In addition to her duties with the women's lacrosse program, Haney serves as an assistant for the field hockey team, and in 2003 she helped the Tigers win the 2003 NCAC regular season and tournament championships.