2008 Wooster Women's Lacrosse Season Outlook

Balanced Scot Team Looks to Defend NCAC Championship

Christina Shiroma is one of four returning starters at defender for the Scots.

With the return of all but two starters, including offensive standout Carly Carey and defensive standout Romy Eberle, The College of Wooster appears to have a good opportunity to successfully defend its North Coast Athletic Conference women’s lacrosse championship. Wooster has won four of the last six NCAC crowns, including last spring when the Fighting Scots were supposed to be rebuilding with seven new starters but instead tied for first-place in the regular season (5-1) and then cruised through the NCAC Tournament (def. Denison University 19-12, def. host Ohio Wesleyan University 13-10) before seeing their year come to an end in the NCAA Div. III Tournament first round with a 12-5 record.

Wooster possesses good balance, with an offense described by third-year head coach Liz Ford as “very strong and very experienced.” Last spring, the Scots averaged 13.2 goals per game as a team – the most since the 2001 season (14.4 gpg) – with seven individuals recording double-digit goal totals. Carey led the way, firing in a squad-high 39 goals en route to first-team honors on the All-West Region Team, and through two seasons, the junior attacker has 64 points (51 goals, 13 assists).

Aiding Carey will be a group of skilled midfielders in Taryn Higgins, Hillary Darragh, and Cassie Brown. Higgins, a junior, was a second-team all-region pick after leading Wooster in groundballs (52), caused turnovers (32), and draw controls (30), in addition to being an offensive threat with 22 goals, four coming during that win over Denison University in the semifinals of the NCAC tourney. Darragh, a second-team all-conference honoree each of her first two years, scored 24 goals and was second on the squad in assists with 13 in 2007, while Brown hopes to build off a breakout junior season in which she totaled 36 points on 29 goals and seven assists en route to honorable mention on the All-NCAC Team.

Other veteran offensive forces include senior attacker/midfielder Lauren DeZellar, who finished just shy of being another double-digit goal scorer for Wooster last year (9 goals, 6 assists), as well as junior attacker/midfielder Alex Cotter and sophomore attacker Becca Worthington.

The Scots’ biggest strength is its midfield. In addition to Higgins, Darragh, and Brown, senior Jess Baylor will be stationed there. Baylor, Brown, and Darragh are team captains (along with Carey). Much of Baylor’s focus comes on the defensive end, as the two-time all-NCAC award winner has been among the squad leaders in caused turnovers and groundballs throughout her career while compiling 19 points.

As a whole, Ford’s optimistic about her defense, which held 11 of 17 opponents to 10 goals or less last spring. “Our defensive unit is (also) experienced and has the potential to frustrate some offenses,” she said.

Eberle has proven to be one of the top defenders in the conference. A two-time first-team all-NCAC honoree, the junior is coming off second-team all-West Region recognition as well and will be expected to lead the backfield again. Statistically, Eberle tallied 45 groundballs, 28 draw controls, and 12 caused turnovers last season.

Fellow starters Britta Harman, Christina Shiroma, and Cori Finefrock also are all back. Harman picked up an all-NCAC spot (second-team) as a freshman, Shiroma, a senior, has appeared in every one of Wooster’s games the last two seasons, and Finefrock should see regular action again in this her junior year.

Senior Allison Rubin is another defender to note as she scored 11 goals last spring, and additional veterans expected to make an impact on that side of the field include junior midfielder/defender Emmy Cassagnol, junior midfielder/defender Letitia Clark, sophomore midfielder Jess Cleveland, and sophomore midfielder Amy Denny.

The final line of defense features junior Jamie Dannenberg. In her first year as the starting goalkeeper, she developed into a reliable force, producing a .503 save percentage and a 9.59 goals against average while logging every minute played.

Ford is not only excited about her returning talent, but also about a seven-member first-year class, which she classifies as the “the quickest group of freshmen I have ever had here.”