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"It was a hard end for the season," senior midfielder Amanda Shimp said. "We wish we could have changed the way we played."
Fourth-seeded OSU lost in the opening round of the American Lacrosse Conference tournament against fifth-seeded Penn State, 10-8, finishing its season earlier than hoped.
After completing the regular season 10-7 (1-3 in the ALC), the Buckeyes advanced to conference tournament play. The women needed to sweep the tournament to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament.
"You regret not playing a little bit harder in one game that could have been the turning point of the season," Shimp said.
But the Buckeyes may have been caught looking ahead.
After beating Penn State 17-12 a few weeks ago, the women were looking at playing No. 1 Northwestern with a win against the bottom-seeded Nittany Lions.
"We kind of assumed we were going to win because we beat them before," senior attacker Kristen Slahor said.
Slahor said Penn State came out flying, scoring a 7-1 lead by halftime. OSU only took eight shots in the first half of play, compared to Penn State's 19. A four-goal run to open the second half for PSU sealed the Buckeyes' loss.
"Everybody was a little more relaxed about the game, and we really weren't on fire," Slahor said. "They were definitely really prepared and showed up ready to play."
Penn State went on to lose to eventual-champion Northwestern in the semifinals.
"We had a lot of mental errors," coach Sue Stimmel said. "We didn't play as well as we could have."
While the team did not finish as well as expected, the players were still satisfied with their season.
"There was a couple I wish we would have won," Slahor said, "but we had such a great season and things went pretty good for us. I'm pretty happy with how everything worked out."
Slahor became the all-time scoring leader at OSU with 220 points in her career. This season she led the nation with 60 assists. A first-team all-conference selection, Slahor played a critical role in getting the Buckeyes their first ten-win season since 2003.
"It's going to be a really tough hole to fill," Stimmel said of her four-year starter.
Young players who had big roles this year look to improve in 2009.
"Every year, there's always somebody who steps up," Stimmel said.
Freshman midfielder Maghan Beaudrault won ALC Rookie of the Year by finishing third in the league with seven ground balls per game and 25 goals on the year.
Sophomore attacker Brittney Zerhusen lead the team in goals and was all-conference second team with Beaudrault.
Sophomore attacker Kelly Haggerty finished top five in scoring.
"They followed by example and we tried to keep them motivated," Slahor said. "So I think that's going to help."
As for the seniors, their days with lacrosse are not over.
Many of the women will play in summer recreational leagues. A few will teach youth the skills they learned as Buckeyes.
"With lacrosse being such a growing sport, I'd love to help out at a high school and maybe coach," Shimp said.
Nick Bechtel can be reached at bechtel.42@osu.edu.
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