The Ohio Northern women's lacrosse program is still in its adolescent years. The sport was introduced at ONU in 2016, and since that time head coach Beth Hemminger has been pleased with the steps the Polar Bears have taken.
Hemminger hopes to see more steps taken in 2020.
"We saw a lot of growth last year, and there definitely was improvement," Hemminger said. "… I think we've gotten over that hump. We have a group of girls that are extremely competitive and want to win, and they understand what it takes to do that."
Northern finished the 2019 season with a 7-9 record — tied for the most wins in a single season in school history — which included a 3-5 mark in Ohio Athletic Conference play. The Polar Bears entered their final game of the season where a win would have qualified them for their first-ever OAC Tournament appearance.
Hemminger believes that advancing to the OAC Tournament is a barrier that can be broken in 2020.
"We want to make the OAC Conference Tournament and be .500, and those are things that are attainable," Hemminger said. "It's going to take a lot of hard work, and the girls have done a really good job of coming out ready to go, focused and pushing each other.
"I think we have a real hungry group."
Senior Maddie Storr (Clarence, N.Y.) headlines the list of returnees after logging a season that saw her record a team-high 50 points, which consisted of 34 goals and 16 assists. Storr — who was an Honorable Mention All-OAC honoree in 2019 — is littered all over ONU's record books, as she's the all-time program leader in goals, points, man-up goals, shots, shots on goal, draw controls and hat tricks. She also holds a large bundle of single-season school records, as well.
Junior Sydney Skelding (North Plainfield, N.J./Dublin) comes back after registering 30 goals and 11 assists for 41 points as a sophomore, which earned her Honorable Mention All-OAC distinction. Seniors Ann McArn (Bay Village/Western Reserve Academy) and Eli Carter (Lebanon) round out the list of returnees who netted double-digit goals in 2019.
Senior goalie Kelli Hill (Worthington/Thomas Worthington) anchors the defensive end. She was a second-team All-OAC performer a year ago after logging a school-record 192 saves.
"Our captains — Sydney Skelding, Maddie Storr, Kelli Hill and junior Megan O'Grodnik (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) — have really stepped up into that leadership role and have set the tone for what we expect," Hemminger said. "Their energy and competitive drive is contagious and spreads to the rest of the team."
The Polar Bears open the 2020 campaign Feb. 19 at home against Kalamazoo (Mich.). The non-conference slate also includes home games against Trine (Ind.), Adrian (Mich.) and Earlham (Ind.), road contests at Hiram, Franciscan and Wittenberg and neutral games against Gwynedd Mercy (Pa.) and Muhlenberg (Pa.) in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
The OAC schedule kicks off March 28 at Mount Union, and the conference tournament will take place April 29-May 2.
