The inaugural Big Ten lacrosse season is underway!
We’re in the meat and potatoes time of the year, as the No. 14 Buckeyes only have four games left.
So allow me to give you my thoughts from the Buckeyes victory over Penn State on Sunday, as well as a look ahead to their game this Sunday back at the Horseshoe against No. 19 Johns Hopkins.
No. 14 Ohio State defeats Penn State at the Penn State Lacrosse Field 10-8
Boy did they start strong…
Getting off to a 5-1 lead after one quarter and having a 7-2 lead at the half. Penn State opted to play a zone defense and the Buckeye offense plowed right through them using fantastic ball movement and wicked shots. Senior captain Jesse King ended up with a hat trick and an assist. Junior Carter Brown and senior Turner Evans also popped home a couple of their own, complimented with two assists for Brown and one for Evans.
And all of this was after getting shutout…
For the first time since 1999, the Scarlet and Gray were shutout last week in South Bend against No. 1 Notre Dame 9-0. What a way for them to bounce back in the early portion of the game.
I’m not forgetting about the defense…
Who were stellar again. Their slides, specifically in the first half were phenomenal. Whenever someone was beat one on one, there was the hot slide ready to stop the Nittany Lion offense. It’s been the type of thing that middle and high school coaches can show their players in a film session. The way that the crew of long-sticks Brendan Barger, Robbie Haus, Chris Mahoney, Evan Mulchrone, as well as short-sticks Kacy Kapinos and Reegan Comeault have come together and shut down opponents has been more than enjoyable to watch. As it stands they are the seventh best defense in terms of goals per game (7.45).
But then the second half arrived…
And I began to have nightmares of the Marquette game. If you don’t remember that collapse, I’ll fill you in. OSU had a 9-5 lead heading into the fourth quarter, where they would eventually lose to the Golden Eagles in regulation 10-9.
After Turner Evans’ sixth goal of the season at the 13:56 mark of the fourth quarter put the Buckeyes up 10-4, Penn State went on a roll, scoring four unanswered goals to make it 10-8 with 2:37 left. OSU would hold on however, but not before some timely defense and an offside penalty on Penn State with 1:05 in the game helped to seal the deal.
But a win, is a win, is a win…
The Buckeyes are 8-3 and they won their first conference game in program history. They have bigger things to worry about especially with this week’s game against a Johns Hopkins program that is 4-5, yet they’re still Hopkins, and very dangerous nonetheless. So on that note…
No. 14 Ohio State (8-3) vs No. 19 John’s Hopkins (4-5) @ Ohio Stadium. Sunday, April 5. 6 pm.
I wouldn’t look at that 4-5 record and say that Hopkins is a bad team…
A two goal loss to No.4 North Carolina, an overtime loss to No. 12 Princeton, a three goal loss to No. 2 Syracuse and a one goal loss to No. 6 Virginia are all on the Blue Jays resume. They just haven’t had the bounces this season.
So that’s more than enough of a reason to look at that record…
This is a very capable team who hasn’t come up with that big win. I can guarantee that they’re going to come out with some frustration and if OSU isn’t ready, they could find themselves in a hole. This is the type of game that Hopkins is looking at and saying to themselves, ‘this is the type of game we need to break out of this funk.’
What’s interesting is the fact…
That a 4-7 Rutgers team hung around with Hopkins last Saturday. The Scarlet Knights actually held the lead 7-6 before the Blue Jays fired home three goals in the fourth to take home a 9-7 win.
Focusing back on the game itself…
Ohio State needs to continue that offense they displayed on Sunday. Well, at least in the first half. The Scarlet and Gray improved to 54-5 under head coach Nick Myers when scoring 10 or more goals in a game. They’re averaging nine goals per game this season. I don’t want to think about where this team would be without its stellar defense.
As far as Hopkins’ offense is concerned…
Ryan Brown is far and away the “go-to” on offense. His 28 goals this season are 15 more than the next closest on the roster in Shack Stanwick. His 89 shots are 44 more than the next closest Blue Jay, Holden Cattoni.
And speaking of the Stanwicks…
They’re playing pretty well this season. Wells, the senior, has 11 goals and 20 assists while freshman Shack has 13 goals and 12 assists.
Back on the Buckeye end of things…
Tom Carey needs to replicate what he did on Sunday. He made six saves in what was arguably his finest performance of the season. His reflexes were excellent and he made some very timely saves to backup his defense if they ever got beat one on one. He needs to continue to step up and be a leader between the pipes. Being as vocal as he is back there helps out his defense, which ultimately will be the reason the Buckeyes make any postseason run in May.
Ohio State. Johns Hopkins. Big Ten Lacrosse. I love it. Catch you next Wednesday!
