Ohio State came into the season ranked 14th. After a 1-4 start, they have not been able to hold that high ranking. After five games they have dropped out of the Warrior D1 Media Top 20. The Buckeyes have lost close games to Hofstra, Umass, Penn State, and Johns Hopkins. Luckily for OSU, their schedule gets a little easier. They still have a chance to make to the NCAA tournament as well as win the ECAC.
The pair of Canadians, Jesse King and Turner Evans, have been claiming most of the spotlight this season. King, a big time scorer, and Evans the dynamic assist man, make a great pair at attack. King has already earned ECAC offensive player of the week honors this season showing his skills with a six-point effort against Penn State.
The defense, led by senior Greg Dutton in cage, has mostly done their part. Saving at a 50 percent clip, Dutton continues to follow up a stellar season last year giving the Buckeyes an opportunity to stay in every game.
They have played some tough, ranked opponents early in the season, which should help them come together and finish strong. They have the bulk of their in conference games left and must be on point.
ECAC opponents look strong with Fairfield beating 10th ranked Yale and Denver topping Notre Dame and Penn State in the past week. I give the OSU Buckeyes a C+ for their play so far this year. Only narrowly besting the second year Marquette squad, they have a lot of ground to make up throughout the rest of the season. They need to step up their game in order to finish strong and mount a tournament run.
The next game for OSU is on Saturday, March 15, against Denver. A huge ECAC Conference game awaits; let’s see if the Buckeyes can get back to their winning ways and get ahead in conference.
