What a series of events for this Ohio State team over the past two weeks.
The Buckeyes were less than five minutes from a share of the first ever Big Ten Conference regular season title a week ago, now they limp into the conference tournament as OSU takes on a Maryland team that was upset by their rival Johns Hopkins last weekend.
Let’s break down the Buckeyes 17-10 loss to Rutgers, and I’ll give you my thoughts as OSU tries to rebound and perhaps, save their season in a rematch against the Terps.
No. 10 Ohio State @ Rutgers at High Point Solutions Stadium
Where did this one go wrong?
I’ll tell you where. Lots of places.
Who knows if they came out ready to play from a mental standpoint. Giving you a flashback to the Maryland game, the Buckeyes had a 9-5 lead over the No. 3 ranked Terrapins and had their way with the best defense in the country. Then it all fell apart with five minutes left as the Terps tied it in regulation, and won in overtime in front of 40,000 at Ohio Stadium by games end.
That’s tough to deal with.
Despite that, it was even out of the gate, 4-4 heading into the second quarter.
And then the wheels fell off…
Rutgers scored nine unanswered goals. I repeat, nine. This is against an Ohio State defense that has been phenomenal this season.
Rutgers won 20-31 faceoffs, unheard of to this point against OSU. A faceoff duo in senior Christopher May and sophomore Jake Withers that go toe to toe with anybody and perform just fine, were manhandled primarily by All Big-Ten team senior Joe Nardella of Rutgers.
Redshirt-sophomore Tom Carey was establishing himself as a premier goalie in the nation, and had a stellar performance against Kyle Bernlohr of Maryland the week prior, stopped just one shot in the first half. He looked visibly frustrated the entire game
The Buckeyes stopped the bleeding thanks to redshirt-sophomore Tyler Pfister’s goal with 4:51 left in the third quarter.
And you know things are going bad…
For OSU when an opposing team goes perfect on man up opportunities. Rutgers went 2-2 on the day. OSU had only allowed four man-up goals the entire season heading into the game.
On the flip side, the Scarlet and Gray went 1-5. Yikes.
The moment that epitomized the game…
Was Pfister colliding with senior captain Jesse King in the third quarter, knocking him out of the game momentarily. King would still finish the day with a goal and three assists.
To summarize…
Rutgers finishes their season 5-10 and achieved their first ever conference win. This is a team that came out with nothing to lose on senior day and played hard for a full 60 minutes.
Ohio State came out fine early, and crumbled because of that nine goal run, something they hadn’t seen since Notre Dame shut them out 9-0 on Mar. 21. This was different in that the Notre Dame game was a wake up call, telling the Buckeyes they had a lot more work to do before becoming an NCAA title contender. This game taught the Buckeyes something head coach Nick Myers had been stressing.
If they don’t show up for 60 minutes, they’ll lose to anybody.
No. 14 Ohio State @ No. 6 Maryland. Big Ten Tournament Semi-Final. College Park, Maryland. Thursday at 8 p.m.
First off…
Wow was I off with my predictions for this tournament. That’s why the games are played I guess. A likely Ohio State-Hopkins matchup turns into a rematch of one of the best collegiate games played this year. Just two weeks ago Maryland stunned the Buckeyes in front of their home crowd, taking a share of the Big Ten regular season title away from them. Now Ohio State has to try and beat Maryland to avoid its third straight loss and perhaps, getting bumped out of an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament.
So here’s the deal…
I’m going to summarize this game right here and now. No need to go into excess detail about it. Kudos for trudging through that Rutgers summary.
I just told you that if OSU doesn’t play a full 60 minutes, they’ll lose to anybody. They found this out the hard way two weeks ago after playing 55 minutes against the Terps. They had them beat, and stepped of their throats.
The same applies here. OSU and Maryland know what to expect from each other more this time around with one exception.
Senior faceoff specialist Charlie Raffa is back for the Terps.
Christopher May and Jake Withers battled against sophomore Jon Garino and junior Andrew Walsh the last time around. Coming off of a tough performance last week, they Buckeye duo have got to bear down Thursday night, or OSU is in trouble.
On offense, OSU needs to stick to their bread and butter, the two-man game. They work off of picks so well and that’s where their offense is generated from. I’m not sure whether or not Myers will make changes to their system this late in the season. I doubt it.
On the defensive side, they need to hit the reset button. The Buckeyes thrive from their slides and Tom Carey coming up with big saves. They didn’t receive much of that against the Scarlet Knights. Seniors Jay Carlson and Joe LoCascio, as well as sophomore Matt Rambo give them plenty to worry about and if they come out lackadaisical, the trio will burn them.
I’m expecting a heavyweight bout again between these two teams. It should be great` lacrosse. If the Bucks can’t get up for this one, then their season might be over.
It’s now or never for the Scarlet and Gray.
Selection Sunday is upon us. I’ll have a recap of the Buckeyes and the Terrapins up on ILWT after the game on Thursday night. Will I be writing a eulogy, or will I be writing a first round preview for Ohio State? Looking forward to more exciting lacrosse! Catch you soon!
