Oct. 28, 2014

COLUMBUS, Ohio – In the first season of men’s lacrosse as a Big Ten Conference sport, Ohio State will host Maryland in the 2015 Showdown in the Shoe. The Buckeyes and Terrapins will meet at 11 a.m. April 18 in Ohio Stadium prior to the Ohio State football spring game.

“The Showdown in the Shoe is a great chance to introduce men’s lacrosse – and especially Big Ten men’s lacrosse – to even more Buckeye fans,” Gene Smith, vice president/director of athletics at Ohio State, said. “We look forward to a fantastic day in Ohio Stadium in front of another potentially record-breaking crowd.”

The game will be the seventh edition of the Showdown in the Shoe, which began in 2008. In 2014, Ohio State hosted Michigan in the first game in Columbus between the rivals as varsity foes. The Buckeyes shut out the Wolverines for the final 35:24 en route to a 15-6 win in front of an announced crowd of 17,641, with more than 31,000 fans in the stands by the end of the game. Watch a new highlight video of the 2014 Showdown in the Shoe HERE (or below).

An NCAA record 31,078 fans were in attendance when the men’s lacrosse Buckeyes defeated Air Force in 2010. The first game in 2008 drew a then-NCAA regular-season and on-campus attendance record of 29,601 fans, with 30,192 at the 2009 contest to top that mark. Attendance is recorded at halftime of the men’s lacrosse game, with tens of thousands more in the stadium by the end of the contest as the football spring game begins immediately after. The Showdown in the Shoe tradition was suspended in 2013 because of construction in Ohio Stadium that moved the Ohio State football spring game to Cincinnati.

“The Showdown in the Shoe provides our men the chance to play in front of a crowd and in a facility that is very special,” Nick Myers, in his seventh year as the head coach of the Buckeyes, said. “During the inaugural season of Big Ten lacrosse, this year’s game takes on even more significance. We would like to thank Mr. Gene Smith and Coach Meyer for again giving us the opportunity to play in Ohio Stadium in conjunction with the spring football game.”

Ohio State and Maryland are joined by Johns Hopkins, Michigan, Penn State and Rutgers in the Big Ten. During the inaugural season, the Buckeyes will host the Blue Jays and Terrapins, while traveling for games vs. the Wolverines, Nittany Lions and Scarlet Knights.

Information on tickets to the doubleheader, which includes the Showdown in the Shoe lacrosse game between Ohio State and Maryland and the football spring game, will be released at a later date.