Balanced Attack Keys 15-11 Road Win at Bucknell

No. 9 Cornell 17, No. 16 Ohio State 16 • What You Need to Know
Records:	Ohio State 3-2; Cornell 4-0
Site:	Ohio Stadium; Columbus, Ohio
Did You Know:	The 33 combined goals were the most in a Buckeye game since a 20-13 win over Denver on April 19, 2008.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State men’s lacrosse team (3-1) picked up its second road win of the 2020 season, using a well-balanced offense attack, strong defense in the ride game and timely saves to defeat No. 20 Bucknell (3-1), 15-11, at Mathewson-Memorial Stadium in Lewisburg, Pa. on Saturday.

The Short Story
Ohio State scored eight unanswered goals during a key first-half run as they erased an early 4-1 deficit and never looked back. The starting attack unit of Jack Myers (4G, 4A), Tre Leclaire (4G) and Jackson Reid (3G, 1A) combined to score 11 of the Buckeyes’ 15 goals.

The Buckeyes’ ride game, which came in as one of the best units in the country allowing teams to clear successfully just 75 percent of the time, limited Bucknell to 14-of-21 (.667) and created key transition goals. Face-off specialist Justin Inacio made his 2020 debut and won 14-of-24 in the X while goalie Josh Kirson made 13 saves, including nine in the second half.

Moving Up the Charts
Leclaire, who now has at least one goal in 22 consecutive games, moved into sole possession of fourth place on Ohio State’s career goals scored list. He passed fellow British Columbia native Jesse King with a second-quarter score to put Ohio State ahead 9-4. In 51 career games, Leclaire has 122 goals and is one shy of Terry Gilmore (1976-79) for third place.

Ohio State All-Time Leading Goal Scorers
Name	Goals	Years
Logan Schuss	147	2010-13
Joel Dalgarno	126	2006-09
Terry Gilmore	123	1976-79
Tre Leclaire	122	2017-pres.
Jesse King	119	2012-15

How The Goals Were Scored

Inacio, who did not play in the first three games of the season, made his presence felt right away. He won the game’s opening face-off and put Ohio State ahead 1-0 just five seconds into regulation.
From there, Bucknell would go on a 4-0 run over the next 10 minutes. Myers broke the drought and started the game-changing rally for Ohio State, as it would find the back of the net eight times over a 15-minute span to take a 9-4 lead.
Reid scored three times in the eight-goal run while Leclaire and Myers each had a pair of goals. Also getting in the scoring column was Colby Smith, who netted his first of the season.
Bucknell scored once before halftime to make the score 9-5 and then twice to start the third quarter to pull itself within two at 9-7. From there, however, the Myers-to-Leclaire combo gave the Buckeyes a three-goal cushion at 7:41 of the third quarter and Ryan Terefenko scored a three-quarters field goal four minutes later.
In the fourth quarter, Bucknell would get no closer than 12-10 with 9:34 remaining. Leclaire, Griffin Hughes and Myers scored in succession to push the lead to 15-10 at 2:25. Bucknell closed out the scoring with a Will Yorke goal at :37.

This and That

Ohio State won six of seven face-offs and scored its six goals on 10 shots in the second quarter.
Bucknell entered the game with the nation’s seventh-ranked extra man offense, but Ohio State held the Bison scoreless in four attempts on Saturday.
Ten different players had a point for the Buckeyes on Saturday.
In two career games against Bucknell, Myers has 16 points on 11 goals and five assists.
The Buckeyes improved to 15-1 in the month of February over the last four seasons.
For the season, teams are successfully clearing just 74.4 percent of the time (67-of-90).
Over the last three games, Kirson has 43 saves and a .642 save percentage.
Inacio has won 10 or more face-offs in each of the last 18 games that he’s played in.

Just The Stats
Shots: Bucknell 37, Ohio State 33
Ground Balls: Bucknell 34, Ohio State 32
Face-offs: Ohio State 15-of-29, Bucknell 14-of-29
Clears: Ohio State 17-of-21, Bucknell 14-of-21
Extra Man: Ohio State 1-for-1, Bucknell 0-for-4
Saves: Ohio State (Kirson) 13, Bucknell (Clark) 11
Turnovers: Ohio State 18, Bucknell 16
Leading Scorers: Jack Myers (4G, 4A, 8 points), Jackson Reid (3-1-4), Tre Leclaire (4-0-4), Griffin Hughes (1-0-1), Ryan Terefenko (1-0-1), Colby Smith (1-0-1), Grant Mitchell (0-1-1), Jeff Henrick (0-1-1), Johnny Wiseman (0-1-1), Justin Inacio (1-0-1)

What’s Next
Ohio State will begin a four-game homestand next Sunday, March 1, when it welcomes No. 12 Cornell (2-0) to Ohio Stadium for a noon face-off. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU.