Feb. 7, 2015
COLUMBUS, Ohio – In its season opener, the Ohio State men’s lacrosse team lost on the road to Detroit, 9-8, Saturday afternoon in Ultimate Soccer Arenas in Pontiac, Mich. The Buckeyes cut a three-goal deficit to one with 2:50 remaining in the fourth quarter, but were unable to get the equalizer.
Next up for the Buckeyes is a three-game homestand, beginning at 7 p.m. Tuesday vs. Robert Morris. The team will then host Delaware at noon Sunday (Feb. 15) and Dartmouth at noon Feb. 21. All three games will be played inside Woody Hayes Athletic Center and fans are encouraged to prepurchase tickets to guarantee a spot as the games are expected to sell out prior to game day.
Against Detroit, senior David Planning and Carter Brown led the Buckeyes with four points, on two goals and two assists each. Junior Ryan Hunter scored twice and senior Jesse King had two points with a goal and an assist. Senior Christopher May won 17 faceoffs and had a game-high 10 groundballs. In the cage, Tom Carey made 13 saves for Ohio State.
Detroit scored the only two goals of the first quarter, with Mike Birney opening the scoring at 13:14 and Shayne Adams following with a goal at 9:18. Shots were 9-6 in favor of the Titans in the quarter. Carey had four saves in the cage for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State outscored Detroit 4-1 in the second quarter to take a 4-3 advantage into halftime. The Buckeyes scored the first three to tie the game and take the lead. Hunter scored at 13:26, assisted by Evan Mulchrone, and JT Blubaugh tied the game with an unassisted score at 9:33. King put Ohio State in the lead for the first time at 7:12, extending his point streak to 37 games. The Titans’ Brandon Beauregard scored a mandown goal with 46 seconds remaining to again deadlock the score. The Buckeyes won the ensuing faceoff and after a timeout, Planning found Brown for an EMO goal with 21 seconds left in the quarter. Ohio State had 14 shots on net in the quarter, holding Detroit to four, and Carey made three saves.
The Titans shut out the Buckeyes in the third quarter to take a 6-4 lead. Sean Birney tied the game at 10:33, Mark Anstead put Detroit ahead at 5:56 and Brad Harris extended the lead to two at 1:52. Each team had seven shots in the quarter, with Carey making two saves for the Buckeyes and the Titans goalie making four stops.
Ohio State ended the Titan run with back-to-back goals to open the fourth quarter, tying the game at six. Planning scored unassisted 41 seconds into the quarter and Brown tallied, assisted by Planning, at 11:00. Detroit responded with a second three-goal run, scoring twice in 31 seconds (6:40 and 6:09) to break the tie and then adding a goal at 4:26 for a 9-6 advantage. King set up Planning at 3:49 and Brown assisted on a goal from Hunter 59 seconds later (2:50), but Ohio State could not get closer. Ohio State had 12 shots in the quarter, with Detroit taking 10, and each team’s goalie made four saves.
For the game, the Buckeyes outshot the Titans, 39-30. Carey had 13 saves in all 60 minutes in his first action for the Buckeyes. Jason Weber made 14 saves in the cage for Detroit.
In his first game as a Buckeye, May won 17-of-21 faceoffs and led the Buckeyes with 10 groundballs. Detroit picked up 30 groundballs in the contest.
Ohio State was 1-for-5 one extra man opportunities and Detroit did not have an EMO chance.
