No. 14 Men’s Lacrosse Shuts Down Air Force, 7-2 – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/18/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
April 18, 2003
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The No. 14 Ohio State men’s lacrosse team extended its winning streak to six and stayed unbeaten in conference play as it defeated Air Force, 7-2, Friday in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Buckeyes improve to 7-2 overall and 3-0 in the Great Western Lacrosse League. The Falcons drop to 2-8 and 0-3 in conference play.
The Buckeyes close out the weekend when they travel to face Denver at 2 p.m. EDT Sunday in Denver, Colo. An Ohio State win over the Pioneers would clinch at least a share of the league title.
The Buckeyes held the Falcons to an OSU opponent season-low two goals. It is the fewest goals allowed by the squad since VMI scored just twice March 22, 2000. The Buckeyes have won the last six games between Ohio State and Air Force.
Anthony Gilardi (Jr., Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin) and Craig Nolan (Fr., Plano, Texas/Jesuit College Prep) led the Buckeyes with two goals each. The game marked Nolan’s first multiple-goal outing as a Buckeye, while Gilardi extended his goal-scoring streak to 23. Curtis Smith (Sr., Victoria, British Columbia/Oak Bay) had two assists and Mike Norton (Sr., Timonium, Md./Calvert Hall) chipped in two points with a goal and an assist. Ben Wolff (Fr., Owings Mills, Md./Calvert Hall) also scored, marking his first career goal as a Buckeye.
The Buckeyes took a 1-0 lead less than two minutes into the game, as Gilardi, assisted by Bryan Mulford (Sr., Lutherville, Md.), tallied his 14th goal of the season. The one-goal lead stood until Air Force’s Adam Gaudinski tied the game with 1:17 remaining in the quarter. Ohio State then scored six consecutive goals, with three in the second quarter, two in the third and one in the fourth. Gilardi scored his second goal of the game early in the second quarter, followed by unassisted scores by Norton and Nolan. Curtis Smith set up both goals in the third, the first by Nick Miceli (Sr., Monkton, Md./Loyola) at 8:12 and the second by Nolan at 4:22. Wolff ended the scoring for the Buckeyes with a goal, assisted by Norton, with 7:17 remaining in regulation. AFA’s Dave Brown scored the Falcons’ second goal with 6:14 left.
The Buckeyes held the Falcons scoreless on six extra-man opportunities and were scoreless on their one chance.
1 2 3 4 Final Ohio State 1 3 2 1 7 Air Force 1 0 0 1 2
Ohio State Scoring: Gilardi 2-0, Nolan 2-0, Curtis Smith 0-2, Norton 1-1,
Miceli 1-0, Wolff 1-0, Mulford 0-1 Air Force Scoring: Gaudinski 1-0, Dave Brown 1-0.
Shots: Air Force 34; Ohio State 31. Ground balls: Air Force 33; Ohio State 30 Faceoffs: Air Force 6 for 13; Ohio State 7 for 13 Extra-Man Opps: Air Force 0-6; Ohio State 0-1 Attendance: 102
SCORING SUMMARY: Prd Time Team Type Goal Scorer Assists 1. 1st 13:21 OSU EVEN Anthony Gilardi Bryan Mulford 2. 1:16 AFA EVEN GAUDINSKI, Adam Unassisted 3. 2nd 11:40 OSU EVEN Anthony Gilardi Unassisted 4. 6:37 OSU EVEN Mike Norton Unassisted 5. 1:17 OSU EVEN Craig Nolan Unassisted 6. 3rd 8:12 OSU EVEN Nick Miceli Curtis Smith 7. 4:22 OSU EVEN Craig Nolan Curtis Smith 8. 4th 7:17 OSU EVEN Ben Wolff Mike Norton 9. 6:14 AFA EVEN BROWN, Dave Unassisted
