Ohio State Advances to Semifinals of B1G Tournament – Ohio State Buckeyes

The second -seeded Ohio State men’s soccer team (9-6-4) claimed a 1-0 shutout victory over the seventh-seeded Wolverines (6-9-3) in the quarterfinals of the 2014 Big Ten Tournament Sunday afternoon at Bert L. & Iris S. Wolstein Field in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. With the victory, the Scarlet and Gray will face sixth-seeded Indiana in the semifinals at 1 p.m. ET Friday in College Park, Md.

“We knew we just needed one goal in a match like this,” head coach John Bluem said. “We knew it was going to be a tough defensive game and to get that goal against the wind in the first half was a bonus. It was a great goal by Danny and a solid service by Max to give us the early lead. Each step we take now is going to be a new challenge for us and the guys have responded well. A great win today by the Buckeyes.”

It’s just the second time in school history the Buckeyes have defeated Michigan twice in a single season. The last time it happened, Ohio State won the tournament title and advanced to the College Cup in 2007. The Buckeyes improve to 19-10-1 all-time vs. the Wolverines, claiming victories in eight out of the last 11 meetings.

Sophomore forward Danny Jensen scored the only goal of the contest in the 19th minute for his season-best fifth goal of the year. Senior midfielder Max Moller created space out wide and sent a far cross into the box to set up the header into the lower right of net by Jensen at 18:15. Jensen, a native of Weston, Fla., now has scored four goals in the last five games for the Buckeyes.

“It’s a great feeling to beat Michigan twice in one week,” Jensen said. “Today was our type of game and we are playing well for our coaches. It was a good set up by Max and I was able to put it into the back of the net from six yards away. I think we will be a dangerous team to play against the rest of the postseason.”

Defensively, senior goalkeeper Alex Ivanov collected his 15th career shutout, making three stops, including a huge left-handed denial from the far post in the 13th minute. Like they’ve done all year, the Buckeyes’ back four continued to show their strength and support to help deny the Wolverines any good looks at net in the second half with the wind at their backs and the 1-0 cushion. Michigan tried to press the ball in the final 20 minutes of play, but Ohio State did not allow the Maize and Blue a shot on target to claim the tournament win. Overall, shots were 10-9 in favor of Ohio State, while the Scarlet and Gray held a 9-6 advantage in corners.

“I thought we were really focused and hungry to defend our home turf,” Ivanov, a senior CLASS Award Finalist, said. “It was a difficult task today, but we embraced it and were able to come out on top. It was crucial that we were able to maintain the lead. We need to build this momentum and go into the semifinals with confidence out at Maryland.”

The semifinal match vs. the Hoosiers will be broadcasted live on BTN. The winner of the Ohio State-Indiana game will face the winner of No. 1 seed Maryland-No. 5 seed Michigan State with a tournament title and automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament on the line.