No. 12 Buckeyes Advance to B1G Title Game with 4-0 Win over No. 18 Rutgers – Ohio State Buckeyes

Friday, November 13

Columbus, Ohio

Ohio State

9-5-5

No. 4 Rutgers - B1G Semifinals

12-4-3

Team	1	2	OT 3	OT 4	Final F
Maryland	1	0	0	0	1
Indiana	1	0	0	0	1

No. 12 Buckeyes Advance to B1G Title Game with 4-0 Win over No. 18 Rutgers – Ohio State Buckeyes

11/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Nov. 13, 2015

Box Score

RELATED INFO

Follow the Buckeyes on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Championship Central
Box Score
Photo Gallery
VIDEO: Jensen Postgame Interview and Highlights
VIDEO: Season-high four Buckeye goals
#VOTE4MASON – Senior CLASS Award Finalist

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Buckeyes continue to roll at home. Highlighted by goals in the opening minute of both halves, the No. 1 seeded Ohio State men’s soccer team shut down No. 4 seeded Rutgers, 4-0, in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament Friday afternoon at Bert L. & Iris S. Wolstein Field at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. With the team’s ninth straight home win, the Buckeyes (13-5-2) will face No. 3 seed Maryland (12-4-3) at 1 p.m. ET Sunday in the tournament title match live on BTN in Columbus.

“The early goals in each half helped us calm our nerves a little bit,” head coach John Bluem said. “We told the guys to play with confidence because of our record at home and in our last 13 games. “The last time we played Rutgers, they didn’t see Marcus and his pace is hard to keep up with so he had a good impact on the game. Danny did a great job in the attacking midfield role and so did Solawa, he played some great minutes for us today.”

Four different Ohio State players scored, including freshman Alex Nichols with his first career tally, as the Buckeyes claimed their 12th win in their last 13 matches and improve their home record to 10-1-1 in 2015. Freshman Abdi Mohamed, junior Danny Jensen and junior Christian Soldat also netted scores. Ohio State advances to its first tournament final since the 2009 season. The Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year, senior Chris Froschauer made five saves to collect his Big Ten-best tenth shutout of the season and improve to 13-5-2.

“Froschauer had a brilliant save in the second half when we were under a little pressure,” Bluem said. “We were just a little bit too much for them today. We were too strong and playing here at home was tough for Rutgers to overcome.”

The Buckeyes went right to work in the opening moments of the contest as Mohamed found the back of the net 57 seconds into the first half. Jensen worked the ball through midfield and sent a through pass to Marcus McCrary. The speedy OSU forward went wide and sent it back inside where Yaw Amankwa tapped it back for Mohamed to finish into the top of the net for his second goal of the season.

Nineteen minutes later, Ohio State would double its lead when Jensen tucked away a header from the top of the six. The goal was Jensen’s fifth of the year and came off a well-played cross from sophomore defender Hunter Robertson.

“They beat us earlier in the season and they are a very good team,” Jensen said. “I think the guys coming off that shaky Penn State win, we really stepped it up. We want our names to be heard and I think we made a statement today. We need to stay confident, get our treatments, do what we can to keep focus and treat our bodies well. Other than that we’re going to be ready.”

Despite coming out of the break against the wind, Ohio State was able to strike early again when Amankwa collected a loose ball in the box and found Soldat alone on the back post at 45:15 and open the contest, 3-0.

Rutgers wouldn’t go away quietly, outshooting the Buckeyes, 7-6, in the second half. However, the OSU backline held strong and limited the high-powered offense to just five shots on goal. Froschauer made a big save with his left hand in the 50th minute to maintain the shutout. The OSU keeper has allowed just four goals in 12 matches on his home field this season.

“The guys in front of me are performing every day at their best,” Froschauer said. “Things were tough with the windy conditions but our line stepped up and made things easy for me today. We scored four brilliant goals today. Having those guys up top really makes a dangerous team moving forward.”

In the final 10 minutes, coach Bluem went to his bench to give the younger Buckeyes some solid experience and a special moment happened in the 87th minute. Nichols, who was making his fifth appearance of the year, converted with a perfect strike from 30 yards out off a Rutgers turnover for his first career goal at 86:24. The assist was credited to Jacob Duska. All in all, it was a pretty great day to be a Buckeye.

Overall, shots were 11-10 in favor of Ohio State, while Rutgers held a 5-4 lead in corners. It took Maryland a six-round penalty shootout (3-2) to advance past No. 2 seed Indiana in a 1-1 double overtime draw. Ohio State defeated the Terps, 1-0, Oct. 31 in route to its fourth Big Ten title in school history.

MATCH NOTES

Ohio State improves to 2-1 all-time vs. Rutgers. Both victories were in Columbus.
The Buckeyes are now 18-19-2 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament and are making their sixth appearance in the tournament final (1997, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2015).
The Scarlet and Gray are 2-2-1 in Big Ten tournament finals.
The Buckeyes score four goals for the first time since the team defeated Rutgers, 4-1, Oct. 25, 2014 in Columbus.
Ohio State improves to 10-1-1 at home this season. The ten home victories is a school record.
The Buckeyes have won nine straight matches at home and unbeaten in 10 in a row.
Ohio State has not trailed at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in more than 941 minutes (since Aug. 30).
The Buckeyes are outscoring their opponents, 20-6, on their home field.
Chris Froschauer collected his Big Ten-best 10th shutout of the season.
Danny Jensen leads all active Buckeyes with 14 goals in his career.
Christian Soldat has scored all five of his goals this season in Columbus.
Yaw Amankwa notched a match-high two assists, while Jacob Duska and Hunter Robertson each boasted their second helpers of the season. Marcus McCrary picked up his third point of the year with an assist. Freshman Alex Nichols scored his first career goal off the bench in the 87th minute.