Ohio State
Michigan
No. 11 Ohio State Posts 13-8 Road Win over Michigan – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
April 12, 2015
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The No. 11-ranked Ohio State men’s lacrosse team claimed the Creator’s Trophy with a 13-8 win over Michigan Sunday in Michigan Stadium. The Buckeyes, winners of their last three games and 6-1 in their last seven outings, improve to 10-3 overall and are 3-0 in Big Ten Conference play. The game was the first for Ohio State and Michigan (5-6, 1-2 B1G) as B1G foes.
“This was a great overall team effort,” Nick Myers, Ohio State head coach, said. “We understood the responsibility we had to win on the road together. We are excited to bring home a Big Ten win and the Creator’s Trophy back to Columbus.”
Next up, the Buckeyes will host No. 3-ranked Maryland at 11 a.m. Saturday in the Showdown in the Shoe prior to the Ohio State football spring game. General admission tickets, which include both the lacrosse and football games, are $5 each and can be purchased online (go.osu.edu/Buy2015SpringGameTix), in person at any Ticketmaster outlet or the Ohio State Ticket Office or by calling 1-800-GOBUCKS. Tickets will also be available on game day. Children 6 and under are free, along with Ohio State students who present a valid BuckID.
Sunday in Ann Arbor, Ohio State scored the game’s first two goals before Michigan tallied four in a row to take a 4-2 lead early in the second quarter. The Buckeyes answered with a five-goal run, shutting out the Wolverines until halftime, to carry a 7-4 lead into intermission. Ohio State outscored Michigan 5-2 in the third quarter to extend the lead to 12-7. Michigan scored twice, with one Ohio State goal, in the fourth quarter for the 13-8 final.
In all, 12 Buckeyes had at least one point in the win, with eight scoring at least one goal. Freshman Colin Chell led the way with a career high three goals, two assists and five points. Senior David Planning had his first career three assist and five point outing. Junior Carter Brown had two goals and an assist for a three-point day and junior Ryan Hunter scored twice, while seniors Jesse King (1g, 1a) and Turner Evans (2a) had two points each. Redshirt sophomore goalie Tom Carey made 11 saves and graduate student Christopher May had 13 faceoff wins and picked up a game-high 10 groundballs, as well as scoring a goal.
In the first quarter, Ohio State opened the scoring at 14:03 on a goal from Planning, set up by Evans, and Brown scored 16 seconds later (13:47) off an assist from senior Reegan Comeault. Michigan scored the next four goals to take a 4-2 lead at 12:17 of the second quarter. The Wolverines got on the board 15 seconds after Brown’s goal (13:32), tied the game at 9:36 and went ahead 3-2 at 6:07. Shots were 10-9 in favor of the Buckeyes in the quarter.
The Wolverines’ Kyle Jackson netted the first goal of the second quarter at 12:17 for a two-goal advantage (4-2). Ohio State then went on a five-goal run, including three goals in the final 1:40, for a 7-4 lead at halftime. Sophomore John Kelly found King for a goal at 10:19 and Planning set up Chell for a goal at 8:26 to tie the game at four. At 1:40 Planning assisted on a goal from Hunter that trickled in to put Ohio State on top (5-4). May won the next faceoff and ran into the UM zone and scored his second goal of the year, tallying just six seconds after Hunter’s tally. With time winding down, Pfister came around the net and found sophomore JT Blubaugh at the far side for a goal with nine seconds left in the quarter. Ohio State outshot Michigan, 14-8, in the stanza.
The Buckeyes outscored the Wolverines 5-2 in the third quarter, part of a 10-3 run, to push ahead, 12-6. UM scored the first goal of the stanza at 13:19 to make it a two-goal game (7-5). Soon after, Buckeye freshman Erik Evans caused a turnover and cleared the ball; Planning found Brown for a goal at 11:59 to complete the play. At 9:58 Brown set up a score by Hunter for a 9-5 Ohio State lead. UM answered at 8:40 but Chell scored back-to-back goals – at 7:47 set up by Evans and man-up at 6:14 assisted by King – to make the Buckeye lead 11-6. Chell assisted on a goal from sophomore John Kelly at 2:20 for the final goal of the quarter. Each team had eight shots in the stanza.
The teams combined for three goals in the fourth quarter, with Michigan outshooting the Buckeyes 10-7. UM’s Mike Francia tallied man-up at 10:18 and Planning scored for the Buckeyes, taking a pass from Chell after he picked up a rebound, at 5:58. The final goal came from the Wolverines with 16 seconds left in regulation.
Ohio State outshot Michigan, 39-35, in the game. Carey had 11 saves, allowing seven goals, in 59:15 for the Buckeyes. It was his ninth game with 10 or more saves this season and he has a 7.65 goals-against average and .559 save percentage this year. Senior Cameron Stephens played the final 45 seconds and allowed one goal. Michigan’s Gerald Logan had 11 saves in all 60 minutes.
The Buckeyes had the edge in groundballs (36-28), faceoffs (16-9) and clears (15-for-16/14-for-21). May had a team-high 10 groundballs for the Buckeyes and won 13-for-20 faceoffs, while sophomore Jake Withers won 3-of-5 and had two groundballs. This season, May has won 152-of-235 (.647) faceoffs and has a team-high 106 groundballs (8.15 per game). Junior Chris Mahoney had two of the Buckeyes’ six caused turnovers in the game.
The Creator’s Trophy is an annual traveling award among the first three Big Ten member schools that sponsored men’s lacrosse (Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State) that was established in 2012. The trophy is only awarded when a team is 2-0 vs. the other schools. The Buckeyes, who first won the trophy in 2013, won at Penn State March 29 (10-8) to open Creator’s Trophy play before the victory over Michigan.
King leads the Buckeyes with 30 goals, 18 assists and 48 points this season. Brown is second with 26 goals and 40 assists and tied with Planning for second with 14 assists each. Planning now has a career-high 14 assists and 27 points this season. Hunter and Planning are tied for third with 13 goals each, followed by Chell with 12.
