Ohio State
Penn State
Buckeyes Fall to No. 18 Penn State, 6-5 – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
April 3, 2016
Buckeye highlights from the B1G opener vs. Penn State today in #TheShoe. #GoBucks https://t.co/c5tjHly0MY
— Ohio State Men’s LAX (@OhioState_MLAX) April 3, 2016
COLUMBUS, Ohio – In the Big Ten Conference opener for both teams, the Ohio State men’s lacrosse team fell to No. 18 Penn State, 6-5, Sunday afternoon in Ohio Stadium. The Buckeyes trailed 4-1 at halftime and 5-3 after three quarters but scored back-to-back goals to tie the game at five with 6:53 left in regulation. The Nittany Lions (7-3, 1-0 B1G) were able to break the tie with 1:41 remaining and held on for the win. Junior goalie Tom Carey led the way for the Buckeyes with 13 saves in the game.
Ohio State (5-6, 0-1 B1G) hits the road for a B1G game at Johns Hopkins Saturday. The teams will meet at 2 p.m. at Homewood Field in Baltimore, with ESPNU televising the matchup.
Comments from Coach Myers and Robby Haus after the Buckeyes’ game vs Penn State today. #GoBucks https://t.co/X833aeRcUv
— Ohio State Men’s LAX (@OhioState_MLAX) April 3, 2016
Penn State led 2-1 after the first quarter. Dan Craig opened the scoring 1:07 into the game. At 5:34 Buckeye junior Austin Shanks tied the game at one, set up by junior JT Blubaugh. Penn State’s Nick Spillane put the Nittany Lions back ahead at 3:30. Shots were 10-7 in favor of the Buckeyes in the quarter and each team’s goalie made three saves.
The Nittany Lions scored the only two goals of the second quarter to take a 4-1 lead into halftime. Penn State scored at 14:11 and 2:34 of the stanza. The teams combined for 17 shots, with Ohio State ahead, 9-8. Penn State’s Will Schreiner had four saves in the quarter, with Carey making two stops.
Ohio State scored twice in a 39 second span to draw within one at 10:07 of the third quarter. Sophomore Colin Chell scored unassisted at 10:46 and then set up senior Ryan Hunter for a man-up goal at 10:07, making the score 4-3. Chell’s goal ended the Buckeyes’ scoreless streak at 24:48. A Penn State goal at 8:05 pushed the Nittany Lions’ lead back to two (5-3). Penn State had eight shots in the third quarter, with Carey making four saves, and Ohio State had six shot attempts.
The Buckeyes tied the game at five with the first two goals of the fourth quarter. Freshman Jack Jasinski scored unassisted at 9:40 and at 6:53 Chell found Blubaugh for a goal to deadlock the score. Ohio State had chances to go ahead but a save by Penn State with less than three minutes remaining gave the Nittany Lions the ball and the squad was able to clear and score on the possession, with Matt Florence breaking the tie at 1:41.
The Nittany Lions won the next faceoff but after a wide shot the Buckeyes gained possession and cleared. A final Buckeye shot was saved and PSU again cleared, allowing the Nittany Lions to close out the game. Ohio State had 13 shots in the fourth quarter, with Penn State’s goalie making six saves. Carey had four saves on eight Penn State shots.
Ohio State outshot Penn State, 38-31, in the game. Carey had 13 saves for the Buckeyes, with his sixth game this season with double-digit stops. Penn State goalie Schreiner had 15 saves.
The Buckeyes won 9-of-15 faceoffs, with junior Jake Withers taking all 15 for Ohio State. Groundballs were 20-19 in favor of Ohio State and Withers led Ohio State with six. Withers, who is among the nation’s leaders in groundballs per game, is first for Ohio State with a career-high 84 this season. He has won 126-of-212 (.594) faceoffs this year.
Postgame notes: Chell, with a goal and two assists for three points, had his fourth multiple point outing in seven games played this season and now has 14 points, with nine goals and five assists … the Buckeyes have held eight opponents to nine or fewer goals this season and are allowing 8.73 goals per game … Shanks extended his point streak to nine with his goal and has a 11-11-22 line in the stretch; he leads the squad with 13 assists and 25 points … senior Chris Mahoney had two caused turnovers vs. Penn State and is first on the team with 10 … Blubaugh, with two points on a goal and an assist, had his fourth multiple point game and has a 12-5-17 line this season, all career highs … Hunter, who has eight goals and five assists for 13 points, is on an eight-game point streak (7g, 4a, 11p) … the game was part of the Creator’s Trophy competition for 2016 … the game was the Buckeyes’ third one goal-loss in the last four games … Ohio State has played a Top 20 ranked team each of its last five games.
