Ohio State
8-4
Louisville
5-7
Buckeyes Win in Overtime at Louisville, 13-12
3/31/2022 10:48:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A Lindsay Epstein player-down goal with less than a second remaining in overtime gave the Ohio State women's lacrosse team a 13-12 road victory over Louisville Thursday evening at Cardinal Stadium in Louisville. Nicole Ferrara assisted on the gamewinner, one of her team-best five points in the game, and Epstein and Chloe Johnson, who also recorded 10 draw controls, each had a hat trick.
The Buckeyes are now 8-4 on the year (1-1 Big Ten) and the Cardinals are 5-7 (1-3 ACC).
The Short Story
Louisville led 3-1 after the first quarter but the Buckeyes scored the first three goals of the second stanza, part of a four-goal run, to go ahead 4-3. Louisville answered with two straight tallies to push ahead, 5-4. Ohio State then took control, scoring five goals to close out the first half while shutting out the Cards. All told, the Buckeyes outscored Louisville 8-2 in the second quarter for a 9-5 lead at halftime.
The Buckeyes and Cardinals scored three times in the third quarter, trading goals early before each team tallied twice in a row for a 12-8 Ohio State advantage heading into the fourth quarter. In the final stanza, Louisville kept Ohio State off the scoreboard and scored four times to tie the game, deadlocking the score with 2:03 left in regulation.
Ohio State made a defensive stop at the end of the first three-minute session of overtime. In the second, the Buckeyes went a player-down with 1:51 on the clock. Lindsay Epstein forced a turnover and the Buckeyes cleared the ball with less than 20 seconds left. Nicole Ferrara found Epstein in front of the cage and she scored with less than a second remaining to give the Buckeyes the win.
LINDSAY EPSTEIN.
GAME-WINNING OT BUZZER BEATER. @OhioStateWLAX tops @LouisvilleLax 13-12 in a thriller. pic.twitter.com/ZhZUvjhpb4
— USA Lacrosse Magazine (@USALacrosseMag) April 1, 2022
Ferrara led the Buckeyes with five points, on two goals and three assists, while Epstein and Chloe Johnson each had a hat trick. Jamie Level had two goals and an assist for three points, Jamie Lasda scored twice and Ali Beekhuizen and Sophie Baez each had two assists.
The Buckeyes won 21-of-30 draw controls. Johnson recorded 10, giving her 99 on the year, while Jamie Level had five and Epstein had three. Caly O'Brien, Epstein and Sarah Johnson each had two caused turnovers and O'Brien had a team-high three ground balls. Goalie Regan Alexander made eight saves.
Up Next
Ohio State will return to Big Ten play with a 7:30 p.m. game on BTN at Michigan April 8.
How it Happened
- Louisville controlled much of the opening quarter, tallying the first three goals of the game, at 13:11, 12:06 and 6:22.
- Ohio State ended the run at 5:50 on a Lindsay Epstein tally.
- The Cards led 3-1 after the opening 15 minutes and outshot Ohio State 8-6 in the first quarter. Regan Alexander had four saves for Ohio State in the stanza.
- Ohio State scored three times in the first 2:56 of the second quarter, part of a four-goal run, to take its first lead of the game. Ali Beekhuizen set up Jamie Lasda at 14:12 for a one-goal game.
- Chloe Johnson, off an assist from Sophie Baez, and Jamie Level found the back of the cage 40 seconds apart at 12:44 and 12:04, to tie the game and put the Buckeyes ahead.
- The Cardinals answered with back-to-back scores at 11:24 and 10:05 to regain the lead, 5-4.
- The Buckeyes then outscored Louisville, 5-0, before halftime to take a 9-5 lead into the break. Ohio State had 13 shots in the stanza, holding the Cardinals to four.
- Jane Cowley deadlocked the score at five at 9:28 and at 5:44 Baez found Ferrara for a score and 6-5 Ohio State lead. Ferrara then assisted on a Johnson goal at 5:44. Jamie Level tallied at 3:39 and Ferrara and Johnson again connected at 2:40, with Johnson completing her hat trick.
- Each team scored three times in the third quarter, leaving Ohio State ahead 12-8 through 45 minutes.
- The squads traded early goals in the third, with Level setting up Lindsay Epstein at 13:05. Hannah Morris scored the next two for Louisville for a 10-7 game.
- Ferrara and Jamie Lasda (assisted by Beekhuizen) scored in a 52 second span at 3:55 and 3:03 for the Buckeyes.
- The Cardinals shut out Ohio State through the end of regulation, scoring four times in the fourth to tie the game. Louisville cut the Buckeye advantage to two with goals at 13:15 and 10:41, drew within one at 2:42 and then tied the game 49 seconds later on Morris' sixth goal of the game.
- Neither team was able to score through the first 5:59 of the first overtime. Ohio State had the only three shot attempts in OT.
- A Buckeye was assessed a yellow card with 1:51 remaining. Louisville, player-up, had the ball before Epstein caused a turnover and the Buckeyes were able to clear.
- With time winding down, Ferrara found Epstein all alone in front and she scored into the top corner with less than a second remaining for the Buckeye win.
- Ohio State had the shot advantage, 35-24, in the game, with Alexander ending with eight saves.
- The Buckeyes had 21 draw controls, including a perfect 7-for-7 in the third quarter and 11-1 advantage in the second half. Johnson had 10, Level five and Epstein three.
- Ohio State caused nine turnovers, with Caly O'Brien, Epstein and Sara Johnson each forcing two. O'Brien had three of the Buckeyes' 13 ground balls to lead the squad.
Noting the Buckeyes
- Johnson had her third career hat trick and second in a row. She moved her program record for single-season draw controls to 99 and remains in third place in the career record book with 184. It was her sixth game with double digit draw controls. The 10 draw controls is tie for the eight-most in a single game in Buckeye history.
- Ferrara moved her point streak to 17; she has 38 goals, 20 assists and 48 points during her scoring streak. It was her fourth career five-point game (second in a row) and her second straight game with a career-high three assists. She is first on the team with 17 assists and second with 22 goals and 39 points.
- Epstein had her fourth career game with three or more goals. She is third on the team with 21 goals and 27 points, all career highs.
- Lasda leads the Buckeyes with 32 goals and 39 points and moved her point streak to 13 games, with 33 goals and 40 points in the stretch.
- Baez, the reigning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, had a third-straight multi-assist outing. She is second on the team with 10 assists this year and fourth with 24 points.
