No. 5 Buckeyes Defeat No. 17 Rutgers to Advance to B1G Tournament Title Game

Thursday, May 1

Ann Arbor, Mich.

Noon

Ohio State

13-2

Rutgers (B1G Semifinal)

7-8

Rutgers

Ohio State

No. 5 Buckeyes Defeat No. 17 Rutgers to Advance to B1G Tournament Title Game

5/1/2025 3:04:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

Box Score

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 5 Ohio State men's lacrosse team secured a spot in the 2025 Big Ten Tournament title game with an 11-7 win over No. 17 Rutgers Thursday afternoon at U-M Lacrosse Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The Buckeyes (13-2, 4-1 B1G) earned their first conference tournament win over the Scarlet Knights (7-8, 3-2 B1G) in the teams' second all-time Big Ten Tournament meeting.

Ohio State advances in the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since the 2022 season and recorded its first Big Ten semifinal win since 2017. The Buckeyes will play in the tournament title game for the third time in program history.

How it Happened
Ohio State only trailed for two minutes in Thursday's game and a first quarter hat trick by Alex Marinier gave the Buckeyes both of their leads in the contest. Marinier scored the first goal of the game for the initial lead and, after a two-goal run by Rutgers, recorded the game-tying goal at 6:37 and the go-ahead goal at 2:09 to give Ohio State the 3-2 lead and the advantage it would hold for the remainder of the contest.

In the opening frame, the Buckeye defense held Rutgers to just five shots and goalie Caleb Fyock made two saves to keep the Buckeyes in front.

Ohio State continued its scoring run in the second quarter as Gannon Matthews tallied the only goals of the quarter, scoring at 9:13 and 1:16 to increase the Buckeye lead to three goals at the half. Fyock made an incredible double save as the first half clock was expiring to keep the Scarlet Knights out of the goal in the second stanza and give Ohio State the 5-2 halftime edge.

Garrett Haas made it five consecutive goals for the Buckeyes with a tally at 12:57 to bring the score to 6-2 in favor of the Buckeyes in the third quarter.

The Ohio State defense held Rutgers without a goal for over 26 minutes from the first quarter to the third, with the Scarlet Knights finally tallying their third goal 2:57 into the second half. Rutgers scored again at 9:27 to cut the Buckeye advantage to two goals, but Liam White sent a shot past Rutgers goaltender Cardin Stoller with 40 seconds to play in the third quarter to give Ohio State the 8-5 lead entering the final frame.

Jack Oldman went 4-for-7 from the faceoff dot in the third quarter to give the Buckeyes the chance to further solidify their lead. He picked up a game-high eight ground balls on the day.

Ohio State started the fourth quarter with goals from Ed Shean (14:34) and Jack McKenna (10:30) as Ohio State recorded its largest lead of the game with the 10-5 advantage. Rutgers scored twice in the fourth quarter in the attempt to turn the game in its favor, but Matthews iced the game with 32 seconds to play to secure the 11-7 win.

Fyock ended his 14-save game with five stops in the fourth quarter. The victory is his13th of the season in goal for the Buckeyes. He has now made double digit saves in eight straight games.

In addition to Marinier, Matthews scored his second consecutive hat trick. Seven players scored in Thursday's game for the Buckeyes. McKenna also had a three-point game with two assists and a goal.

Greg Langermeier led the team with two caused turnovers on the day.

Up Next
Ohio State will play the winner of the second semifinal between No. 2 seed Maryland and No. 3 seed Penn State on Saturday, May 3 at 8 p.m. from U-M Lacrosse Stadium. The game will be televised on Big Ten Network with Joe Beninati, Mark Dixon and Mitchell Pehlke on the call.

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