Ohio State
10-3, 3-2
Michigan
5-8, 2-3
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| Ohio St. | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
No. 9 Buckeyes Earn Rivalry Win over Michigan Friday
4/17/2026 10:18:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 9 Ohio State men’s lacrosse team closed the 2026 regular season with a Big Ten rivalry win over Michigan Friday night. The Buckeyes (10-3, 3-2 B1G) defeated the Wolverines (5-8, 2-3 B1G), 9-8, in front of a sold-out crowd at Ohio State Lacrosse Stadium.
Short Story
Ohio State battled back from an early deficit and, after tying the game three times, tallied the game-winning goal with 3.4 seconds remaining in regulation. Garrett Haas, who was held scoreless all game, recorded the game-winning goal.
Graduate midfielder Logan Soelberg led the Buckeyes with a career-high three goals on the day. Jackson Birtwistle, Alex Marinier and Cullen Brown also added goals, resulting in six of the team’s nine goals scored by players recognized pregame on Senior Day.
Junior faceoff specialist Jack Oldman went 12-for-18 from the dot to finish .667 on the day. He added 11 ground balls in the win.
Caleb Fyock made seven saves on the day to hold the Wolverines to eight goals. The junior grabbed five ground balls and caused a turnover in his ninth win of the season.
How it Happened
- Michigan got out to a quick start, scoring three goals in the first eight minutes of the game. Marinier put Ohio State on the board at 5:37 to halt the Wolverine scoring run, but Michigan added its fourth goal with nine seconds to play in the opening quarter for the 4-1 advantage after 15 minutes.
- The Buckeye defense went on to hold Michigan to just two goals over the next 30 minutes. Ohio State outscored the Wolverines 3-1 in both the second and third quarters for the one-goal advantage after the third.
- Ohio State tallied three goals in the opening 10:11 of the second quarter to erase the Michigan lead.
- Brown picked up a ground ball in the defensive end and took it all the way to the goal himself for his second career goal and the team’s first in the scoring spree at 10:15 in the second.
- Jake Struck, a freshman from Powell, recorded his first goal of in the rivalry less than a minute later to cut the Wolverine lead down to one.
- Caleb Fyock made three saves on Michigan to keep the deficit at one and Liam White tied the game at 4:49.
- Oldman won four of the five faceoffs in the second quarter to give the Buckeyes the possession chances they needed to come back.
- The Wolverines were able to get the final goal of the half to take the one-goal lead at the break.
- In the third quarter, it was Ohio State striking first again, this time with a goal from Soelberg at 12:18 to tie the game for the second time. Michigan took the lead again at 7:40, but Soelberg responded with another goal at 4:40.
- The Buckeyes took their first lead of the game with 2:27 in the third quarter off a goal from Birtwistle, his first goal in two months.
- Fyock made two saves in the third stanza and Oldman added three wins on the faceoff.
- Ohio State and Michigan traded goals in the fourth quarter. For every Wolverine goal, the Buckeyes answered back. Michigan tied the game twice in the final frame, once at 13:30 and again at 3:45.
- The Buckeye defense forced the Wolverines to take a shot clock violation with 7:10 to play in the fourth quarter and Soelberg went on to score on the next possession at 6:38 for his third goal of the day.
- Another shot clock violation by Michigan with under a minute to play gave Ohio State the final possession of the game. Soelberg appeared to score the game-winning goal, but a timeout was called by the Buckeyes with 19.3 seconds on the clock. Instead, it was Haas who buried the game-winning goal with 3.4 seconds to play.
Game Notes
- Soelberg recorded his first career hat trick with three goals Friday against the Wolverines. He tied the game twice and scored his third goal on the team’s eighth goal of the game.
- With the win, Ohio State keeps the Creator’s Trophy in Columbus and earns its second straight golden Buckeye.
- Friday’s game was the team’s third playing in front of a sold-out crowd at Ohio State Lacrosse Stadium. There were 2,713 fans in attendance to watch the Buckeyes take down Michigan.
- Oldman has now recorded double digit ground balls in three games this season with 11 Friday against the Wolverines.
- Ohio State has recorded 10 wins for the second consecutive season. This year marks the first back-to-back 10-win seasons for the Buckeyes since 1965 and 1966.
Up Next
The Buckeyes will play in the Big Ten Tournament next, with their seed in the tournament to be determined following the conclusion of the regular season on Saturday. The top two teams in the regular season standings earn a first round bye into the tournament semifinals. First round games between seeds three through six will be held on the campus’ of the higher seeds on April 25. The Big Ten Tournament semifinals and finals will be held at Rutgers April 30-May 2 and hosted by Rutgers at SHI Stadium.
#GoBucks
