No. 23 Buckeyes Fall to No. 16 Scarlet Knights in B1G Tourney

Box Score

COLUMBUS, Ohio – In the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament Thursday afternoon in State College, Pa., the No. 23 Ohio State women’s lacrosse team lost to No. 16 Rutgers, 19-13. The No. 4 seed Scarlet Knights (6-7) advance to face No. 1 seed Northwestern in the semifinals Friday, with Ohio State (4-9) eliminated from the tournament.

The Short Story

The first half was back and forth, with neither team able to extend the lead beyond two goals. Ohio State scored first and led 2-1 at 26:29. Rutgers scored four of the next five for a 5-3 advantage at 12:46. The Buckeyes answered with back-to-back goals for a 5-all game at 8:37 but Rutgers went on a run of its own to lead 7-5 at 7:32. The teams traded goals for an 8-6 game with 3:28 left. Ohio State notched the last two goals of the first half, at 2:44 and :41, for an 8-all deadlock at halftime.

The teams traded goals to start the second half before back-to-back RU scores put the Scarlet Knights ahead 11-9 with 22:37 left. Ohio State drew within one (11-10) at 21:48 but a three-goal Rutgers run pushed the lead to four for the first time at 17:56. Ohio State tallied three of the next four to make it a two-goal game (15-13) at 9:55, but Rutgers held the Buckeyes scoreless the rest of the way, adding four goals before the final horn.

Buckeyes Liza Hernandez, Nicole Ferrara and Lindsay Epstein all had five points in the game vs. the Scarlet Knights. Epstein notched a career-high four goals, while Hernandez also scored four times and Ferrara had a hat trick and two assists. The Buckeyes won 15 draw controls, led by Chloe Johnson with seven, and Ohio State had nine caused turnovers, paced by Hernandez and Epstein with two each.

Epstein was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team at the conclusion of the tournament. In addition to her four goals, five points and two caused turnovers, she had four draw controls and two ground balls.

Rutgers 19, Ohio State 13

• The teams traded early free position goals, with Liza Hernandez opening the scoring 57 seconds into the game.
• After Jamie Lasda put Ohio State ahead with her second goal of the season, scoring off an assist from Nicole Ferrara, at 26:29, Rutgers scored the next two for a 3-2 lead at 21:29.
• Ohio State stopped the run with a free position score from Ferrara at 17:27 to tie the game (3-3).
• The Scarlet Knights answered with two goals in less than two minutes for a 5-3 advantage but Ohio State tied the game, with Lindsay Epstein setting up Ferrara’s second goal of the day at 11:43 and Hernandez scoring on a free position shot with the Buckeyes up a player at 8:37.
• Rutgers scored three of the next four, with Epstein tallying on a free position chance, and RU led 8-6 with 3:28 left in the half.
• Hernandez scored 44 seconds later to draw Ohio State within one and Epstein and Ferrara connected for a player-up goal with 41 seconds left in the half to tie the game at eight.
• Rutgers notched the first goal of the second half at 25:53 and Epstein scored her third of the day on a free position chance 53 seconds later to again tie the game (9-9).
• The Scarlet Knights scored back-to-back in less than a minute to take an 11-9 lead. After Sophie Baez set up Hernandez at 21:48 for a one-goal game, Rutgers went on a three-goal run for a 14-10 advantage with 17:56 remaining.
• Buckeye Chloe Johnson stopped the RU run at 13:50, answered by Rutgers’ Jenna Byrne at 12:51.
• Ferrara (from Hernandez) and Epstein (assisted by Jamie Level) tallied in a 45 second span to make it a two-goal game with 9:55 remaining (15-13).
• That was the closest Ohio State would get. Rutgers shut out the Buckeyes the rest of the way, scoring four goals in the last 6:34, for the final.

Stats Synopsis

• Rutgers had the slight edge in shots, 34-32. Freshman goalie Regan Alexander made her first start for the Buckeyes and had five saves, while Rutgers’ goalie made 15 stops.
• The Scarlet Knights led in draw controls, 19-15, and ground balls, 20-15. Johnson had a team-best seven draw controls for Ohio State, with Epstein notching a career-high four.
• Ohio State had just nine turnovers, with Rutgers turning the ball over 19 times. Ohio State posted nine caused turnovers, with Hernandez and Epstein each recording two.
• The Buckeyes were 6-for-7 on free position chances, including 5-for-5 in the first half, with Rutgers 2-for-6.
• Ohio State cleared 14-of-15 chances and Rutgers ended the game 14-for-19,

Buckeye This and That

• Hernandez leads the Buckeyes with a career-high 38 goals and 43 points. She moved into fifth in program history in career points (189) and goals (137) and is now seventh with 52 assists.
• Johnson is first on the team with 45 draw controls and had five or more in each of the last five games.
• Epstein had a career-best four goals and five points and her third game this year with three-plus tallies. She has a career-high 16 goals and 22 points this season.
• Ferrara is second for the Buckeyes with 25 goals and 33 points after a five-point outing vs. Rutgers with a hat trick and two assists. The five points were one shy of the career-high six she had vs. Northwestern two games ago and it was her fourth career two-assist game. She has multiple goals in nine outings, including in each of the last six (with 16 in the six combined).