No. 8 Ohio State, Harvard Tangle Saturday in Neutral Site Contest
2/25/2022 7:02:52 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Game Notes / 2022 Schedule & Results / 2022 Roster / 2022 Stats
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Coming off its first road win of the season and debut in the national rankings, Ohio State looks to build on its momentum as it heads south this weekend to take on Harvard at the Southwest Florida Shootout. The game will be played at the Paradise Coast Sports Complex Stadium in Naples, Fla.
For those who cannot attend, Saturday’s matchup will be streamed on BTN+ (subscription required). Patrick Reed will handle the play by play duties with Eric Simon offering color commentary.
| Ohio State vs. Harvard • The Basics | |
| Date: | Feb. 26, 2022 |
| Time: | 7 p.m. |
| Venue: | Paradise Coast Sports Complex Stadium; Naples, Fla. |
| Watch: | BTN+ |
| Game Notes: | Ohio State / Harvard |
| All-Time Series: | Ohio State leads, 1-0 |
| Last Meeting: | Ohio State won, 13-4, in Columbus (Feb. 25, 2007) |
| Twitter: | @OhioStateMLAX |
| Instagram: | @OhioStateMLAX |
Briefly on the Buckeyes
- On the strength of last week’s 20-8 win at than-No. 4 North Carolina, Ohio State is 3-0 on the season and ranked No. 8 in this week’s USILA Coaches Poll.
- Ohio State possesses the nation’s No. 6-ranked scoring offense (18.33 goals/game) and No. 6-ranked scoring defense (8.00 goals/game).
- The catalyst this far for the Buckeyes’ offense has been the combined play of senior Jack Myers (eight goals, 11 assists, 19 points), Colby Smith (team-high 10 goals), Jason Knox (nine goals, one assist, 10 points) and Jackson Reid (five goals, four assists).
- The true strength of the unit, however, is its versatility. In last week’s win, Ohio State’s first 10 goals were scored by 10 different players. Through three games, 16 different players have at least one goal.
- In the face-off X, senior Justin Inacio leads the nation with a .812 win percentage. He’s won at least 18 face-offs in every game this season.
- Aiding Inacio’s play is the wing play on the face-off unit. Trent DeCicco is 28th nationally in ground balls per game (6.33) and as a team the Buckeyes are fifth in that category (41.67 per game).
- Goalie Caton Johnson has started all three games and possesses a 7.89 goals-against average and .551 save percentage, which both are among the top-20 nationally. He’s coming off a 12-save performance last week, which was a season high.
What a Win Would Mean
- Ohio State would improve to 4-0 on the season for the fourth time in the last six years.
- The Buckeyes would be 2-0 all-time against Harvard
- It would be Ohio State’s second win in the state of Florida in the past five years. In 2018, it defeated Jacksonville in overtime, 12-11, at the Moe’s Southwest Grill Classic.
Scouting Harvard
- Harvard opened its season last Saturday at home and defeated NJIT, 17-4.
- It was the Crimson’s first game is over 700 days, since March of 2020.
- Harvard had 11 goal scorers, with a pair of three-goal efforts from Austin Madronic and Miles Botkiss.
- Head coach Gerry Byrne is in his third season at Harvard and has a 3-2 record. His first team was 2-2 before the remainder of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ivy League/Harvard canceled the entire 2021 season due to COVID-19.
Recapping the UNC Win
- Last Saturday was the fifth time in head coach Nick Myers’ tenure that Ohio State has defeated a top-five opponent while being unranked. The other four times were: 2011 vs. North Carolina, 2012 vs. Denver, 2015 vs. Denver and 2018 vs. Maryland.
- The 20 goals scored were the most ever by a Myers-coached team against a ranked opponent.
- Jack Myers finished the game with nine points and seven assists. His assists total is the most by an Ohio State player since Jesse King has seven vs. Delaware in 2014.
- For their efforts in the win, Myers and Justin Inacio earned weekly awards from the Big Ten.
- Myers was the conference’s Offensive Player of the Week while Inacio was the Specialist of the Week.
- It was the second time in the first three weeks that Inacio’s has claimed the Specialist of the Week award.
Buckeyes on National Television
- Six of Ohio State’s final 10 games will be on either BTN or ESPNU, starting with its next home game: March 12 vs. Notre Dame (BTN).
- All five of the Buckeyes’ conference games will be on television.
- The March 27 conference opener at Rutgers will appear on ESPNU, as will the following week’s game at home vs. Penn State on Friday afternoon, April 1, at 5 p.m.
- The Buckeyes’ final ESPNU regular season game is slated for Saturday, April 9 vs. Johns Hopkins at Ohio Stadium.
- Ohio State’s game on the road vs. Maryland and at home vs. Michigan will both appear on BTN.
- The Big Ten Tournament will be broadcast in its entirety on BTN, with quarterfinals games April 30.
Stats and Such
- With his nine-point showing vs. North Carolina, Jack Myers moved into the top 20 for career points. He has 130 (in 32 games), which ties him with Brian Driscoll for No. 20 all-time.
- Myers needs just four assists to move into the top 10 on the career list in that category. He has 59 currently and the No. 10 spot belongs to Kevin Johnson (63 from 1997-99).
- Justin Inacio is No. 4 among all active Division I players in career faceoffs won with 586.
- Inacio’s 586 career face-off wins is second only to Jake Withers (614 from 2014-17) and his ground ball total of 285 is also second to Withers (351).
A Total Team Effort
- Ohio State is one of just two teams in the country (with more than one game played) that ranks in the top 10 in both scoring offense and scoring defense.
- The Buckeyes also possess top-10 national rankings in man-up offense (fourth, .692), man-down defense (eighth, .900) and ground balls per game (fifth, 41.67).
Newcomers Make an Impact
- Several members of Ohio State’s freshman class, in addition to its group of five transfers, have made immediate contributions over the first three weeks.
- Freshman Bobby Van Buren has started two of three games at close defense and so far has two caused turnovers and five ground balls. The one game that he didn’t start, that nod went to Tyler Gallagher, a transfer from Lynchburg who was a Division II All-American.
- Jason Knox, a former Tewaaraton Award Watch List member at Hobart, is the team’s third-leading scorer so far with 10 points.
- Freshman James Gurr has five points (4G, 1A) while Ari Allen has started all three games in the midfield and has contributed four points (3G, 1A).
- Ed Shean, also a freshman, has two points on a goal and an assist.
- Drew Blanchard, who like Knox transferred in this offseason from Hobart, has won 10 of 13 faceoffs.
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