Ohio State Earns a 12-10 Win over Hofstra

ADDITIONAL INFO
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – A well-balanced offensive attack that saw eight different goal scorers and a career day from goalie Josh Kirson was the recipe that the 18th-ranked Ohio State men’s lacrosse team used to earn a 12-10 win over Hofstra on Saturday afternoon at Ohio Stadium. The Buckeyes improve to 4-2 on the season while Hofstra is 3-3.

The Short Story
Ohio State built an 8-3 halftime lead and was able to hold on in the end thanks in large part to Kirson, who stopped a career-high 19 shots, including 12 in the second half. The Buckeyes’ offense was paced by Griffin Hughes, who scored three times and also added an assist. Tre Leclaire and Johnny Wiseman each had two goals while Jackson Reid, Jack Myers, Colby Smith, Lukas Buckley and Brandon Barker each had one goal.

Kirson’s 19 saves are tied with Mike Rimmer and Stefan Schroder for the most in a game since 2005. It’s his fifth consecutive game with 10 or more stops and tops his previous career high of 18 that was set just one month ago in a 11-4 win at Boston University.

Quotable
“Another battle today,” said head coach Nick Myers. “Josh was outstanding in goal and offensively we were well-balanced. Getting a couple transition goals in the second half was big. We will quickly regroup and get ready for our game at home Tuesday vs. Notre Dame.”

How the Goals Were Scored

• Hofstra scored first two and a half minutes into the first quarter, but after that the opening 15 minutes belonged to Ohio State. Griffin Hughes scored twice and sandwiched around Leclaire’s 20th goal of the season, Ohio State had a 3-1 at the 4:19 mark of the quarter. Lukas Buckley’s first goal of the season with 3:22 remaining made the score 4-1.
• Wiseman opened the second quarter scoring three and a half minutes into the quarter to push the Ohio State lead to 5-1. After the Pride ended the run on a Ryan Tierney score (9:50), the Buckeyes reeled off two more to open their largest lead of the day, 7-2, midway through the quarter. The Ohio State scores were by Leclaire and Myers, respectively.
• Hofstra scored the first three goals of the third period to cut an 8-3 Ohio State to 8-6. At 6:51, however, Colby Smith scored off a Leclaire pass to make the score 9-6. The Pride would answer three minutes later to pull to within two, but two key transition goals gave the Buckeyes all the separation they’d need.
• Late in the third quarter, Brandon Barker went coast-to-coast after picking up a ground ball in the defensive end and scored his second goal in as many games to push Ohio State’s lead to 10-7. Two and a half minutes into the fourth quarter, Ryan Terefenko did the same thing on a clear, dishing to Jackson Reid who finished and made the score 11-7.
• Hofstra scored the game’s final three goals by Kirson also made seven fourth-quarter saves to thwart the rally.

 This and That  

• Kirson’s 19 saves are tied for the ninth most in a game nationally so far this season.
• Hughes’ hat trick is the second of his career. He also scored three times in the season-opener vs. Detroit.
• Kirson came into the game second in the Big Ten in saves per game and is now averaging 14.00 stops/game.
• The all-time series between Ohio State and Hofstra is now tied at 4-4 and the Buckeyes have won each of the last three meetings.
• Leclaire extended his streak of consecutive games with a point to 27 (he has 71 points in that span) and consecutives games with at least one goal to 24 (he has 67 goals in that span).
• Hofstra entered the game as the nation’s top clearing team (.951) and Ohio State held the Pride to just 18-of-22 (.818).
• Wiseman had his first multi-goal game of the season.
• Ohio State improved to 31-12 at home over the last six seasons.

Just the Stats
Shots: Hofstra 46, Ohio State 40
Ground Balls: Ohio State 30, Hofstra 23
Face-offs: Ohio State 13-of-26, Hofstra 13-of-26
Clears: Ohio State 18-of-20, Hofstra 18-of-22
Extra Man: Ohio State 0-for-1, Hofstra 0-for-0
Saves: Ohio State (Kirson) 19, Hofstra (Casey) 9
Turnovers: Ohio State 15, Hofstra 12
Leading Scorers: Griffin Hughes (3-1-4), Jackson Reid (1-2-3), Tre Leclaire (2-1-3), Jack Myers (1-2-3), Colby Smith (1-1-2), Johnny Wiseman (2-0-2), Brandon Barker (1-0-1), Lukas Buckley (1-0-1), Ryan Terefenko (0-1-1)

What’s Next
Ohio State continues its four-game homestand when it welcomes in No. 10 Notre Dame (2-2) to Ohio Stadium on Tuesday. Opening face-off is slated for 5 p.m. live on BTN. It will also be the Buckeyes’ annual Military Appreciation Game.