Rutgers Slips by Ohio State in Big Ten Tournament Semifinals, 12-10

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Despite a career-high and record-breaking performance in goal from senior Skylar Wahlund, the 12th-ranked and third-seeded Ohio State men’s lacrosse team was eliminated on Thursday night from the Big Ten Tournament in the semifinals by third-ranked and second-seeded Rutgers, 12-10, at Maryland Stadium in College Park, Md.

Ohio State is now 10-5 on the season while Rutgers (13-2) moves on to the championship game to face No. 1 Maryland on Saturday at 8 p.m.

Quotable
“Credit to Rutgers tonight for making the plays that they had to in the second half,” said head coach Nick Myers. “Very proud of our effort. Skylar was outstanding in goal. He’s been playing like that for several weeks now and we saw it again tonight. This team is worthy of having the chance to play more lacrosse and we certainly hope to get that opportunity Sunday night.”

The Short Story
Ohio State led 7-5 at halftime and 8-5 at the 10:04 mark of the third quarter, but Rutgers would go on a 6-0 run over the next 10 minutes of game action to surge ahead 11-8. The closest Ohio State could get in the final 10 minutes of regulation was two goals (10-8, 11-9 and 12-10).

Wahlund finished with 21 saves and in the process set the Big Ten Tournament record for stops in a game. The previous mark of 17 was held by Jack Fracyon of Penn State (2022) and Connor Darcey, also of Penn State (2015).

His 21 stops – two more than his career high of 19 set on the same field just two weeks ago vs. Maryland – are the most in a game by a Buckeye since Tony Lignelli saved 24 shots vs. Denison in 1996.

How the Goals Were Scored

• Rutgers led 2-1 midway through the opening quarter before Ohio State went on a 4-0 run, keyed by two scores Myers and one each from Reid and DiCicco, to take a 5-2 lead at the 1:23 mark.
• The Scarlet Knights scored with just 13 seconds remaining in the first quarter to make the score 5-3, and both goalies and defense settled in during the second quarter.
• Jackson Reid completed a first-half hat trick at the 6:41 mark when he cleaned up a ground ball in front of the RU goal to put Ohio State ahead 6-3.
• Brian Cameron found the back of the net for the first time in nearly 15 minutes of game action for the Scarlet Knights to cut the deficit to 6-4, but Johnny Wiseman’s unassisted tally with 13 seconds remaining sent Ohio State into the locker room with a 7-4 lead.
• Rutgers’ momentum-swinging 6-0 run started with a Mitch Bartolo goal at the 6:36 mark of the third quarter and ended when Bartolo scored again at 10:12 of the fourth quarter.
• Ed Shean netted his fifth goal of the season to draw Ohio State to within two at 11-9 with 9:17 to play, but Rutgers answered back seven minutes later with a Ross Scott goal.
• Jackson Reid closed the scoring with his fifth tally of the day with just 21 seconds remaining on the fourth quarter clock.

Buckeye This and That

• Reid scored five goals for the third straight game and has 22 in his last five games.
• His five-goal night on Thursday gives him 46 on the season, which is tied for the sixth highest in program history (Bill Haagenson also scored 46 in 1963).
• Jack Myers had two goals and three assists to give him an even 80 points on the season. That’s tied with Terry Gilmore (1979) and Brian Driscoll (1966) for second most in single-season history.
• The two goalies on Thursday night combined to make 33 saves (Wahlund – 21; Kirst – 13).
• Ohio State was playing in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals for the fourth time in program history. It is 2-2 in those games.
• Wahlund’s 21-save game gives him 68 over the last four games with a .562 save percentage.

Statistically Speaking
Shots: Rutgers 47, Ohio State 35
Ground Balls: Rutgers 29, Ohio State 25
Faceoffs: Ohio State 13-for-26, Rutgers 13-for-26
Clears: Ohio State 17-for-19, Rutgers 13-for-15
Extra Man: Ohio State 0-for-2, Rutgers 0-for-1
Saves: Ohio State (Wahlund) 21, Rutgers (Kirst) 13
Turnovers: Ohio State 9, Rutgers 7
Ohio State Scoring (G-A-P): Jack Myers (2-3-5), Jackson Reid (5-0-5), Connor Cmiel (0-1-1), Ed Shean (1-0-1), Trent DiCicco (1-0-1), Johnny Wiseman (1-0-1)

What’s Next
The NCAA Tournament selection show airs on Sunday night at 9 p.m. live on ESPNU. Ten automatic qualifiers will be awarded at conference tournaments this weekend, leaving eight at-large bids.