COLUMBUS, Ohio – Three Buckeyes whose names are etched thought the Ohio State record book will soon get a chance represent their country. Ohio State’s Ryan Terefenko, Dominique Alexander and Ben Randall are among 67 of the nation’s top men’s lacrosse players who are headed to Sparks, Md. for the opening round of the tryout process for the 2023 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship. The players will convene at USA Lacrosse headquarters this week from Tuesday through Thursday.
Following the tryout, an initial training roster of approximately 46 players will be named to participant in upcoming team activities this fall.
The 2023 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship will be held from June 21 through July 1, 2023 in San Diego on the campuses of San Diego State University and the University of San Diego. A total of 30 nations are expected to compete as the U.S. looks to win its record 11th championship since the event was first held in 1967. Canada is the only other country to have won the quadrennial event, winning in 1978, 2006 and 2014. No team has repeated as champion since the U.S. won six straight championships from 1982 through 2002.
Terefenko, the first four-time All-American in program history, is currently playing in his second season as a member of the PLL’s Chrome. As a rookie, he had six caused turnovers and 24 ground balls along with seven points. In the final three games of the season, he collected 15 ground balls and was a finalist for the George Boiardi Hard Hat Award.
While a Buckeye, Terefenko played in 59 career games and filled the stat sheet in every way possible. His final numbers included 20 goals, 20 assists, 166 ground balls, 15 caused turnovers and a .571 face-off winning percentage (8-of-14). Quite simply, he was a rare breed of player that did it all.
Another player who did it all for the scarlet and gray from 2010-13 was Alexander, who capped his career in 2013 with honorable mention All-America honors. Alexander played in 62 games for the Scarlet and Gray in his career, with 47 goals, 48 assists and 95 points. In 2013, he started all 17 games for the and played a variety of roles for the Buckeyes – first line midfielder and short stick defensive midfield (including on man-down defense) and took wings on faceoffs. An ECAC All-Tournament Team honoree, he had a career-high 20 assists, 29 points and 28 groundballs as the Buckeyes won the ECAC Tournament and hosted a first-round NCAA Tournament game vs. Towson.
Alexander is playing this summer for the Archers in the PLL. A professional since 2013, Alexander won the George Boiardi SSDM Hard Hat Award in 2019 while starting all 13 games and picking up 18 ground balls for the Archers.
Randall was Ohio State’s first-ever first team All-American, earning the honor in back to back seasons (2018 and 2019) as a close defenseman. As a senior in 2018, he led the team with 15 caused turnovers while also picking up 21 ground balls. One season earlier, in 2017, he was a big reason why Ohio State played in the national championship game after scooping up 50 ground balls while causing 13 turnovers. In both of the seasons that he was anchoring the Buckeyes’ defense, Ohio State led the Big Ten in goals-against average.
Following his Ohio State career, Randall moved on to the professional ranks. He’s currently a member of the PLL’s Waterdogs. In his debut last summer, Randall caused 12 turnovers in just seven games.
