Austin McKenna works on his synchronized soccer movesOhio State operates the NCAA's second-largest athletic department. Eleven Warriors is committed to keeping you informed of what's happening with those sports that make Ohio State athletics more than just football and basketball. Around the Oval will be your weekly update on these teams.
Hey y'all, welcome back to Around The Oval, your weekly look at some sports that don't find their way into the ESPN headlines or highlights very often, but we believe deserve just as much consideration and concern from the Buckeye faithful.
This week, we start on the pitch and take a look at the men's soccer programs and how they fared this past week in an important B1G showdown.
coming down the home stretch
With only three games left on their regular season slate, the Buckeye men's soccer team had a big game, with conference championship implications for the Buckeyes, Sunday in Columbus against the Penn State Nittany Lions. Ohio State, at 2-1 in the conference, needed a win to remain in the hunt for the conference title. The Lions, at 0-4 in conference, were just looking to eliminate their goose-egg.
Penn State came out of the gate quickly, putting the Buckeyes on the defensive with 12 shots towards Buckeye goalie Matt Lampson in the first half alone, but to no avail. Ohio State, for their part, did not provide nearly the offensive pressure that the Lions did, getting only one shot on goal, which Andrew Wolverton was able to turn away. The Buckeyes offensively and defensively struggled, but made their way to the half in a tie game, 0-0.
As the second half of play began, the Buckeyes still struggled to find any sort of offensive fluidity, but the defense clamped down and kept things even. Penn State was held to only two shots on Lampson in the second half, and as the first 90 minutes came to an end, the game was still scoreless, and the Buckeyes prepared for their second straight overtime contest. As the first overtime period began, Ohio State looked for one opening, and it didn't take long until they got it.
Junior Austin McKenna, off a pass from Parnell Hegngi, was able to slip one past Wolverton six minutes into the extra period. The goal, McKenna's third of the season, and his second game-winner, was the only goal the Buckeyes would need and they were able to squeeze PSU until the clock ran out: Ohio State 1, Penn State 0.
The star of the game, aside from McKenna, had to be Matt Lampson, who made 6 saves on the way to his fourth shutout of the year.
"This was fantastic to win," John Bluem, 15-year Ohio State head coach, said. "And our dream of being Big Ten champions is still alive. We knew what we needed to do. It was our last opportunity to get a result at home for the seniors. It was a difficult game; it was no different than I thought it would be."
The Crane game came up bigOhio State will get back on the field tomorrow in Rochester, Michigan against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies, and will get back to B1G play Sunday in Madison, Wisconsin against the Badgers.
sparty in the usa
Ohio State's young, inexperienced and very talented men's hockey team, 2-2 on the young season with splits against Quinnipiac and at Notre Dame, stayed on the road this past weekend for a trip to East Lansing, where they faced the Michigan State Spartans on Thursday and Friday nights inside Munn Arena.
Game one saw the Buckeyes active, but unsuccessful, with MSU's Drew Palmisano stopping 12 shots in the opening period. MSU was able to start the scoring at 4:46 in the first on the power-play, as Torrey Krug's went high on Buckeye goalie Cal Heeter, a goal that would stand as the only one registered by either team in the first. In the second period, Sparty ramped up the energy, putting 14 shots on Heeter, finally getting another one past him at 15:15, this one at even-strength. Ohio State was unable to mount much offensive pressure in the second, and found themselves in an unenviable position, trailing 2-0, on the road, heading into the third and final period.
Whatever hopes the Buckeyes had for a comeback ended quickly, as Trevor Nill beat Heeter at 1:39 of the final stanza, and the Buckeyes could not crack the Palmisano wall on their ten third period shots. The final score for game one: Michigan State 3 Ohio State 0. In their last three losses to Michigan State, Ohio State has been outscored 9-0.
Palmisano felt like he was on his game on Thursday night, and his 29 saves would seem to justify his confidence.
"I felt quick. I was moving from side to side and thought I read the plays pretty well,'' he said. "We played pretty solid and our defense did a great job making sure there weren't too many second or third opportunities. "
In the second and final game of this two-game series, Ohio State once again came out firing, but unfortunately so did the Spartans. Kevin Walrod scored at 3:23 of the first period, and the game was on. Trailing 1-0 after the first, Ohio State maintained their pressure on net, and finally got the biscuit behind Drew Palmisano at 5:02 in the second. Alex Szczechura, with a helper from Chris Crane and Ryan Dzingle, knotted the game at one. Five minutes later, this time on a power-play, it was Crane scoring, and the Buckeyes had their first lead of the two-game set. Unfortunately, the lead would not hold up for long, as Walrod once again found the back of the goal, and the game was tied up 2-2 heading into the final period.
In the series' first game, MSU jumped on the Buckeyes quickly in the third period, ending any chances of a Buckeye comeback. Friday's game turned out to be on the other side of the momentum spectrum. Freshman Darik Angeli scored his first goal as a Buckeye, the eventual game-winner, four minutes into the final period, and the Buckeyes opened up the floodgates on Palmisano and the Spartans. Chris Crane scored his second goal of the game a minute later, and Matt Johnson joined the scoring parade at 19:24 on an empty net. The Buckeyes finished off Michigan State, 5-2. The Buckeyes, now 3-3 on the young season, outshot their opponent for the first time this season on the way to a season-high five goals.
Ohio State will host Alaska Thursday and Friday. Game times are 7:05 pm.
Buckeye bits
The #18 Buckeye field hockey team won two games last week, including a 2-0 shutout at #8 Penn State, and have moved to a second-place tie in the B1G standings.
Ohio State's women's soccer team bested Michigan 1-0 in Ann Arbor and then fell to Michigan State 2-0 Sunday. The Buckeyes are now 9-8-1 overall, and 4-5-1 in the Big Ten, and will finish up their regular season with Senior day this Sunday against Indiana. Game time is 2:00pm.
#23 Ohio State faced #9 Penn State in women's volleyball last Wednesday, falling 3-0 (28-26, 25-18, 25-15) and beat Michigan State 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-21), Sunday. The Buckeyes are now 15-8 overall and 5-5 in the conference. The Bucks start the second-half of their conference schedule this Friday, when they host the #1 ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers. In their earlier contest, Nebraska beat Ohio State 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-11, 25-16). The match will be on BTN.com if you're unable to get to the arena.
That's all from here, Buckeye fans. Thanks for reading.
