Just not good enough on offense, defense, faceoffs, or special teams. In pretty much every phase, Ohio State was beaten. Maybe not by a lot. But by enough. The Notre Dame game is now a Must Win for Ohio State to have a prayer at the national tournament.
It was the Michael Long and CJ Kirst show today for Cornell, and Ohio State had no answers on defense. Long went off for 3 goals and 4 assists, while Kirst got 7 goals past Caleb Fyock, to go with one assist as well.
Not much you can do when two players are putting up 15 points between them. You're just hoping to make your opponent work, and obviously that didn't happen. Fyock still had 11 saves, but it just wasn't enough today.
On offense, the Buckeyes were worse than even the stats say. And the stats were bad. It took 42 shots to get to 11 goals, a .262 shooting percentage. That's never going to be good enough. Additionally, the Buckeyes only got 57% of their shots on net. These are execution issues, and they've dipped from last year.
Add in the fact that 3 goals were scored by defensive players (1 for a pole, 2 for an SSDM), and you're not exactly left feeling good for the future. Bringing in so many transfers, plus a new offensive coordinator was always going to be a boom or bust situation.
Right now, it's decidedly a bust. No one can hit the target, and if they hit the target, opponents are saving at a high rate. Losing Jack Myers is looking like a bigger loss than even I thought, given Ohio State's shooting issues.
There's just not enough ability, or lacrosse iq, on the field. That's in all phases. The best players are transfers, and they're not exactly dominating.
Up next, Ohio State has a home stretch against Notre Dame and Detroit Mercy, then a trip to Denver. The Buckeyes have to beat Notre Dame, and then find a way to win in Colorado. If either game is a loss, this season is effectively over.
The rest of the Big Ten is looking stronger than ever, especially Penn State, Hopkins, and Maryland. The Buckeyes have a real shot at going winless in the Big Ten if this offensive trend continues. Time to fix the issues is rapidly running out.
Go Bucks. Beat Notre Dame.
