In a game that wasn’t nearly as fun to follow as the final score might indicate, Ohio State creaked its way to an 11-6 victory over the visiting Bellarmine Knights. From start to finish, the Buckeyes did everything they needed to do to win in every part of the game that wasn’t offense. Offensively, the Buckeyes started poorly, and never really got going. As a team, Ohio State has really struggled to get anything going in the first quarter the past two games. While it certainly is the finish that matters, if there are many more starts like this, Ohio State is going to drop some games it can ill afford to lose.
The Buckeyes went into an 0-2 hole early in the game, conceding two goals in the opening six minutes. A beautiful behind the back goal by Birtwistle opened the scoring for Ohio State, followed by a Marinier tally. From there, Ohio State raced out to a 5-2 lead, only to allow Bellarmine to get back into the game. Crawling within one goal by halftime, Bellarmine was poised to ruin the Buckeyes’ day. Then the third quarter came.
As has been the case all year, Ohio State buried the Knights in the third quarter. A shutout, 3 goals scored, and the nervy affair turned into an 8-4 game. Ohio State won the fourth quarter 3-2 to get to the final 11-6 mark, struggling all the way. I think the big themes for this year are readily apparent.
Statistically, it was obvious that Ohio State deserved to win by a much bigger margin. The Buckeyes had 7 more shots on goal than Bellarmine had total shots (!). Ohio State assisted on 9 of their 11 goals, an extraordinary figure. Ohio State won 57% of the draws on the day. And the Buckeyes flat out smothered a game Bellarmine squad defensively. It was 17 saves by Bellarmine's goalie and a complete lack of offensive imagination that doomed the Buckeyes’ chances at a blowout. Which leads us to the lessons learned.
Ohio State has a zone problem. Specifically, a zone offense problem. The strategy seems to be pierce the gap, and throw the ball to the player whose defender hedges over for a snap shot. That’s all well and good if you’re hitting. But the Buckeyes were not. Yes, Marinier and Hocker hit a couple of outside shots. Ultimately, though, it ts on the coaching staff to prepare these guys for a strategy that ts clearly going to be a theme moving forward. If Garrett Haas can’t dodge a zone, then players will have to move. We saw none of that today. The middies had no answers
on the dodge, the team didn’t really cut at all off the ball, and it was a tedious affair that is going to become more common as the year goes along.
Ohio State now has 4 days to get ready for Air Force on Saturday. The Falcons are certainly going to be providing a steady dose of zone defense. That game will be Ohio State’s last one against any team that isn’t in the upper tier of lacrosse programs. If the Buckeyes can’t figure out how to score in bunches against a team that is in a zone defense, then things will get ugly. Fast. Because I can guarantee that every Big Ten team, and the out of conference gauntlet, is going to know how to stop what should be a potent offense. If that happens, Ohio State isn’t getting anywhere near 10-3 this season. Full stop.
Next game is Air Force on Saturday, at 1 p.m. EST.
Hold onto your butts.
Go Buckeyes!
