There's no other way to say it. Tomorrow's game is for all the marbles. For the season. And, most likely, for the program. A loss tomorrow and I cannot see a way that leads to the retention of the current staff. In its entirety. And, after the bloodbath of last week, I don't see how the Buckeyes win tomorrow barring some really wild lacrosse. Johns Hopkins rolls into town with one of the best statistical defenses in the country. And an offense that seems to have found its footing after inconsistency.

Offense

Matt Collison (#16) is the type of giant Canadian shooter that helped Ohio State get on the map. He leads the Jays in points with 21 goals and 11 assists this season, making him a massive threat in midfield. Hunter Chauvette (#91) is the Jays best goalscorer, tallying 28 goals in 11 games. This Hopkins offense sputters from time to time due to its struggles with getting good shots off.

Hopkins has a Shot on Goal percentage of just 54.2%, one of the worst around. They make up for it by shooting .287, which is not great but is serviceable for 12.10 goals per game. Johns Hopkins has a very high assist rate, well over the 50% benchmark. On the bad side, Rutgers held them to just 8 goals two weeks ago. That was a loss that is just shocking. In every way.

Defense

Johns Hopkins is playing the best defense it has played on a long, long time. The Jays keep teams under 10 goals nearly every time out, the North Carolina juggernaut a big exception. Teams are getting a putrid 54.2% of shots on net. And they're shooting a worse .249, something that every team should aspire to. That's really, really tough for an Ohio State offense that is going to be in trouble now that Russell Melendez is out for the season.

In goal, Hopkins is starting an old friend. Oran Gelinas (#87) has taken over in net after transferring from Ohio State after last season. Gelinas is stopping 57% of shots faced, has allowed just 9.48 goals per game, and generally is lifting Johns Hopkins at a time when the Jays were shaky. The Buckeyes will be playing a very, very motivated keeper tomorrow when they need every goal they can eke out.

Faceoffs

Johns Hopkins has been bad at faceoffs this year. Winning just 47% of draws, the Jays are running 5 deep at FOGO. Joe Hobot (#28) is the main faceoff man, who is just barely over .500 this season. Hobot was 9-21 against Penn State, a decent mark. The Buckeyes need to get to 60% to have a real shot at this matchup.

Special Teams

Johns Hopkins is very good on its Man Up unit, and distinctly average on Man Down. The Jays convert 47% of the time on the man advantage, while allowing teams to convert 29% of the time when down a man. Those a good numbers, put together. The team is not a pushover, loss to Rutgers notwithstanding.

That said, I would be surprised if Ohio State manages much on the Man Up. The injury list is just too long this season.

Overall

Optimism has flown the coop, and all that is left is dreary reality. The Buckeyes can win tomorrow. It will require a Herculean effort from the defense. Anything more than 6 goals and Ohio State will lose. That's the result of the personnel situation on offense.

To say this has been a disastrous season for Ohio State's offense would be the understatement of the year. Cataclysmic injuries have robbed the group of its dodgers, aside from Garrett Haas. Unfortunately, Garrett Haas has become a turnover machine, likely due to his being the only option used. Which means the team is far, far more likely to screw up an offensive possession than score a goal. A far too high percentage of Ohio State's goals the past few games have been at the hands of defensive personnel.

Since teams are already struggling against Johns Hopkins when fully healthy, tomorrow's game will be an absolute meat grinder whenever Ohio State has the ball. I'm going to say for the millionth time, but last year's offense would have this team with just one loss. For certain. This year's offense cannot score on DIII defenses. And I am struggling to see a scenario where they reach more than 6 goals.

I think the season descends further into the void of despair.

Final prediction: Johns Hopkins 9, Ohio State 6.

Go Buckeyes!

Game is on B1G+. At noon EDT.

For the love of pete, don't buy the streaming.