With a powerful group of veteran leaders and a super sophomore class, the Ohio State men’s lacrosse team looks to start its season with a victory tonight against Detroit (0-1).
OSU coach Nick Myers said the Buckeyes’ leadership comes from a group of 14 seniors — four of whom are captains — and junior captain Brock Sorensen.
“You have got to look to those seniors for leadership first and foremost,” he said. “They have really stepped out and taken charge of this team and made it clear that it’s an effort every day that we pay attention to detail.”
Two of the Buckeye captains, midfielders Scott Lathrop and Jarred Bowman, agreed.
“There is going to be adversity throughout the year,” Bowman said. “As long as we stay together and really focus on having each other’s backs and being there for everybody, we will be fine.”
Although the leadership comes from the senior class, a large part of the scoring for OSU comes from a duo of sophomores.
At attack, Logan Schuss and Jeff Tundo return to the Buckeyes after being the top two scorers for the team during their freshman seasons.
Schuss finished the 2010 campaign with a team-high 56 points with 31 goals for the Buckeyes, and Tundo added 35 points with 20 goals.
Although those two attackers are only sophomores, Myers said he holds them to the same standards as he does the team’s veterans.
“A lot of those sophomores that play for us, we’re treating those guys like veterans,” Myers said. “We want them to play like veterans as second-year guys, and that’s a big strength for us.”
A challenge for the Buckeyes this season will be the difficulty of their non-conference schedule, which includes No. 1 Virginia, No. 2 North Carolina and No. 10 Notre Dame.
“We probably have the toughest non-conference schedule we’ve ever faced,” Myers said. “We understand it’s going to be one game at a time.”
On Saturday, OSU had two scrimmages — one against defending National Champion No. 5 Duke and another against Division III power Salisbury. But the Buckeyes are anxious to get on the field for a regular season game.
“We have been practicing against each other for a month now as well as all of fall,” Lathrop said. “We got some scrimmage time last week but it’s not the same as a regular game. I think everyone is just real excited to play another team in a real-game situation.”
Last year, the Buckeyes went 7-8 and finished No. 33. Their last meeting with Detroit was Feb. 27, 2010. Behind a team-high six points from Schuss, OSU came away with a 16-7 victory.
The Titans fell to No. 17 Delaware, 13-5, in their season opener Saturday.
OSU kicks off its regular season at 7 p.m. tonight at Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
