As the nation has slowly climbed off the canvas after last week’s tragedies, Ohio State athletes returned to the fields of play this week with new perspective and some expected rust.
The unbeaten men’s soccer team (4-0-1 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) was the first to come back on Monday with a sluggish 5-0 win over Div. 3 Denison. The Buckeyes struggled early but shook off the cobwebs to pull away from the overmatched Big Red.
The game was not originally on the team’s slate, but coach John Bluem thought his team needed a tune-up for this weekend’s Ohio State/Nike Classic at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
“First and foremost, we recognized that games should have been canceled. People needed time to reflect and talk with friends and family,” said Bluem. “But, since we had no games over the weekend, we wanted to schedule a match as soon as possible to get ready.”
On Tuesday, the women’s volleyball and soccer teams returned to action with different results.
The soccer team fell to 3-2 with a 2-0 loss to Bowling Green in a game originally scheduled for last Friday. The tragedies were on the mind of coach Lori Walker, a native of Albany, NY who has worked recently in both Long Island and New York City.
“I was very pleased to see games canceled,” said Walker. “I think that it’s important to have some mourning time. I just wish the NCAA had done something across the board.”
As a result of the rescheduling, Walker’s team will play three games in six days with its Big Ten opener on Friday against Minnesota and a tough non-conference road game against No. 15 Kentucky on Sunday.
“I wish we didn’t have to play three games this week but Bowling Green really wanted to reschedule the game and this made the most sense,” said Walker. “We won’t get a lot of recovery time.”
The volleyball team picked up where it left off with a 3-0 sweep of Cincinnati, a makeup from last week, on the road to push their record to 8-0 on the season. The Cincinnati game was one of three called off last week and the only one that was certain to be made up.
An inability to reschedule these games could effect tourney seedings for the Buckeyes. But don’t look to coach Jim Stone for complaints.
“I think as a department, we made a decision,” said Stone. “We decided whatever we were going to do. We were going to do it together and not on a sport-specific basis.”
One of the common threads among all teams was the ability to put the grief behind them. Most Americans have had to return to normal daily life, even though it may seem like everything has changed.
“Playing soccer for them is just a part of life,” said Bluem. “Maybe, at times, we see it as too big a part but it’s what we do. People return to work, students return to class. You might have to take time off, but gradually things get back to normal.”
