Freshman defender Craig Zahour (2) controls the ball during a match against IPFW Aug. 20, at Jesse Owens Memorial Field. OSU won, 2-0.
Credit: Shelby Lum / Photo editor
The Ohio State men’s soccer team earned its first draw of the season at Bowling Green in front of more than 3,000 fans over the weekend.
The game was the first of four straight in-state matchups for the Buckeyes, who are now 2-2-1 for the season, while BGSU sits at 1-2-2.
“With an in-state opponent, and us being OSU, teams are always going to want to come at you,” OSU junior goalkeeper Alex Ivanov said. “(Bowling Green) had lots of fans come out and they used the (fans) to their advantage.”
The match went into double overtime before ending in a 0-0 tie. OSU’s best chance to score came in the last minute of regulation when junior midfielder Alec Lowell took a shot off a free kick from nearly 25 yards out, but the shot was deflected out of bounds. With less than a minute left on the clock, the Buckeyes had two chances to score off corner kicks, but failed to convert on either.
Lowell said it was good to come out of the game with a point, regardless of the score.
“It was really good to get a point out of a big away game versus an in-state rival with over 3,000 fans,” Lowell said. “Going into next week we are going to have to come out strong in our own house.”
The Falcons outshot the Buckeyes 35-12 but only nine of BGSU shots were on goal, compared to two for the Buckeyes. Lowell led the Buckeyes with three shots and Ivanov recorded eight saves. It was the fifth straight game in which Ivanov has recorded six or more saves.
“I will always do as much as I can to keep the team in it,” Ivanov said. “We have had some great team defending as well.”
The Buckeyes are set to return to Columbus when they host Wright State Tuesday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium at 7 p.m. OSU is then scheduled to take on Dayton in Columbus Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Senior defender and captain Sage Gardner said he is looking forward to playing in Columbus again and said the team will have to continue to improve.
“It feels like it has been a while since we’ve played at home,” Gardner said. “We learned to start stronger and more aggressive and to surpass the opponent’s mentality. We did better the last game after we got more assertive.”
