OSU women’s lacrosse members celebrate a win over Maryland on May 1. Credit: Courtesy of Ben Soloman
The No. 15 Ohio State women’s lacrosse team started its in-conference season on the right foot with a 10-9 win over Michigan in snowy Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Saturday. The hard-fought battle between the Buckeyes and the Wolverines allowed OSU to improve to 10-1, setting the program record with eight consecutive wins and the best start to a season.
Senior attackman Cian Dabrowski led the Buckeyes with three goals on the day, while sophomore attackman Molly Wood and junior midfielder Paulina Constant each contributed two.
OSU trailed 3-1 in the first half, but the defense held the Michigan attack while the offense tied it up with consecutive goals from Dabrowski and Wood. The Buckeyes led 4-3 going into halftime when senior attackman Rainey Hodgson found Wood for the score with two minutes left.
The Buckeyes lost the lead again after the intermission, though, trailing 6-5 with 21 minutes left.
But the Buckeyes clicked from there.
Over the next 12 minutes, OSU scored five consecutive goals to give it a 10-6 lead. Constant started the trend with an unassisted goal with under 19 on the clock before Dabrowski and Hodgson added one each. With 10 minutes left, freshman midfielder Mackenzie Maring got into the action by scooping up a rebound from Wood’s shot to make it 9-6. Constant then added the 10th and final goal about a minute later.
It certainly seemed like with the four-goal lead and all the momentum in the Buckeyes’ favor, the game was pretty well at hand. But, desperately trying to defend its home turf against its archrival, Michigan clawed back to make it a game again.
The Wolverines notched three goals over the final seven minutes, the last of which put them one goal behind the Buckeyes with 23 seconds remaining. After a timeout, Dabrowski came in clutch with a draw control to help OSU run out the clock and hold on to the victory. Senior goalkeeper Katie Fredrick made four saves on the day.
OSU beat Michigan for the fourth consecutive time, and the Wolverines fell to 5-7 on the season and 0-1 in Big Ten play.
Up next
The Buckeyes are next scheduled to return to Columbus to welcome No. 9 Penn State at 4 p.m. on Saturday. The game is set to be played at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
