Ohio State sophomore attack Jackson Reid (29) tries to shake the Rutgers defense during their match at Ohio Stadium on Mar. 31. Ohio State lost 14-6. Credit: Willow Mollenkopf | For The Lantern
The No. 12 Ohio State’s men’s lacrosse team scored four of the final five goals, including one by sophomore attacker Jackson Reid, his fifth of the game, with 49 seconds left to come back and defeat No. 16 Johns Hopkins 14-13, earning its first Big Ten win this season.
In a tale of two halves, the Buckeyes (8-2, 1-2 Big Ten) saw themselves down by five goals going into halftime, but the third quarter was where Ohio State began to find momentum. Five different Buckeyes helped to score seven goals in the third, including two from Reid and two from junior attacker Tre LeClaire.
Ohio State still would take an 11-10 deficit into the final quarter before outscoring the Blue Jays 4-2.
The first half saw the Buckeyes continue their shooting slump, only making 3-of-20 shots. In the second half, Ohio State made the most of its chances, scoring on 11 of its 29 attempts to win the game by a goal.
Johns Hopkins (6-5, 2-1 Big Ten) controlled the first half, particularly in a five-goal second quarter. The Blue Jays faceoff play was crucial to the quarter, with sophomore midfielder Kyle Prouty winning five faceoffs early on.
Halfway through the second quarter, head coach Nick Myers decided to warm up freshman goalie Skylar Wahlund to possibly motivate redshirt sophomore goalie Josh Kirson. Kirson ultimately remained in for the rest of the game, and finished the matchup with 12 saves.
Senior midfielder Alex Concannon scored three of his four goals in the first half to help the Blue Jays go out to a lead as big as six goals before the Buckeyes came back. Johns Hopkins freshman attacker Joey Epstein netted three goals himself to continue his strong freshman campaign.
The Buckeyes outscored the Blue Jays in the third 7-3 to cut the lead heading into the fourth. After a quick goal from Johns Hopkins, the Buckeyes scored three straight to take the lead before the Blue Jays scored with just over two minutes left, tying the game at 13. Reid would provide the game-winning goal with less than a minute to go to give Ohio State the victory.
The Buckeyes had three players score three or more goals: freshman Johnny Weisman (3G, 1A), LeClaire (3G, 1A) and Reid (5G, 1A). LeClaire now has a team-leading 32 goals on the season.
No. 12 Ohio State is back home next week against No. 3 Maryland for the last home game of the regular season at 1 p.m. Saturday.
