Ohio State then-sophomore midfielder Justin Inacio (30) wins the face off against Rutgers at Ohio Stadium on Mar. 31. Ohio State lost 6-14. Credit: Willow Mollenkopf | For The Lantern
After a pair of top-20 bouts, the Buckeyes will get no chance to rest with another ranked foe ahead.
No. 12 Ohio State (1-1) looks to return to the win column this Saturday in a clash of Big Ten foes as they take on No. 15 Penn State (0-2) in State College, Pennsylvania.
Fueled by a tough showing against a top-10 Rutgers squad a week ago, the Buckeyes will attempt to keep Penn State winless in 2021.
“What pushed us was that feeling Saturday night after that game, no one wants to feel that way again and you can see that at practice,” senior faceoff midfielder Justin Inacio said. “We got better every single day this week in preparation for Penn State.”
Looking to avenge its loss to Rutgers a week ago, Ohio State will travel to State College in its third top-20 matchup in as many games. Similarly to the Buckeyes, Penn State is coming off a loss in the previous week.
“It has been a work week,” senior midfielder Griffin Hughes said. “It was a week where we had to buckle down and get better as a team. It didn’t go the way we wanted it to last Saturday and we put in the work this week and will continue to put in the work to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
Opening the season ranked No. 4, Penn State entered Big Ten play with great anticipation. After back-to-back losses to Rutgers and Maryland, the Nittany Lions will look to right to ship this week with a win against the Buckeyes.
“I think in terms of winning this weekend on the road against a good Penn State team would be huge for us to get some momentum going back our way,” Hughes said.
Boasting the best shooter in the nation in graduate attackman Mac O’Keefe, Penn State has the offensive weapons to score efficiently and quickly.
However, Penn State has struggled scoring the ball, only notching 16 total goals in its first two contests. Comparatively, the Buckeyes have scored 22.
Injuries may be an issue for both the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions this week, as both teams lost critical players in their respective matchups last week. Graduate midfielder Ryan Terefenko exited last week’s game at halftime for the Buckeyes and senior midfielder Cole Willard left with an apparent knee injury for Penn State.
Offensively, Hughes scored a career-high five goals against Rutgers and will look to continue that trend against Penn State.
Graduate attackman Tre Leclarie has had at least three goals in back-to-back games and is six goals shy of Ohio State’s program record of 147.
Both teams maintain excellent goaltending. Junior goalie Skylar Wahlund will look to rebound for the Buckeyes after facing nearly 60 shots in last week’s contest.
Graduate goalie Colby Keese is a veteran for the Nittany Lions and will look to lead his defense against the talented Buckeye offense.
Ohio State and Penn State meet Saturday at noon on BTN plus.
