The Ohio State men’s lacrosse team runs along the sideline before the Ohio State-Maryland game on March 20. Ohio State lost 16-8. Credit: Christian Harsa | Asst. Photo Editor
After dropping a close contest against Rutgers Saturday, the Buckeyes return to Columbus Saturday in hopes of returning to the win column.
No. 20 Ohio State’s (3-4) chance at a bounce-back win will come against Johns Hopkins (2-5), who recently suffered a setback after a loss to unranked Michigan.
“The growth in the six weeks that we had to perform so much better that week is something we take a lot of solace and we take that as a huge positive, that we are making gains each and every week and we’re just continuing to to improve upon who we are as a team and who our culture is,” senior midfielder Omari DeBerry said. “As we continue to do that it just keeps getting better week to week.”
Ohio State defeated the Blue Jays in their first matchup of the season 14-8.
In their first meeting, Ohio State dominated offensively, outshooting the Blue Jays 37-32.
“Continuing to stack good weeks of practice on top of each other,” senior midfielder Griffin Hughes said. “As a team we played well last week and had a chance to change the outcome of that game but I think just taking positives from last week and continuing to build on them and continuing to improve each week.”
Offensively, the Blue Jays average just more than 10 goals per game. Graduate attackman Cole Williams and junior attackman Joey Epstein are among the biggest threats offensively for the Blue Jays — combining for 25 goals on the year.
Senior attackman Connor DeSimone leads the team with 17 goals.
Ohio State has recently begun to find a groove in the past few games offensively. The Buckeyes have looked comfortable and confident when controlling the speed of the game, allowing themselves to play slow, methodical offense and tire defenses out until they can get a good shot.
Junior attackman Jack Myers has established himself as the quarterback of the offense — leading the Buckeyes in goals and assists.
Defensively, DeBerry said Ohio State will look to rely on their veteran leadership to overpower the Johns Hopkins offense. Johns Hopkins has struggled to stop the ball recently and will need to find a way to stop Ohio State’s mix of power dodging and outside shooting to win.
“If we stay the course with our blueprint of how we play the game, we’ll be fine this week coming up,” DeBerry said.
In goal, Ohio State graduate goalie Alec Van de Bovenkamp has played outstanding for the Buckeyes since taking over — recording a .494 save percentage.
In its loss to Michigan, Johns Hopkins utilized both Ohio State transfer and graduate goalie Josh Kirson and senior goalie Ryan Darby.
This will also mark the first game of the season where general admission will be permitted at Ohio Stadium. Due to a recent Big Ten rule change in regard to spectating, students can now purchase tickets and watch Buckeye lacrosse in person.
“Having fans gives us that extra energy in the Shoe and anytime we get the chance to play in front of Buckeye Nation it’s special,” Hughes said.
Ohio State and Johns Hopkins start at 11 a.m. Saturday in Columbus.
