The Ohio State women’s lacrosse team opened this season with a 17-5 victory over Robert Morris Saturday at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
Ohio State (1-0) held the defending Mid-American Conference champions to only 10 shots in the first half and scored five goals in the first five minutes.
“I told them in the locker room, ‘I want you to come out and control the pace and come out firing’ so I think we set a good tone early,” Ohio State head coach Amy Bokker said.
The Buckeyes came out hot, scoring four unanswered goals in the first three minutes of the game. They continued to pepper shots on Robert Morris’ senior goalie Jamie Keller all game as the Buckeyes finished with 36 shots.
Ohio State sophomore attack Jamie Lasda was making a great showing in the Colonials’ half of the field. The sophomore finished the game with a hat trick, with all three goals scored in the first half.
Lasda is one of three Buckeyes who started the season with a hat trick. Junior midfielder Caly O’Brien and junior attack Nicole Ferrara had three goals each to kick off the season.
Junior goalie Claire Morris started for the Buckeyes in the cage and made numerous saves in the first half, holding the Colonials (0-1) to three goals.
Ohio State sophomore goalie Regan Alexander played an outstanding second half, shutting out Robert Morris in the third quarter and letting two goals in the last four minutes. One goal was scored off a penalty, but Alexander made three other stops off of penalties throughout the second half.
“I can’t make a save without a great defense in front of me. They make it really easy for me,” Alexander said.
Ohio State graduate attack Lindsay Epstein made her last first start of her career and finished leaving everything on the field. The fifth-year had two diving goals and two assists, one of which started with her defensive steal that she took coast-to-coast to assist Ferrara’s third goal.
Bokker commended Ohio State senior defender Ava Keethler, who handled her match-ups very well and made great stops and defensive clears that helped keep the pressure on Robert Morris.
Bokker said that this was a good win against a good team that showed the Buckeyes they can handle NCAA Tournament teams.
Off the draw the Buckeyes remained dominant, recording 15 draw controls to the Colonials’ 11. Ohio State senior midfielder Chloë Johnson controlled the draws for the Buckeyes with all 15 as well as scoring two goals and an assist.
The Buckeyes hope to continue their winning streak on the road against Cincinnati Bearcats Wednesday at 4 p.m. at the Sheakley Athletics Center.
