The Ohio State offense celebrates a late goal in the No. 6 Ohio State (3-0)-No. 19 North Carolina (2-1) game Feb. 19. Ohio State won 8-5. Credit: Caleb Blake | For The Lantern
The No. 15 Buckeyes earned their first win in four games against Detroit Mercy in their first matchup under the lights at Ohio State Lacrosse Stadium Tuesday.
Led by sophomore attack Ed Shean’s five goals and freshman attack Matt Caputo’s first-career hat trick, Ohio State (4-3) broke its three-game losing streak in a 19-6 victory.
“One hundred percent, we needed this win,” Caputo said.
Ohio State, which entered off of a 16-3 loss Saturday against No. 2 Notre Dame, has faced Detroit Mercy (0-4) 11 times before Tuesday’s game. The sole Titans victory was a 9-8 win in Detroit in 2015.
Shean, who leads the Buckeyes in goals, started the scoring with his 15th of the season and added four more later on.
A few minutes following Shean, Titans sophomore attack Nolan Graalman scored his third goal of the season — their only goal of the first quarter.
Ohio State finished off the first 15 minutes with five more shots finding the net, heading into the second quarter with a 7-1 lead, the most points the Buckeyes have scored in the first quarter this season. A pair of freshmen accounted for two of the goals, midfielder Dillon Magee and Caputo.
“I just had so much help from my teammates,” Caputo said. “From the attack and the middies. [They] just really helped me put the ball in the back of the net.”
Caputo completed his final trick as a Buckeye in the second quarter off an assist from senior attack Jack Myers, someone who has helped Caputo a lot since stepping on the field at Ohio State.
“From pretty much the time I got here, Jack Myers has really taken me under his wing,” Caputo said.
Ten seconds after Caputo’s third score, junior midfielder Connor Cmiel hurried down the field, untouched, for his third goal of the season.
Shean and graduate midfielder Kyle Borda finished off the Buckeyes’ first-half scoring with four goals shared between the two.
Detroit Mercy freshman midfielder Drew Kessenich scored his third goal of the season with 1:11 left until halftime. The Titans headed into the break trailing the Buckeyes 14-2.
Ohio State ran a near-full lineup of substitutes in the second half, including senior goalkeeper Caton Johnson taking over for senior goalkeeper Skylar Wahlund.
Wahlund saved 33.3 percent of shots, however the Titans only had three total shots on goal in the first 30 minutes of play.
The Buckeyes found themselves in foul trouble with three-consecutive flags thrown, which gave Detroit Mercy extra-man opportunities. The Titans took advantage of the man-up with three-straight goals in the third quarter.
Magee notched his second goal of the night to diminish the Titans’ momentum. Senior midfielder Connor Mitchell followed Magee’s lead 30 seconds later with a goal of his own off an assist from Borda.
Kessenich cut Ohio State’s lead to 10 on his first hat trick of the season with 12 minutes left in the game. Freshman goalkeeper Oran Gelinas was brought into the crease after Johnson allowed four goals.
A trio of Buckeyes extended the lead back to 13 in the final 10 minutes. Freshman midfielder Tate Jones tallied for one of the three, marking his first goal of the season.
The Buckeyes will look to use this win to rebuild their momentum from earlier in the season.
“We got right back to Denver this weekend, so hopefully we get it done,” Caputo said.
The Buckeyes will be on the road again against No. 19 Denver at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium Sunday. Faceoff will begin at 2 p.m. and will be available to watch on DenverPioneers.com.
