Graduate midfielder Jamie Level (6) grabs an early faceoff in the Ohio State-Cincinnati game Feb. 28. Ohio State won 13-12. Credit: Caleb Blake | For The Lantern
The Ohio State women’s lacrosse team continues to struggle after losing its third straight Sunday against Colorado 14-10.
The Buckeyes (5-5, 0-1 Big Ten) were unable to find an answer against a hungry Colorado team (1-4) in desperate search for a plus in the win column for the first time this season. The Buffaloes’ efforts did not come unnoticed, ending the game with 37 shots compared to Ohio State’s 21.
Head coach Amy Bokker said the defense was a little bit out of sorts on the Buckeyes’ man-to-man coverage, which might have contributed to the shot opportunities for Colorado.
“We needed to slide a little bit sooner so our communication from the back side wasn’t there with the rotation,” Bokker said. “We don’t want to give free shot opportunities, but I think we need to do a better job [penetrating] the shooter.”
Ohio State started the game off with a goal from freshman attack Zoe Coleman, her fourth goal of the season. Another goal from senior attack and captain Nicole Ferrara assisted by graduate midfielder Jamie Level would give the Buckeyes a 2-0 lead with less than five minutes to go in the first quarter.
But Colorado responded with a goal from junior midfielder Ashley Stokes — her second of the season — slicing the Buckeyes lead in half at the end of the first quarter.
The Buffaloes started to pull away in the second quarter scoring six goals compared to the Buckeyes’ two. Goals by fifth-year attack Charlie Rudy, Stokes and sixth-year attack Sam McGee helped Colorado add to their lead before halftime.
Both Rudy and McGee led Colorado in goals scored coming into the game with 13 and seven, respectively. They proved their scoring ability Sunday, as Rudy ended the game with five goals and McGee with four.
Despite goals from Coleman and sophomore attack Brynn Ammerman for the Buckeyes, Colorado took a 7-4 lead into halftime.
Bokker said the team was aware of Rudy and McGee and had a game plan coming in, but the Buckeyes were still unable to stop them from finding the back of the net.
“[Rudy and McGee] are really tough players and they just did a really nice job being able to get to the net,” Bokker said. “We need to be a little bit tougher in that category for sure.”
Ohio State got back into the game in the third quarter starting with a three-goal scoring streak from junior attack Jamie Lasda, Level and junior midfielder Kiana Perez to tie the game at seven apiece.
Ohio State went on to score five goals to lead 9-8 in the third quarter, including back-to-back scores from Ferrara.
With Ohio State leading by one goal with less than a minute to go, freshman midfielder Jess Peluso scored her first goal for the Buffaloes with .3 seconds left in the quarter knotting the game at nine-all.
Ferrara said the Buckeyes have been focusing on believing in themselves and having confidence, which helped them chip away coming out of halftime.
“We went into the locker room at halftime just focusing on believing in ourselves, and just knowing that we are a really great team,” Ferrara said. “We wanted to put everything together going into the beginning of the second half, and we were trying to figure out how we can hold that throughout the rest of the game going forward.”
The Buckeyes were unable to do so in the fourth quarter, scoring one goal from Lasda. Colorado sealed the game, scoring five goals in the quarter, three of them coming from free-position shots, leading to the Buffaloes’ first victory this season.
Ohio State’s looks forward to their next game against Johns Hopkins with hopes to end its three-game losing streak. Ferrara said a whole week of practice will help them focus on the little things to prepare for the Blue Jays.
“I think just getting back to what we know we can do well before we worry about another opponent is going to be helpful because I think our biggest opponent [on Sunday] was ourselves,” Ferrara said.
The Buckeyes will play in the last of their three-game home stretch on Saturday against the Blue Jays. Faceoff is set for 1 p.m. and will broadcast on BTN+.
