The Buckeyes and Blue Jays both suffered in-conference overtime losses last week, presenting the unique challenge of who can overcome their recent defeat and land in the win column. Credit: Zachary Rilley | Photo Editor
The Buckeyes and Blue Jays both suffered in-conference overtime losses last week, presenting the unique challenge of who can overcome their recent defeat and land in the win column.
No. 17 Ohio State (5-6, 1-2 Big Ten) travels Saturday to Homewood Field in Baltimore in its fourth Big Ten clash of the season against No. 7 Johns Hopkins (9-4, 2-1 Big Ten). Both teams are coming off 12-11 overtime defeats; Buckeyes versus then-No. 5 Maryland and Blue Jays versus then-No. 8 Penn State.
“We’re going to have to do us,” senior goalie Caton Johnson said. “Do us better than we’ve done in the past few weeks.”
The Buckeyes either led or were tied with Maryland for all of regulation. A Terrapins goal at 2:09 left in the fourth quarter sent the game to overtime, allowing Maryland freshman attack Braden Erksa to send one to the back of the net and win it for his team.
Johns Hopkins had a similar matchup last week against Penn State when it had an early 5-0 lead before the Nittany Lions crept up. Penn State graduate attack Kevin Winkoff tied it all up as 2:07 remained in regulation, and with 52 seconds remaining in double overtime, the Nittany Lions shot and scored for the win.
Neither Ohio State nor Johns Hopkins were able to finish the job last week.
“I think we’re the right team and in the right mindset to do it,” graduate midfielder Kyle Borda said.
One of the biggest challenges for head coach Peter Milliman and the Blue Jays will be sophomore attack Ed Shean, who leads the Buckeyes with 24 goals.
Shean leads the NCAA in shot percentage at 70.6. In other words, he shoots, he scores.
Now tied with senior attack Jack Myers for team leader in points this season, Shean notched his 32nd versus Maryland and tied his career-high five goals.
“He committed to the process and I mean, now he’s seeing the results,” Johnson said.
Johns Hopkins also has its hands full with Borda and freshman midfielder Dillon Magee making passes at the goal. Borda has 18 goals, while Magee has 11 of his own.
On the defensive side, freshman defenseman Cullen Brown leads the Buckeyes with 24 ground balls. Senior defenseman Marcus Hudgins, a transfer from Army, leads with 14 caused turnovers on the season.
All six Big Ten teams are ranked among the top-20 teams, and the Buckeyes have still struggled to come together and earn wins when they’re needed, especially when away from home, Johnson said. Ohio State is 0-4 in away games this season, while the Blue Jays are 5-2 at home.
“The new stadium is amazing, but we’ve got to be able to do it on the road,” Johnson said.
Ohio State will not only be without a home-field advantage, but it will also be taking on a strong pair of attackmen in Blue Jays junior Russell Melendez and senior Jacob Angelus.
Melendez is coming off a six-goal game against the Nittany Lions. And while Angelus didn’t put up many numbers last week, he is No. 10 in the NCAA in assists per game and leads his team with 42 points on 11 goals and 31 assists.
“They’ve got a lot of talent all over the field,” Johnson said. “They’ve got a lot of craft guys on their offense who can move the ball, shoot from the outside, so that’s definitely something we’re going to have to focus on.”
With Buckeyes starting graduate faceoff Drew Blanchard out since their matchup against Detroit Mercy in March, Ohio State has been trying out different faceoff specialists.
Sophomore faceoff specialist Matthew Fritz has been receiving the majority of those reps, alongside senior faceoff James Hogan and freshman midfielder Blake Eiland.
Fritz’s faceoff win percentage is 42.3, which is not too shy of Blue Jays junior faceoff Tyler Dunn’s 48.4 percent.
The Buckeyes have claimed the last four meetings between the two teams, including their latest12-10 victory in Columbus in April 2022.
Faceoff is set for 2 p.m. at Johns Hopkins and will be available to watch on ESPNU.
