Sophomore midfielder Ashton Bilow (15) slides during his celebration after scoring in the 1-1 draw between Ohio State and Washington Monday. Credit: Caleb Blake | Photo Editor
1989, the year that marked the last time the Ohio State men’s soccer team faced the No. 23 Washington Huskies. The Huskies prevailed 7-1, but 30 years later, the Buckeyes (0-2-2) had an opportunity to even the score.
They failed to, however, after allowing a late Huskies (2-1-1) goal, tying the score 1-1, and instead leaving Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium Monday searching for their first win of the season.
One of the best chances for a score came early on for the Buckeyes at the 4:57 mark, where senior midfielder Laurence Wootton attempted a header inside the box off a corner kick. With the save, Washington senior goalkeeper Sam Fowler rejected Wootton’s try.
The Buckeyes continued a lopsided first half with the team’s 10 shots to the Huskies one attempted shot, but neither team could get on the board.
At 59:03 into the second half, Huskies’ graduate forward Bryan lliohan had an opportunity to score early with a shot at the top left of the net, but his attempt was saved by Ohio State redshirt-sophomore goalkeeper Max Trejo.
Ohio State took advantage of Iliohan’s shot attempt with a quick counterattack that allowed Buckeyes’ sophomore Ashton Bilow to get behind the defense. From a deflected through ball, Bilow capitalized with a score from the left side of the box at the 59:28 mark.
Bilow said it was important to him to take leadership of the team in this way.
“Being able to step up when I’m needed is super important to not only myself but the team, knowing that they can rely on someone else,” Bilow said.
The Huskies struck back after a wild sequence of events with a shot by freshman forward Charlie Kosakoff that Trejo batted away. This led to an attempt by Washington senior midfielder Peter Kingston, which hit the left post, creating an opportunity for a tap-in goal by sophomore defender Mani Diop, tying the match 1-1 at the 84:29 mark.
Head coach Brian Maisonneuve said he felt a lot of good things could be taken from this while stressing the importance of the team staying healthy.
“I thought we battled really hard, especially under some of the situations that we have had in terms of limited numbers, so we can take a lot out of this game,” Maisonneuve said.
Ohio State is now 0-1-1 versus Washington.
In hopes of getting their first win of the season, the Buckeyes face off against the Butler Bulldogs Saturday at 7 p.m.
