Sophomore midfielder Luciano Pechota (11) dribbles past defender during Ohio State’s match up with Penn State Sep. 15. Ohio State lost 3-0.
Credit: Lance Haupricht | For The Lantern
The Ohio State men’s soccer team (3-4-3, 1-2-0 Big Ten) tied in a 0-0 match against Xavier (5-3-2) for the Connor Senn Match at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium Tuesday.
The Buckeye senior defender Deylen Vellios helped make the game a draw with a major save that stopped a late goal for Xavier at 80:05. The shot was reviewed, and the referees determined that it was not a goal.
“The save was a last-minute instinct, and I was just lucky enough to be there on time,” Vellios said. “Once when they went to check it out, you get a little nervous, but after we got the no-goal call, it was just a little bit of relief.”
Less than a minute into the match, the Musketeers had a great chance off a press from a goal kick that allowed senior midfielder Eli Dulle to get an on-target shot attempt from within the box, which was saved by Buckeye redshirt-junior goalkeeper Peter Van Euwen. It was the Musketeers’ only on-target attempt in the first half.
At the 4:45 minute mark, the Buckeyes had a chance to get on the scoreboard first when junior midfielder Michael Adedokun led a counterattack with a defender on his side that forced a shot from within the box. The shot was blocked out for a corner by Musketeer sophomore goalkeeper Jonny Mennell for his fifth save of the match.
From then on, the Buckeyes had control of the game’s pace with the total attempted first-half shots being seven to three in favor of the Buckeyes.
With both teams struggling against the other’s defense, the first half ended 0-0.
In the second half, the Buckeyes had a close shot attempt by senior midfielder Laurence Wootton off a volley that hit close to the far-left post at 54:41.
At 80:08, the closest attempt for Musketeers came with sophomore midfielder George Waites’ shot attempt that bounced off the inside of the crossbar due to a save by Vellios.
In the last 10 minutes, the Buckeyes had one last chance with a shot by junior forward Tanner Creech from within the box that hit far left of the goal.
Both defenses were able to hold on and finish the game with a score of 0-0.
Head coach Brian Maisonneuve said their weakness has come with finishing shots.
“We got to put the ball away,” Maisonneuve said. “I mean, we had chances and we got to come together and find ways to get results in those types of games and that’s been our Achilles’ heel.”
The Buckeyes will play the second of their back-to-back home games Friday against Michigan at 7 p.m.
