The Ohio State women’s lacrosse team huddles after a 12-6 loss to No. 3 Maryland at the Ohio State Lacrosse Stadium Saturday. Credit: Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics
After the Maryland Terrapins were up by only 1 point going into the final quarter, they ended the game with a 6-point gap, defeating the Buckeyes 12-6.
The Saturday afternoon game resulted in the Buckeyes’ (6-3, 2-0 Big Ten) first home-turf loss of the season and the Terrapins’ (7-1, 1-0 Big Ten) fifth away-game win. The score was 6-5 for the Terrapins at the end of the third quarter, but they were able to score six goals, widening the final score gap and securing the win.
Head coach Amanda Moore said the three Ohio State green cards in the final quarter caused man-up opportunities for the Terrapins, which she said could partly explain the Terrapins’ uninterrupted five-goal run.
“I think what the story would be is that we went man down. We gave up too many man-down goals,” Moore said. “Certainly, we want to be aggressive in our ride and in our defensive schemes, but within reason and not to put ourselves in that position.”
Things got off to a rocky start for the Buckeyes as it was the first time this season that they didn’t score a goal in the first quarter of the game.
Meanwhile, the Terrapins scored four, thanks to attackers senior Chrissy Thomas, freshman Lauren LaPointe, senior Victoria Hensh and sophomore midfielder Kori Edmondson, leaving the score 4-0 going into the second quarter.
Senior captain, goalie and 2024 Big Ten Player to Watch Regan Alexander had two saves for the Buckeyes, and graduate goalie and 2023 Big Ten Goaltender of the Year Emily Sterling also had two saves.
Maryland’s strong defense kept heavy pressure on the Buckeyes in the second quarter, but they were able to break through the Terrapins and score two goals, which were completed by freshman attacker Kate Tyack and senior captain and attacker Leah Sax.
The Buckeyes also shut out the Terrapins in the second quarter, leaving the score 4-2 at halftime. Senior defender Erin O’Neil, who had three ground balls and two caused turnovers during the game, said she attributes the shutout to the team’s preparation for Maryland’s style of play.
“This was our first game playing in a zone defense and we’ve done a lot of zone preparation behind the scenes throughout the whole season,” O’Neil said. “I think after goals were scored on us, we were able to look back on all the preparation that we’ve done and trust that we’ve done it before because we’ve been doing it all season at practice.”
Alexander had three saves for the Buckeyes and Sterling had two for the Terrapins.
The Buckeyes outscored the Terrapins 3-2 in the third quarter, leaving the score 6-5 going into the fourth. One goal for the Buckeyes was scored by Sax and the other two were from senior captain Jamie Lasda, who currently leads the Buckeyes with 28 goals this season.
The two goals for Maryland were scored by Edmondson and graduate midfielder and 2023 Big Ten Midfielder of the Year Shaylan Ahearn. Sterling had one save, while Alexander had two.
The Terrapins scored six goals in the final quarter to the Buckeyes’ one. Five goals for the Terrapins were scored back to back, which included one from Edmondson, one from freshman midfielder Maisy Clevenger and three from graduate attacker and 2023 Tewaaraton Watch List select Hannah Leubecker.
Sophomore attacker Zoe Coleman made a free-position shot for the Buckeyes, ending the Terrapins’ run, but they were quick to answer with a goal from graduate attacker and 2023 Tewaaraton Watch List select Libby May at the end of the game, resulting in the 12-6 win for Maryland.
Sterling had one save, totaling six for the game. Alexander had four and totaled 11, making this her fifth game in a row where she has had double-digit saves.
O’Neil said the team will use the loss to learn from its mistakes and to help ready themselves for the remaining conference matchups.
“We were very fortunate to play Michigan as our first Big Ten game and now Maryland, they’re both top-10 opponents,” O’Neil said. “They play very differently, Maryland and Michigan, so both of those games are able to prepare us for the rest of the season and for anything that’s thrown at us because we were able to see a lot in these first two Big Ten games.”
The Buckeyes will travel to Homewood Field in Baltimore, Maryland, and take on Johns Hopkins Saturday at 1 p.m. The game will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.
