Freshman goalkeeper Caleb Fyock (1) goes to pick up the ball inside the crease against Penn State. Ohio State lost to the Nittany Lions 12-9 at Ohio State Lacrosse Stadium. Credit: Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics
Buckeye men’s lacrosse freshman goaltender Caleb Fyock was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week Tuesday, securing the award for the second time.
Fyock claimed the award Feb. 20 — only three days after his third career start, where he held Air Force to four goals. The last Buckeye to receive the award was now-sophomore defenseman Cullen Brown in February 2023.
So far this year, Fyock leads the Big Ten in goals-against-average at 5.17. He has also held Air Force and Bellarmine to single-digit goal counts and made a total of 17 saves and five ground balls in Ohio State’s 14-8 win against No. 19 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Saturday.
Fyock has been filling in for injured starting goalie Henry Blake since the second week of the season and had an impressive debut against the Cleveland State Vikings, tallying 13 saves in the Buckeyes’ 13-6 win.
Since then, Fyock has maintained a .538 save percentage, putting him third in the Big Ten. Fyock also recorded the second-highest save total on the season in the conference so far against No. 2 Virginia with 17.
Fyock secured three wins in his first three starts against Cleveland State, Air Force and Bellarmine. During those games, he held an average .661 save percentage against a total of 80 shots over the games. All three teams were in the top 25 when Ohio State faced them.
However, in late February and early March, Fyock struggled against tougher opponents in No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 13 Cornell, suffering losses in both matchups and saving only 44% of shots in those bouts.
Fyock was able to get his average back up in the 9-6 loss Ohio State suffered to previously ranked No. 1 Denver, tallying a .526 save percentage.
Most recently, he proved pivotal in Ohio State’s first Big Ten win of the season over No. 19 Rutgers, recording his highest save percentage on the season since Air Force at .600 and limiting the Scarlet Knights to only eight goals on the day.
Ohio State’s win against Rutgers also marked the fifth time in the season that Fyock limited a team to a single-digit score.
