The Buckeyes celebrate their 2-1 win against Indiana University at Buckeye Varsity Field on Oct. 25. Credit: Ohio State Athletics
Ohio State is traveling to Evanston, Illinois for a matchup against top-ranked Northwestern.
Coming off of a tough 3-0 loss at home Sunday versus the No. 16 Iowa Hawkeyes, No. 4 Ohio State (13-3, 4-3 Big Ten) is looking to bounce back against the No. 1 Northwestern Wildcats (17-0, 7-0 Big Ten) 4 p.m. Friday in Illinois.
Despite Northwestern arguably being the Buckeyes’ toughest game of the regular season, head coach Jarred Martin said the practice structure ahead of Friday’s matchup has been largely the same as any other week.
“We structure the same. As we get closer to game day, there will be a few pieces that we’ll focus on,” Martin said. “Some on our attack, some on our defense and some corner things that we’ll pay attention to that might be specific to Northwestern.”
Martin also said his team was able to quickly turn its focus away from the loss to Northwestern.
“We didn’t really hold onto that game, the Sunday game, for too long,” Martin said. “I thought that was important, knowing that this Friday game is gonna be a big one, and then not even that, we have to make sure we’re preparing for postseason play with the Big Ten Tournament.”
Graduate back Sarah Richards said after losing to Iowa, the Buckeyes have focused more on trusting each other as teammates, which she believes can lead them to victory.
“I think this week, we really focused on leaning on each other. We had a lot of conversations after our game on Sunday, and we know we can learn from what we can do better,” Richards said. “We’ve taken down the No. 1 team in the country before, and we’re ready to do it again.”
Richards also said Ohio State’s corner-penalty play will be crucial in taking down Northwestern.
“Our corner unit has been very strong this year, both offensively and defensively,” Richards said. “I think it’s just a matter of capitalizing on the opportunities that we’re given because there’s probably not going to be many.”
Beyond the goal of victory, senior forward Cameryn Forgash said that playing Northwestern will be a great opportunity for players to prove their own strengths to themselves.
“With [Northwestern] being such a great team, it’s just such a competitive want to get out there and just show what we have, and prove not only to ourselves, but to everyone else that we have a good team and we want to succeed,” Forgash said.
The top-four matchup between the Wildcats and Buckeyes will air on Big Ten Network Friday.
