Ohio State sophomore forward Amanda Schlueter (2) drives toward the goal during Friday’s game against James Madison at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The Buckeyes defeated the James Madison University Dukes 4-1 in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Credit: William Moody | Lantern Reporter
No. 3 Ohio State is officially onto the second round.
In the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the No. 3 Buckeyes (13-5-3, 6-3-2 Big Ten) downed James Madison University (12-4-5, 8-0-2 Sun Belt) 4-1 Friday night at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
“I don’t really know how to put it into words,” freshman defender/midfielder Jacinda Bonham said. “I’m really proud of this team and how far we’ve come, but I had no doubt that we would make it.”
Just 38 seconds into play, sophomore forward Amanda Schlueter took a long shot off an assist by senior Sydney Jones outside the box and found the back of the net to give Ohio State an early lead.
In the 10th minute, JMU forward Ginny Lackey got a shot off from a through ball that snuck past keeper Molly Pritchard. The call was VAR-checked and reversed for being offside, keeping the Buckeyes ahead 1-0.
Off another shot outside the box, Bonham scored off an assist from junior defender Mirann Gacioch, putting the Buckeyes up two goals just 21 minutes into play.
The Dukes then got on the board in the 35th minute of play off a goal from senior forward Amanda Attanasi, thanks to assists by redshirt senior midfielder Lexi Vanderlinden and Lackey.
The Buckeyes led 2-1 going into halftime, outshooting JMU 10-2.
Senior forward Kaitlyn Dudukovich then scored in the 63rd minute — securing the 43rd score of her career and 18th of the season — off another assist by Gacioch.
Scoring the fourth and final Buckeye goal of the night, freshman forward Jadin Bonham got one off an assist by Jacinda Bonham. The sisters have six goals on the season, scoring three each.
Notably, the last time an Ohio State freshman scored in an NCAA tournament was against Virginia Tech in 2015.
“She made a really good run, and I slotted it right to her,” Jacinda Bonham said. “It felt good. Anything I do with her is just wonderful.”
Ohio State’s last NCAA tournament game was against No. 7 Pittsburg in the first round of the 2023 tournament, during which they fell 6-0. But head coach Lori Walker-Hock said that game never crossed the 2024 squad’s mind.
“I never really think about what happened last year. I just feel really good about this moment,” Walker-Hock said. “That was a really good team we just beat, and we had to make all kinds of adjustments, so I feel really good.”
Ohio State will face Auburn in the second round of tournament play Friday at Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
