Then-sophomore attack Jack Jasinski heads for the goal in the fourth quarter during the first round of the NCAA tournament against Loyola Maryland on May 14, 2017. Credit: Sheridan Hendrix | Former Oller Reporter
In a game all about momentum, the No. 9 Ohio State men’s lacrosse team strung together 10 unanswered goals to pull away and remain undefeated in a 14-8 victory against Hofstra in Hempstead, New York on Saturday.
Ohio State (6-0) did what it does well: scoring early, putting up four straight goals on Hofstra to begin the game. Two of the goals came from junior attack and team-leading goal scorer Tre LeClaire, with both assists coming from sophomore attack/midfield Colby Smith.
That hot streak transferred right over to Hofstra (2-4) as the Pride answered back with two goals to end the first quarter and continued that momentum in the second, scoring two straight again to tie the Buckeyes with four unanswered goals of its own. Every goal for the Pride came from a different player in the run.
After the Pride’s breakout, the rest of the second quarter was all Buckeyes. Ohio State scored five straight before halftime to make it 9-4 at the half. The five goals included two from freshman attack Jack Myers and LeClaire’s third of the game.
Though the Buckeyes had the lead at the half, the anticipated face off battle between Hofstra’s sophomore midfield/forward Brian Heber and Ohio State’s sophomore midfield Justin Inacio was in favor of Herber 8-7.
Herber finished with 14 wins on 26 faceoffs, while Inacio won 10 of his 18 attempts.
Although the faceoff may have been won in the second half, the game quickly became about Ohio State’s dominance in the third quarter. Ohio State scored four more goals from four different players — LeClaire scoring his fourth of the game, Myers getting his third to complete the hat trick and senior midfielder Jack Jasinski got his first of two.
Leclaire is up to 20 goals on the season to led the team, while Jasinski is No. 2 with 16.
With the game looking out of hand, the Pride came roaring back, again scoring four straight goals. But it came too late, ending the game 14-8.
No. 9 Ohio State comes back home to Ohio Stadium against No. 8 Denver at 1 p.m. Saturday.
