History was made Saturday at the Ohio State Lacrosse Stadium.
The No. 11 Buckeyes opened the 2023 season with a 15-7 win over Air Force in the inaugural game of their new stadium, and senior attacker Jack Myers notched the 200th point of his career, becoming the sixth player in program history to do so.
Myers increased his point streak to 40 games in a row and racked up nine total points, made up of four goals and five assists.
“Jack, scoring the first goal of the game, picking up the first ground ball, winning the first game, it was great to see that today,” head coach Nick Myers said. “Jack is one of the guys now that I think people will focus on.”
With 7:39 left to play in the third quarter, Jack Myers hit the 200-career point mark on an unassisted goal and is now only three points behind former attacker Tre Leclaire for fifth place in all-time Buckeye men’s lacrosse scoring.
Jack Myers did not defeat the Falcons alone. His goals were accompanied by those from veteran players — like senior attacker Scott White and Kyle Borda, who is a graduate midfielder and made his Buckeyes debut after transferring from Fairfield University.
Borda was responsible for two goals in the first half, while White found the net four times, one per quarter. White was among three other players who elected to return for a fifth year.
“Their experience, their season, they played like it today,” Nick Myers said.
Falcons senior attacker Brandon Dodd opened the scoring for Air Force just over six minutes into the game. Dodd led the ASUN and his team in goals and points last season but was shut down by the Buckeye defense for the remainder of the matchup.
After a series of five-consecutive Buckeye goals, Air Force senior midfielder Shad Bruce scored, which shifted the momentum with 7:48 left in the second quarter.
The Falcons success was short lived as less than two minutes later, sophomore attacker Ed Shean scored his first goal of the season. Shean had 10 points as a freshman in 2022.
Air Force is playing with a young team this season, made up of 18 freshmen and 14 sophomores. Falcons sophomore attacker Josh Yago took advantage of holes in Ohio State’s defense and put two on the board for the Falcons during the middle quarters.
“They have a good offensive coordinator,” Nick Myers said. “They had a good plan.”
Ohio State wasted no time coming out of halftime by quickly scoring twice, courtesy of Shean and White, which left Air Force trying to find its footing down six goals to a cohesive Ohio State offense.
Meanwhile, Air Force’s third-quarter offense provided a spark. Three-consecutive goals from Falcons Yago, freshman midfielder Luke Vrsansky and sophomore midfielder Wes Peene putting them within four scores.
Air Force senior midfielder Gavin Peene, who is Wes Peene’s older brother, had his first goal of the season just over six minutes before his younger sibling scored his first in the third quarter as well.
Helping separate the two brothers’ goals were a pair from Jack Myers, his third and fourth of the game. They were Jack Myers’ 200th and 201st points of his career.
“Jack is one of my best friends here and I’m so happy for him,” White said. “He’s our captain, and [I am] extremely grateful to have him as our guy.”
White played a big part in staying on top of Air Force and helping lead the Ohio State attack group. His fourth-quarter goal put the Buckeyes up 13-7.
“It was great, but my teammates helped me out a lot,” White said. “They set me up in great positions and it’s all credit to them.”
Senior goalie Skylar Wahlund allowed no Falcon goals in the final quarter of the game and had two saves. Wahlund displayed a 53.3 save percentage.
Ohio State dominated in faceoffs 22-4 behind graduate faceoff specialist Drew Blanchard. The Buckeyes also took more shots, 36-26, and had 22 shots on goal to the Falcons’ 15.
Having pulled off their first win in their new home, Nick Myers said he was glad Ohio State was able to achieve what it had been looking forward to and shift focus to its second game next week.
“We’ll go back, and I think most importantly, look inside,” Nick Myers said. “There’s a lot we can improve on from today.”
The Buckeyes look to earn their second win in Ohio State Lacrosse Stadium against Cleveland State Feb. 11. Scheduled start time is noon, and the matchup will broadcast on BTN+.
