Senior midfielder Laurence Wootton during pregame warmups before a 3-2 win over Northern Kentucky Oct. 5, 2022. Credit: Zachary Rilley | Former Photo Editor
The Ohio State men’s soccer team tied 1-1 against the Cal State Northridge Matadors in the season opener and first game of the Wolstein Classic at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium Thursday.
It was the second meeting between the Buckeyes (0-0-1) and Matadors (0-0-1).
Both teams opened the game with a slow start, ending the first half tied 0-0, with Ohio State having six shot attempts to the Matadors’ one.
The closest attempt came early in the first half off a free kick by Buckeyes sophomore midfielder Luciano Pechota, which led to a rebound by Ohio State graduate defender Siggi Magnusson, but he missed the mark at 8:30.
The half ended with a yellow card against the Matadors’ freshman midfielder, Michael Blevins, on an attempted recovery of the ball.
In the second half, the Buckeyes struck first with a goal off the corner from redshirt-senior defender Sean Ryan. Ryan headed junior midfielder Michael Adedokun’s pass into the goal to give the Buckeyes a 1-0 lead at the 66:05-minute mark.
Ryan said Adedokun should receive the credit for knocking the goal in for the lead.
“I didn’t really have to do much. I just had to get my head on it, and it ended up in the back of the net,” Ryan said. “It was a great ball, and all credit to him.”
Near the end of the game, the Matadors’ sophomore midfielder Martin Palinic received a red card at the 81:05-minute mark, and teammate Kanata Furutani, a senior midfielder, followed with a yellow card.
As a result, Ohio State received a free kick from the middle-left edge of the back, which junior Matador goalkeeper Cooper Wenzel saved.
The Matadors didn’t give up as freshman midfielder Jorge Solorzano came off the bench and hit an equalizing free kick from outside of the box to make it a 1-1 game with 20 seconds to go.
After the game, Buckeyes head coach Brian Maisonneuve said he felt the team needed a better sense of urgency to come out on top.
“At the end of games, those plays matter, and our urgency to kill games off has to be better,” Maisonneuve said.
