The Ohio State men’s soccer team cuddling up in its first 2023 spring match. Photo Credit: Zachary Rilley | Former Photo Editor
The Ohio State men’s soccer team (0-1-1) lost 2-1 in its second match of the season against the University of California Davis Aggies (2-0) to close out the Wolstein Classic in third place at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium Sunday.
Under two minutes into the game, Buckeyes junior forward Tanner Creech scored his second career goal from a shot inside the box, in hopes of setting the tone for Ohio State.
The Aggies did not take long to respond as senior midfielder Ryan Dieter delivered a cross in for freshman midfielder Tristan Wouters’ header to the bottom left of the goal at the 4:50 mark.
Creech said he felt the first goal was one of many he and the team should have capitalized on, but instead, UC Davis began to take control.
“I thought we had a lot of good chances after the goal,” Creech said. “Unfortunately, we were not able to put one in the net.”
The Aggies followed up with a goal by sophomore forward Cason Goodman, who got a step ahead of the Ohio State defenders from a goal kick assisted by redshirt-junior goalkeeper Charles Janssen, and scored in the bottom left of the goal for the 2-1 lead at 25:02 into the first half.
The Buckeyes produced many goal opportunities but were unable to finish with their nine total shots compared to the Aggies’ four shots that turned into two first-half goals.
In the second half, both teams went scoreless.
The Buckeyes had their best opportunity with graduate defender Siggi Magnusson’s attempt to tie the game up at the 80:53 mark when he received a well-placed ball from a corner kick. He was unable to finish a header due to Janssen’s seventh save of the game.
With frustrations high, the teams combined for 18 fouls and four yellow cards.
Head coach Brian Maisonneuve said his team needs to stop beating themselves up with their mistakes.
“In both games, we did enough to win the games, we just got to fix those details and have those executions be there,” Maisonneuve said.
The Buckeyes last played the Aggies in the 2014 home season opener where they tied 0-0.
Ohio State will continue searching for its first win of the season in its next matchup at Seton Hall Friday.
Creech said he and the team will be ready to ‘bounce back’ next week.
