The Ohio State men's lacrosse team made winning look easy Saturday.
The No. 19 Bucks [1-0] effortlessly knocked off Detroit-Mercy [0-1] in a 21-1 win at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center Saturday afternoon in front of a sold-out crowd.
New head coach Nick Myers' upbeat tempo and unique coaching style was reflected in the team's performance on the field. The Buckeyes ran the show from the get-go, setting their own pace for the game, which gave the UDM Titans little chance to even touch the ball, let alone interrupt the Bucks' rhythm.
The game was truly a crowd-pleaser. As half-time rolled around, the starters road the pines while the second and third stringers got their first taste of action for the 2009 season.
In all, 41 players saw action versus UDM, and OSU tallied points from 18 different student-athletes.
The 21 points scored held special significance for senior attackman Jeff Ryan, who tied his career-high with four goals on the day.
Sophomore attackman Mike Pires tallied five goals for a career-best performance and senior attackman Joel Dalgarno added a hat trick to help the Bucks put away UDM early, ending the first quarter with OSU ahead of the Titans 5-0.
Senior midfielder Brian Lalley added to the Bucks' lead, tallying three points on the day, with a goal and two assists.
"It felt good to come out in our first game and click on both sides of the ball, Lalley said. "It was a great way to start the season and get [coach] Myers his first win as our head coach."
Ironically, the Bucks outscored the Titans 21-1, but only out-shot UDM 47-38.
"Whenever you hold the other team to only one goal, that's a great defensive effort," Myers said in a post-game interview with Ohio State media staff.
Junior goaltender Brian Freeman made five saves in 30 minutes of playing time. All three OSU goaltenders saw action during the contest, giving graduate student Peter Coluccini two saves and sophomore Ryan Keneally seven saves. Keneally gave up UDM's only goal late in the fourth quarter.
"The depth at the goaltending position really showed and it set the tone for how we wanted to play, not only for that game, but for the rest of the season," Ryan said.
Myers said the team can enjoy the win only briefly, bringing the focus back to preparing for a "tough" Navy team this weekend.
The Buckeyes are back in action in Annapolis, Md., Saturday when they face No. 9 Navy [1-0] at noon in the Marine Corps Stadium.
ANDY GOTTESMAN/THE LANTERNGina Ferrentino can be reached at ferrentino.2@osu.edu.
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