Men's soccer team tops Oakland, on to Indiana

The Ohio State men's soccer team's high-powered offensive attack helped lead the Buckeyes to a 3-2 win over Oakland in their final non-conference game Wednesday night at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

OSU (8-6-1, 1-2-0 Big Ten) recorded 21 shots in the game, including 11 on goal.

"The game was really a battle and a fight," coach John Bluem said. "In the second half the two goals that we scored were very nice goals. It was good to see Xavier (Balc) and Kevin (Nugent) playing so well together up top, and we are going to need that to continue the rest of the year for us."

The Buckeyes scored in the eighth minute when freshman defender Geoff Marsh sent a cross pass to freshman midfielder Danny Irizarry, who controlled the ball and shot it over the head of Oakland goalkeeper Jeff Wiese from six yards out to put the Buckeyes up 1-0. Oakland answered less than a minute later when sophomore forward Nick Nelson scored on the Golden Grizzlies' first shot of the game.

OSU continued its offensive attack in the second half when sophomore forward Xavier Balc went horizontal and bicycled the ball into the back of the net on an assist from Irizarry. Balc doubled his previous career highs for shots with 11 in the game and shots on goal with six to lead OSU.

"When Xavier is on we can be really good because he is a very dangerous attacking player," Bluem said. "He's been inconsistent and so I'm hoping that he'll really take off from here and keep it going."

In the 73rd minute, Nugent, a senior forward, sent a strike into the goal from six yards out on an assist by Balc to make it 3-1. The Grizzlies closed the gap in the 88th minute but could not get an equalizer.

"I thought we played pretty well overall," Balc said. "There were just a couple letdowns throughout the game, but overall we played really well, and it'll be a good segue into Indiana."

The Buckeyes travel to Bloomington, Ind., this weekend to take on No. 6-ranked and two-time defending National Champion Indiana. OSU returns to Big Ten action against the Hoosiers (9-1-4, 2-1-2 Big Ten) at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

OSU's defense, led by senior goalkeeper and co-captain Ray Burse Jr., will look to control the Hoosier offense which has tallied 40 goals this season. Senior midfielder Brian Plotkin and junior forward Jacob Peterson lead the offensive attack with seven goals apiece. The Hoosiers are coming off of a 6-0 shutout against Butler Wednesday.

"They are very explosive and they've got great killer instinct," Bluem said. "They can put you under quickly, and so you've got to survive the difficult times in the game when you're not playing well and they got it going."

Nugent and Balc will look to lead the Buckeyes against Indiana this weekend. Nugent leads the Buckeyes in goals with six and Balc has five of his own. OSU has struggled at times this season, but the Buckeyes are confident that they have a chance of knocking off Indiana.

"It's just a matter of giving 110 percent and going in there with an attitude that you're going to win the game, and that you're better than them," Nugent said. "They're a great team - back-to-back National Champions, but we shouldn't let that affect us on the field. We're playing really well right now, and I think we're every bit as good if not better than them."

The defending National Champions have allowed only eight goals this season. OSU will need to create scoring opportunities, but the players believe they have a good chance of scoring and beating the Hoosiers.

"We're scoring goals now," Nugent said. "It's one of the things that we've had a little bit of trouble with throughout the year, but we're starting to come together. And it's nice at the end of the year with all of the Big Ten games left to finally put goals in the back of the net."

Last season the Buckeyes fell to Indiana 1-0 in Columbus. OSU hopes to avenge last season's loss and increase their chances of getting a higher seed in the Big Ten Tournament with a win on Sunday.

"I think we match up pretty equally, and I think we can put up a good game, Balc said. "I think we have a really good chance of winning and taking a bigger seed in the Big Ten."