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.
Spring Break
