Curtis Smith became part of Ohio State men’s lacrosse history yesterday afternoon when he scored his 100th goal. But no one, not even Smith, knew it until the end of the game with No. 14 UMBC of Baltimore at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
“To be honest with you, I really didn’t know it was my 100th goal,” said Smith, the attacker who ranks fifth in the country in both goals and points per game.
It wasn’t until the 16-second mark in the fourth quarter, after Smith had scored his second goal of the day, did he realize the momentous occasion. The final goal put the game out of reach for the Retrievers, giving the No. 17 Buckeyes a hard-fought 12-9 victory.
The senior from Victoria, British Columbia became just the seventh Buckeye to enter the 100-goal club. He scored his historic goal when attacker Mike Norton found him all alone for a one-timer that beat Retriever goalie Tim Flanagan in the middle of the first quarter.
“It was kind of a weird situation,” Smith said of scoring his 101th goal but getting recognized for his 100th. “But I was congratulated by my coaches and a couple of teammates afterwards. Going into this year, I wasn’t real concerned with scoring goals. This year’s goal has always been to make the (NCAA) tournament, and that’s what we’ve done.”
This season welcomed many firsts for OSU as it has started to make a name for itself amongst the dominant East Coast teams. The Buckeyes (9-3, 4-1 GWLL) win against the UMBC Retrievers (5-8, 1-3 GWLL) is the first in their three-game history with one another.
“Beating UMBC today was a big win because a lot of teams back east don’t respect us,” said defender Greg Bice. “We beat this team – people have to start taking two looks at us now.”
OSU won a share of the Great Western Lacrosse League title with Notre Dame, after a 14-10 victory over Butler last Saturday. The win gave the program its first-ever berth in the NCAA tournament.
“I think the biggest thing I’m proud of is that the kids bounced back after a huge win, and first NCAA berth against Butler on Saturday,” said OSU coach Joe Breschi. “They were able to come back and keep their heads in it and focus. To come out and beat a team that’s ranked higher than you, that’s only going to help us down the road in the NCAA tournament.”
Breschi said he left it up to the seniors to get the team ready for the Retrievers and their final game in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
“I left the locker room before the game started and had the seniors talk to the team about the importance of the game, and they responded,” he said. “This team is all about the nine seniors that are on it, and those are the guys that have brought us to where we are.”
Senior midfielder Pat Myers, who ended the day with three goals, got the equalizer in the middle of the second quarter that made it 6-6. He scored the goal when he drove towards the near post and snuck a shot by Flanagan.
“This win is a credit to all of our hard work, not just the seniors, but from all 50 guys,” Myers said. “We’re a real tight group and play with a chip on our shoulders. I think that’s why we’ve had success this year.”
OSU retained the lead following Myers’ goal and the margin grew to as many as four in the third quarter, which was beneficial for the Buckeye defense.
“The defense didn’t have its best game,” Bice said. “We came out in the first quarter and let five in on us, and then we bounced back and let four in the rest of the game.”
UMBC cut the Buckeyes lead to one with 9:51 left in the fourth quarter before midfielder Ryan Laffey scored an insurance goal that put OSU up 11-9. Laffey froze Flanagan when he jumped up in the air and ripped a high-rising shot by him.
The Buckeyes’ last game of the season comes Saturday at Penn State. After that, OSU will find out its seed and opponent in the Round of 16 NCAA tournament.
