andy gottesman/the lantern
Sophomore Konrad Warzycha kicks a corner kick during the Buckeyes’ 3-0 win against Eastern Illinois on Sunday Oct. 5th.
The win stretched the Buckeyes unbeaten streak at home to 12 games, dating back to Oct. 2, 2007.
Breto’s second goal of the season came in the 59th minute when the freshman forward received a pass on the left flank from junior forward Andrew Magill. Breto chipped the ball to the far post beating Panthers goalkeeper Mark Hansen.
“I was trying to shoot it but nobody expected that was going to come out,” Breto said.
Breto almost notched his third goal of the season in the 69th minute but the breakaway down the right side was broken up by the Panthers goalkeeper.
Luckily for Breto, the ball fell to senior midfielder German Gomez who knocked the ball in from the six-yard box to score his second goal of the year.
“I thought the goalie took me down in the box,” Breto said. “I’m really glad German was there to finish it up.”
Eastern Illinois was playing a man down for most of the second half when midfielder Mike Picinich was issued a red card in the 50th minute for a hard challenge on Buckeye goalkeeper Drew Czekanski, a redshirt junior.
“He kept running and was hoping to create some havoc but unfortunately he came right through me,” Czekanski said.
Czekanski hurt his left shoulder on the play and was subbed out in the 71st minute for junior goalkeeper Bryon Neal.
“It’s pretty painful but hopefully I will be good to go by Wednesday,” Czekanski said.
Sophomore midfielder Julian Sisman added a late goal in the 83rd minute to make it 3-0.
Despite the flurry of goals in the second half, the first half was marred with inconsistent play from the Buckeyes who struggled to put together opportunities in front of the goal.
Playing with a one-man advantage in the second half allowed the Buckeyes to push an extra forward up and create more shots on goal.
“The game changed with that red card,” said OSU associate head coach Frank Speth.
Speth said he believes the team’s two wins at home bode well for the upcoming three-game road trip.
“We needed two positive wins going into the UIC (University of Illinois-Chicago) game on Wednesday,” Speth said. “That was our focus this week at training and I think mission accomplished.”
The Buckeyes will take on No. 9 Illinois-Chicago Wednesday in Chicago.
Tyler Gillespie can be reached at [email protected].
