Ohio State senior attack Eric Fannell fends off a defender against UMass on Feb. 18 at Ohio Stadium. Credit: Courtesy of OSU Athletics
The No. 18 Ohio State men’s lacrosse team is off to its best start since 1966, but without facing a ranked team, the Buckeyes had been largely unproven in the national picture. On Wednesday afternoon, OSU (7-0) silenced doubters with a 6-3 win over the No. 10 Towson Tigers in Maryland.
Freshman attack Tre LeClaire, senior midfielder Johnny Pearson, redshirt freshman attack Lukas Buckley, senior attack Eric Fannell, sophomore attack Jack Jasinski and senior midfielder John Kelly all scored for the Buckeyes. OSU senior goalie Tom Carey started for the second week in a row and made eight saves.
Senior midfielder Jake Withers was dominant in the faceoff circle, winning 11-of-13 faceoffs.
Late in the first period, the Buckeyes broke a scoreless tie. Buckley scored with 2:32 remaining in the quarter followed by Pearson a minute later for a 2-0 lead after one.
In the second period, Towson senior midfielder Mike Lynch brought the score to one with a quick strike with more than five minutes remaining. However, Jasinski quickly retaliated to keep the lead at two. OSU led 3-1 at the half.
The Tigers began to make a comeback in the third with scores from Tigers senior attackman Ryan Drenner and senior attack Tyler Konen to tie the game at three entering the final quarter.
After blowing a 3-1 lead, the Buckeyes shut out the Tigers in the fourth quarter 3-0 to seal the deal. Fannell scored the first goal less than two minutes into the quarter to take a 4-3 lead. Kelly scored with a little more than seven minutes remaining, and the Buckeyes leading scorer LeClaire put the game away, making the score 6-3 with 2:39 remaining.
After its first ranked win of the season, OSU will face its toughest test of the season at home against Denver on Sunday at 5 p.m. at Ohio Stadium. The game will be broadcasted on ESPNU.
