The Ohio State Women’s Field Hockey team huddles up before the Ohio State-Iowa game March 19. Ohio State lost 2-1. Credit: Christian Harsa | Special Projects Director
No. 21 Ohio State opened the final home weekend of the 2021 season against top-10 teams No. 3 Rutgers and No. 7 Penn State, but fell flat in its finale at Buckeye Varsity Field.
Penn State (12-4, 5-2 Big Ten) handled Ohio State (7-9, 1-6 Big Ten) 4-0 Friday.
Scoreless through the first quarter, the Nittany Lions got on the scoresheet in the second to go up 1-0. Penn State wouldn’t let the lead go as it proceeded to score three goals in the fourth quarter to put the game beyond reach.
Sophomore midfielder Sophia Gladieux scored the first two goals for Penn State as she leads the team with 15 this season.
Senior forward Bree Bednarski tallied her first goal of the season along with junior midfielder and former Buckeye Mackenzie Allessie wrapping up the scoring with her eighth goal of the season with four seconds remaining.
Penn State outshot Ohio State 15-11 in the win.
The Buckeyes followed up on Sunday against No. 3 Rutgers (13-3, 5-2 Big Ten) with their last home game of the season.
After being tied 1-1 at the half, Rutgers rallied to win 3-1.
At 2:46 in the first, Rutgers’ freshman midfielder Lucy Bannatyne opened the scoring with a backhand shot on a breakaway.
Less than three minutes later, Ohio State junior forward Sarah Charley scored on an assist from freshman midfielder Hallie Brost. The goal came off a quick buildup from a blocked penalty corner on the other end, marking Charley’s third goal of the season.
“Our response to the first goal given up was great, we did a great job of controlling the play and our defense was great,” head coach Jarred Martin said.
Rutgers’ senior midfielder Tayla Parkes broke the deadlock as she scored off a penalty corner to give her team the lead in the third quarter.
“You can tell they had their offense building, so the second goal from them was a little deflating,” Martin said.
Sophomore goalkeeper Abby Danson was pulled in the fourth quarter in hopes of giving the Buckeyes more offensive chances.
Bannatyne scored again in the fourth quarter to seal a 3-1 win for the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers outshot Ohio State 9-6.
The loss officially eliminates Ohio State from the Big Ten Tournament.
“There are still things we want to accomplish this year, want to close out our last two games with wins,” Martin said.
With one weekend left to play, Ohio State has high sights on a great finish.
The Buckeyes will take on No. 8 Maryland — a program they’ve never defeated — Friday at 6 p.m. in College Park for their conference finale.
“Maryland is very good and strong,” Martin said. “That would be a great end to our season, capturing a historic win for the program.”
