Forward Josué Youta (11) takes in the silence during halftime Ohio State’s 4-0 loss to Washington on Sept. 21. Credit: Rocco Donnelly | Freelance Photographer.

Ohio State men’s soccer started the season scoring goals in bunches.

Recently, those scores have been harder to come by.

The Buckeyes scored 18 goals during their 5-0 start but have found the back of the net just three times over their past four matches, going 0-2-2 during that stretch.

Head coach Brian Maisonneuve said the Buckeyes’ recent scoring struggles go beyond finishing shots.

“We’re obviously not creating as many chances,” Maisonneuve said.

Ohio State played down a man for extended stretches against Rutgers on Sept. 18 and Washington on Sept. 21 after receiving red cards in each match. The Buckeyes lost both matches.

In a 1-1 draw against George Mason Friday, the Buckeyes recorded nine shots and one corner kick. Maisonneuve said Ohio State also had roughly 14 to 16 unforced turnovers.

“Our lack of sharpness with the ball, I thought, added to a lot of our limited chances,” Maisonneuve said.

Senior forward Isaiah Chisolm scored seven goals in Ohio State’s first four matches but has not appeared since Sept. 3 due to injury.

Senior midfielder Ryan Hannosh said the Buckeyes have had to adjust without the full-strength offense they had to start the season.

“[At] the beginning of the season, we came out hot; we were rolling, a lot of goals were coming and we were at our full strength,” Hannosh said. “Right now we’re not.”

Hannosh scored Ohio State’s equalizer against George Mason in the 87th minute.

“A tie is never the result you’re looking for, but it’s definitely better than a loss, and it came late in the game,” Hannosh said. “So it’s a good small spark that we can use for the next game, going into Penn State.”

Despite the recent struggles, Maisonneuve said the Buckeyes don’t need to make major changes to get its offense going.

“We gotta tweak a little bit of how we do some things,” Maisonneuve said. “Nothing drastic, but just a couple tweaks here and there.”

Maisonneuve said the Buckeyes have worked on creating more chances in practice by playing out wide and making runs behind the defense.

“We’re trying to get our rhythm back,” Maisonneuve said.

Hannosh said the players also have a role in executing what the coaching staff gives them.

“It just goes back to basics, making sure that we’re doing the simple things correctly so that when the staff gives us something that’s a little bit more complex, we can execute it,” Hannosh said.

Ohio State is 0-2-1 in Big Ten play and will search for its first conference win Friday at Penn State.