Men’s Lacrosse: No. 7 Buckeyes beat No. 20 Boston 15-9 behind dominant first half

Joe Thompson
Sat, 10 Feb 2018 22:41:50 +0000
Lacrosse, News, Sports, Big Ten, Buckeyes, Jack Jasinski, lax, men's lacrosse, men's lax, Nick Meyers, ohio state, Ohio State lacrosse, Ohio state lax, Ohio State men's lacrosse, osu, OSU lacrosse, osu lax, Osu men's lacrosse, Tre Leclaire

Then-sophomore attackman Jack Jasinski heads for the goal in the fourth quarter during the first round of the NCAA tournament against Loyola Maryland on May 14, 2017. Credit: Sheridan Hendrix | Oller Reporter

The No. 7 Ohio State men’s lacrosse team remained undefeated at home with its 15-9 victory against No. 20 Boston University Saturday afternoon.

The Buckeyes (2-0) showed exactly why their ranked seventh in the country is deserved during the first half, scoring 10 goals while holding the Terriers (1-1) to just one.

The first Ohio State two goals came within the first two minutes of the game. Freshman attackman J.T. Bugliosi scooped up a ground ball and fired a shot past Terrier goalie Joe McSorely to put the Buckeyes ahead early.

Ohio State sophomore midfielder Christian Feliziani won the ensuing face-off seconds later and ran through an unprepared Boston defense to score his team’s second goal.

An illegal procedure penalty on Ohio State in the second period resulted in a man-up advantage for the Terriers, who capitalized on the opportunity to record their first goal of the game.

The Buckeyes, however, remained focused and continued their first-half dominance. They won 12-of-13 face-offs and picked up 23 ground balls compared to Boston’s 14 in the first half.

“Both offensively and defensively we were clicking. I think we were moving the ball super good on offense and we were getting good chances,” Ohio State sophomore attackman Tre Leclaire said.

At halftime, senior goalie Matthew Smidt said head coach Nick Myers told the Buckeyes to remain focused and to not get complacent with a nine-goal lead during the second half.

“He said it’s a new ball game,” Smidt said. “You got one half and you got another half, and you’ve got to take care of business in the second half.”

The Terriers came out swinging after halftime and quickly scored four unanswered goals during the third period. But junior attackman Jack Jasinski, assisted by midfielder John Kelly, scored for the Buckeyes to stop Boston’s momentum with 6:19 left in the third period.

“After they had a couple goals on us I think we just took a deep breath and relied on our game plan and executed that plan,” said Leclaire.

Boston outscored Ohio State 5–3 in the third period and 3–2 in the fourth, but could not overcome the first-half deficit.

“We came out a little slow in the second half — partially on me — but we took a step back and we did our thing and we came out with the W,” Smidt said.

Nine different Buckeyes recorded goals, with four coming from freshman midfielder Jackson Reid and three contributed by Leclaire.

Smidt said the team’s goal going into the match was to keep their heads down, focus on the job that needed to be done and do it — but to have fun playing in the process.

“We’re here to do a job. That’s to keep the record in here and to keep grinding,” Smidt said. “We have all our parents here and all that stuff – it’s more fun than anything. Playing in front of your home crowd is something unbelievable.”

The Buckeyes will look for another home win when they face Hofstra at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Feb. 17.