Men’s Lacrosse: Ohio State faces No. 2 Notre Dame in first home game back from road trip

Luke Caputo
Fri, 08 Mar 2024 06:42:49 +0000
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Junior attacker Ed Shean looks to make a play around the crease during Ohio State’s 13-6 win over Cleveland State at Ohio State Lacrosse Stadium. Credit: Aiden Ridgway | Lantern Photographer

The Buckeyes (4-2, 0-0 Big Ten) will take on the No. 2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-1, 0-0 ACC) Saturday at noon at the Ohio State Lacrosse Stadium.

The teams last faced off in March 2023, when the Buckeyes fell to the Fighting Irish 16-3 in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame went on to win the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Tournament — its first ever in program history.

Jacob Snyder, graduate defenseman for Ohio State, said he acknowledges the challenge the Fighting Irish will bring to the table for Ohio State and highlighted how the Buckeyes are preparing for the matchup.

“They won the national championship last year,” Snyder said. “Focusing on us, it really comes down to our execution, effort and attention to detail, and then the rest will take care of itself.”

Ohio State has a 5-15 record all-time against Notre Dame but has won three out of the five previous matchups with the most recent win being March 12, 2022, by a score of 13-11. Two of those three wins came when Ohio State was playing at home.

The Buckeyes have lost seven home games to the Fighting Irish since 1999. They got their first win in the series April 6, 2003, ultimately accumulating a 4-7 record during that time.

Notre Dame’s only loss on the year so far came to No. 19 Georgetown in an 11-10 overtime in South Bend. Before that, it had not lost a game since April 30, 2023, a 12-8 loss to Virginia. It finished 14-2 on the year and went on to win the national championship against Duke.

Ohio State suffered its first loss of the season on the road against No. 5 Virginia, 14-8, on Feb. 25 after winning its first four games at home. The Cavaliers took an early lead in the game, leading 10-3 at the half, and were able to control the game from that point forward, forcing 10 Buckeye turnovers and controlling faceoff wins throughout the game.

A week later, the Buckeyes fell to the No. 10 Cornell Big Red at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, New York, in a tighter matchup, 15-11, on Saturday despite having three two-goal leads in the first half.

Connor Cmiel, senior midfielder, said the losses Ohio State has faced have allowed the team to build character and focus on preparing for the upcoming matchup.

“I think it’s definitely tough coming off two losses,” Cmiel said. “I think playing teams like [Virginia and Cornell] that play with a high level of speed will prepare us for Notre Dame.”

Notre Dame was previously No. 1 in the country, but after suffering a loss to No. 19 Georgetown, it has fallen to No. 4 in the most recent NCAA rankings.

On the other hand, Ohio State was previously ranked No. 20 before its first road trip of the season, but after suffering two back-to-back losses, the Buckeyes are now out of the top 20.

This matchup marks the third game in a row for Ohio State where it will face a top-20 opponent.

The game also is the beginning of a four-game home stretch that spans through the entirety of March and features opponents such as Detroit Mercy, as well as newly appointed No. 1 Denver and No. 9 Penn State.

Snyder said this week is a special matchup.

“With us being two of the Midwestern powers in college, this week feels a little bit different than most,” Snyder said. “[This matchup] is the longest in program history, and we don’t take that lightly.”

The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus.