Men’s Lacrosse: No. 20 Buckeyes drop first game of season against Cavaliers

Luke Caputo
Sun, 25 Feb 2024 23:43:05 +0000
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Graduate Tommy Burke (9) stands over the ball before a face-off during Ohio State’s 11-8 win over Utah at Ohio State Lacrosse Stadium Feb. 3. Credit: Caleb Blake | Photo Editor

The Buckeyes looked to rewrite history on Sunday at the Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The No. 20 Ohio State men’s lacrosse team (4-0, 0-0 Big Ten) fell to the No. 3 Virginia Cavaliers (2-0, 0-0 ACC) 14-8, repeating the same outcome the team’s had in every matchup since 2013.?

However, Virginia had other plans as it kicked off the scoring for both squads with an unassisted goal from graduate attacker Connor Shellenberger at the 12:52 mark followed by another score from junior midfielder Will Inderlied.?

With under eight minutes left in the period, junior midfielder Alex Marinier scored off an assist from sophomore defenseman Cullen Brown, putting the Buckeyes within striking distance at 2-1. Jack Boyden, a graduate student attacker, scored another goal for Virginia 56 seconds later as Virginia continued to build its lead.

After the Boyden score, the Cavaliers scored four additional goals before Ohio State was able to respond with goals of its own from Marinier and sophomore midfielder Blake Eiland to end the first.?

Opening the second, Virginia put together three consecutive scores —all coming within two minutes — pushing Virginia’s lead to six with 7:10 remaining.?

An unnecessary roughness penalty on Ohio State senior defenseman Marcus Hudgins created an extra-man opportunity for Virginia with 3:22 left in the period, and the Cavaliers immediately capitalized with graduate attacker Payton Cormier putting the ball in the back of the net, making the score 10-3 at halftime.?

The Buckeyes came back out, striking first as junior attacker Ed Shean put in a goal for Ohio State within the first five minutes of the period off an assist from graduate midfielder Eli Fisher. But Virginia quickly returned the favor as sophomore attacker Ryan Colsey responded with a goal not even a minute later.

Virginia committed multiple penalties in the third, including an unnecessary roughness penalty on junior defenseman Ben Wayer, giving? Ohio State a man-up opportunity. Ohio State was able to capitalize on this with graduate attacker Kurt Bruun scoring a goal at the 6:44 mark.

Less than a minute later, Ohio State scored another goal from junior attacker Jack McKenna. The score was 11-6 Virginia and remained the same for the remainder of the quarter.

Ohio State’s sophomore midfielder Dillon Magee put in another goal at the 10:25 mark in the fourth after a Virginia score from junior midfielder Griffin Schutz, trying to keep pace with the Cavaliers.?

Virginia kept its momentum with a Shellenberger score with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, making the score 13-7.?

Ohio State was able to capitalize on Virginia’s goalie replacement late in the fourth with a goal from Ben Mayer, but it was too little too late as the Buckeyes fell 14-8.

The Buckeyes are set to take on Cornell at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, New York, on Saturday at noon on ESPN Plus.