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Coming off of their first ever ECAC title last season, the Buckeyes are projected to win the conference again before heading to the new Big Ten Lacrosse Conference next season. After boasting an 11-5 record and a trip to the NCAA Quarterfinals, the Buckeyes come into the season ranked 7th by Inside Lacrosse and 14th in the USILA Coaches Poll. The squad will be led by two Inside Lacrosse Pre-Season All- Americans, midfielder Jesse King and defenseman Joe Meurer. It is also safe to say that the athletic department has been happy with the progress of Ohio State lacrosse as they gave head coach Nick Myers a five-year extension in the offseason.
King, who impressed at the Canadian National Team tryouts, is one of the best midfielders in the country after recording 32 goals and 23 assists last season. The Buckeyes return a decent amount on offense but King will be a huge part of the scoring this season.
Although they lost the reigning ECAC Offensive Player of the Year, Logan Schuss, the attack returns Turner Evans (26 G, 8 A) and Carter Brown (27 G, 16 A) who will both take the scoring load off of King. They also have Gordie Koerber, a highly regarded attackman transfer from Denver who will also help with the scoring. On defense they have all three close defensemen returning with Meurer, Robby Haus and Dom Imbordino, not to mention goalie Greg Dutton. The team also returns Darius Bowling, a senior long stick midfielder who improved mightily last season and has the potential to be an All-American.
With only five teams left in the soon to be extinct ECAC, the Buckeyes should win the conference easily, barring major injuries. Coach Myers was able to load up on the out of conference schedule, opening up with perennial power Johns Hopkins, followed by Massachusetts, Denver and Notre Dame to name a few. With the ECAC being so poor this season, the Buckeyes will need to do well in their out of conference games to gain notoriety and move up in the polls.
Overall, Ohio State lacrosse is on its way up and they hope to make some noise this season before moving to the Big Ten Conference next season.
