Ohio State lacrosse: Bucks lose their third straight, fall to Denver, 9-5

On Saturday, Ohio State traveled west to Denver, Colorado where they lost to an old conference foe, 9-5. The Buckeyes out shot the Pioneers 29 to 26 but they could not convert on their scoring chances. Denver had the advantage on ground balls, out- hustling the Buckeyes on 28 out of the possible 45 ground balls.

Although the Buckeyes out shot Denver 14-9 through the first two quarters, the score was knotted up 3-3 at the half. John Kelly, David Planning and J.T. Blubaugh all scored in the first half, while Greg Dutton had three saves for Ohio State.

The Pioneers came out of halftime to score the first goal, which was then answered by Planning, his second of the game. Denver then scored twice to take a two goal lead into the final stanza.

Although Planning notched another goal in the fourth quarter to secure a hat trick, Denver scored three times and sealed the game, sending the Buckeyes home with their fifth loss in their first six games. Denver's Zach Miller led the way for the Pioneers with five goals on the day.

After defeating Marquette three weeks ago at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, the Buckeyes fell to Penn State, Hofstra and Saturday versus Denver. They now enter conference play at 1-5 and need to win the ECAC to make the NCAA Tournament. The Buckeyes came into the season ranked inside the top 25 and gave fans hope for a successful season after losing two heart-breakers to Johns Hopkins and UMass but they have yet to beat a quality opponent. The Buckeyes were two shots away from having two quality wins and starting the season 3-3 but they will have their chance to turn things around in ECAC play.

Ohio State welcomes Bellarmine to Columbus at 7 p.m. Friday night in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.