Ohio State men’s lacrosse beats Michigan, 10-7

The Ohio State Buckeyes men’s lacrosse team scored a big win over the Michigan Wolverines in front of an ever-growing crowd in the eighth iteration of the Showdown in the Shoe, snapping a six-game losing streak that dated back to March. With nearly 25,000 fans present at halftime, the crowd more than doubled by the end of the game in anticipation of football’s spring game to be the seventh-highest attendance for a regular season lacrosse game in NCAA history.

Midfielder Johnny Pearson opened up scoring with a goal for the Buckeyes just 56 seconds into the game, following up his four-goal performance against Johns Hopkins. Michigan followed up with two quick goals, but Ohio State tied things up once more on a Carter Brown goal late in the opening quarter, though Michigan would take a 3-2 lead into the second quarter. Ohio State scored the only two goals of the second quarter with scores by midfielder Trevor Hodgins and another by Pearson, giving the Buckeyes a 4-3 halftime lead.

The Buckeyes added to their lead in the second half on goals by Hodgins and Eric Fannell, the latter in a man-up situation, to go up 6-3. The Ohio State defense, led by goalie Tom Carey, held Michigan scoreless for 29:06 through the second and much of the third quarter, the streak finally snapped when Michigan scored at the close of the third quarter. The Wolverines would add another goal at the start of the fourth quarter to close Ohio State’s lead to just one.The Buckeyes would turn the tide, however, adding four-straight goals, scoring their final with 4:02 remaining in the game to go up 10-5. Michigan would score two more goals to close out the game, but the Buckeyes sealed their win with their unyielding defense.

Hodgins led the Buckeyes with three goals in the game, while Brown and Pearson added another two goals and assist each to Ohio State’s total. Carey recorded 11 saves on the day, returning to double digits after his seven-save performance last week against Hopkins. Midfielder Jake Withers went 13-8 on faceoffs in the match.

With the win, the Buckeyes are now 6-7 on the season and 1-2 in the Big Ten. Ohio State is scheduled to face Maryland next weekend in College Park.