Ohio State lacrosse scores 16-8 win over Jacksonville

The 20th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes men’s lacrosse team finished their four-game homestand with a 16-8 win over the Jacksonville Dolphins Saturday in Columbus. With the win, the Buckeyes move to 4-0 on the season and are part of a collective 21-0 overall record by Big Ten lacrosse teams thus far this season.

It was a slow start for the Buckeyes, who went the entire first quarter without scoring, despite leading in overall shots by an 11-9 margin. Jacksonville found the back of the net with 4:28 left in the opening quarter to take a 1-0 lead into the second.

The Dolphins opened up the second quarter with a quick goal on a man-up opportunity, but the Buckeyes answered with two quick goals by senior attackman Eric Fannell and junior attackman Colin Chell to tie things back up early. Ohio State then took control of the game with another goal by Chell 31 seconds later, assisted by Fannell, in a man-up situation for the Buckeyes. Senior midfielders Johnny Pearson and J.T. Blubaugh both found the back of the net before Chell scored his third goal of the quarter. Senior midfielder capped off scoring for the half with 1:27 remaining in the quarter to give the Buckeyes a 7-2 advantage heading into the break.

Jacksonville narrowed Ohio State’s lead with a goal just under three minutes into the second half, but the Buckeyes answered with Chell’s fourth goal of the game. Fannell added two goals in 28 seconds midway through the quarter to put Ohio State up by seven. Senior attackman Austin Shanks scored with 2:33 remaining in the third before freshman attackman Lukas Buckley hit two quick shots to give the Buckeyes a 13-3 advantage heading into the final quarter of play.

Junior midfielder Trevor Hodgins added a Buckeye goal just over a minute into the fourth. Jacksonville scored quickly, but freshman attackman Nick Musci kept the lead at 11 with a goal of his own. Ohio State allowed two more goals before scoring their final goal of the game on a shot by freshman midfielder Colin O’Hare with 4:51 remaining in the fourth.

After scoring just one goal through three games, Chell led the Buckeyes with four goals on the day. Fannell had three goals and three assists, while Buckley added two goals. Overall, 10 players scored for Ohio State--the most of any game so far this season.

Despite losing the opening faceoff, senior specialist Jake Withers won 13-of-15 attempts on the day. Freshman specialist Christian Feliziani took over the job midway through the third quarter after the Buckeyes had built a sizeable lead over the Dolphins. Ohio State led faceoffs overall by a 17-9 margin. The Buckeyes also won the groundball battle, winning 30-48 attempts, with Withers leading the team with six groundball pickups.

Senior goalie Tom Carey had eight saves through three quarters, with fellow senior Nick Doyle relieving him in the fourth. Jacksonville recorded 10 saves to the Buckeyes’ eight, but shots on goal were 26-16 in favor of Ohio State.

Jacksonville now falls to 0-4 on the season and is scheduled to face Hartford next week. Ohio State, meanwhile, remains undefeated on the season, and heads to Milwaukee for their first away game of the season against No. 19 Marquette.