The Ohio State Buckeyes and Maryland Terrapins traveled to Piscataway to meet in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals. The Buckeyes came into the tournament likely needing to win it all to claim a bid to the NCAA Tournament and played like it. They held their own in the draw circle winning 10 of 22 and outhustled the Terps getting to 13 ground balls to Maryland’s nine.
They held Taylor Cummings to no goals and one assist. They scored an exceedingly efficient seven goals on 10 shots. More importantly, they shocked the lacrosse world by handing Maryland their first loss of the season coming away with an 11-10 win after outscoring Maryland 7-3 in the game’s final 20 minutes.
Ohio State’s strategy for their women’s lacrosse Big Ten Tournament semifinal against the Maryland Terrapins became clear when they won the opening draw. The Buckeyes were going to do all they could to slow the pace of the game. Terrapins defender Megan Douty spoiled that plan quickly deflecting a pass and picking up the ground ball.
The turnover led to Maryland’s first goal when Megan Whittle drew a foul and had an eight meter opportunity when the freshman drew a foul in the penalty area. Whittle passed up the shot instead choosing to flip a pass to who was a step outside the crease and Maryland had a quick 1-0 lead on the senor’s 37th goal of the season.
The Maryland lead quickly became 2-0 when Taylor Cummings lofted the ensuing draw to Erin Collins. Kristen Lamon drew a shooting space foul and scored on the free position. Just over two minutes in Maryland led 2-0.
Maryland’s early domination continued as the Terps ran an immaculately executed fast break after Alex Fitzpatrick picked up a save. Griffin finished on a pass from Zoe Stukenberg and Maryland led 3-0. They needed nearly eight minutes before Kelly McPartland go inside her defender on a dodge from the left. With 17 and a half minutes to play the Terps had cruised to a 4-0 lead.
At that point, things began to go a little haywire for Maryland. Ohio State goalie Tori Descenza began locking in on Maryland’s shots and the Buckeyes began controlling the draw. Their patience strategy began to yield benefits and Maryland’s defense began to buckle a bit.
The nearly 10 minute span from McPartland’s goal to the 7:51 mark belonged exclusively to Ohio State. Led by a pair of goals from Katie Chase, the Buckeyes rattled off four straight to knot the score at four.
It fell to Whittle to settle the Terps back into the lead. The precocious freshman scored both of Maryland’s final two goals of the half. The first came on a feed from Lamon from behind the net and the second on free position.
The goalies were the stars of the half. Descenza finished with seven saves and Fitzpatrick five.
The Terps controlled the opening draw of the second half and continued to have difficulty finding their rhythm. They failed to convert on two early free position chances and a player advantage after a Buckeyes’ yellow card.
With 23:55 to play, WHittle finished her hat trick and put the Terps up 7-4. But just as they had in the first half, Ohio State had the answer, The Buckeyes ripped off four straight scores again beating Maryland to ground balls on the draw and riding strong goaltending by Descenza. With under 17 minutes to play, Ohio State had an 8-7 lead.
Griffin got the Terps even on a free position shot just over a minute later. Shanna Brady secured the ensuing draw but after Maryland settled their offense, McParland slipped on a dodge and turned the ball over.
Ohio State again went into their possession offense and, after holding the ball for three minutes scored to take a 9-8 lead. Erin Collins controlled the draw but a hard ride by Ohio State created a turnover. The Buckeyes capitalized as Cian Dabrowski scored her fourth of the game and extend Ohio State’s lead to two at 10-8.
Maryland began showing some desperation fouling and turning the ball over as Ohio State simply continued to play smarter and harder than the Terrapins. The Buckeyes were playing with the edge of a team that likely knows their only ticket to the NCAA Tournament is to win the B1G’s automatic bid.
Following an Ohio State timeout and a missed free position by the Buckeyes, the Terps defense created a turnover. However, for the 11th time on the night, Descena came up with a big save – this one on a shot by Whittle.
Megan Douty was issued a yellow card and Jennifer Porretto took advantage scoring the player up goal. With 4:46 to play, the score stood Ohio State 11 Maryland 8.
As the clock ticked under four minutes, Cummings made a didge down the right and passed across the crease to Griffin who caught and shot in one motions to narrow the gap to two. When the Buckeyes captured the draw, Maryland coach Cathy Reese pulled Fitzpatrick out of the goal.
Ohio State was content to spread the field running the clock and drawing numerous fouls. The Buckeyes committed a turnover and Griffin found Stukenberg on the doorstep for an uncontested shot that she airmailed high with no backup.
The Buckeyes ran nearly minute off the clock before turning the ball over and Stukenberg scored with eight seconds to play. On the final draw, Ohio State created enough disruption in the circle to effectively run out the clock and completed the shock of the season upsetting the Terps 11-10.
Blog from Todd Carton
No comments have been posted yet, be the first!
Post a comment by filling out the form below.
