Buckeyes Fall at No. 17/18 Bucknell, 11-5

Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio State men's lacrosse team lost its 2010 road opener to No. 17/18 Bucknell, 11-5, Saturday in Lewisburg, Pa. Buckeye senior goalie Brandon Freeman had 11 saves in the game, with five Buckeyes registering a goal and three others recording an assist.

The Buckeyes will return home for back-to-back games, hosting Massachusetts at noon Saturday (Feb. 27) and Penn State at 1 p.m. March 6. Both games are scheduled to be played inside Woody Hayes Athletic Center, where seating is limited. Fans are encouraged to pre-purchase tickets through OhioStateBuckeyes.com.

The Buckeyes led 2-0 less than six minutes into the game. Freshman Dominique Alexander opened the scoring with an unassisted goal at 10:17 of the first quarter, followed by a goal from freshman Jeff Tundo, set up by junior Mike Pires, at 9:17. The Bison cut the Ohio State lead to one when Billy Eisenreich scored with 2:06 left in the opening stanza.

The Bison outscored the Buckeyes 4-2 in the second quarter to carry a 5-4 lead into halftime. Ryan Klipstein tied the game at 2-all at 8:47 of the second. The Buckeyes responded with back-to-back goals from junior Jarred Bowman (assisted by freshman Dan Wertz) at 7:56 and a man-up tally from senior James Green 48 seconds later (7:08) to take a 4-2 lead. Bucknell then went on a six-goal run to jump out to an 8-4 lead. The Bison scored twice in 47 seconds to tie the game at 4-all, with Charlie Streep tallying at 5:53 and Brandon Buchmayr following at 5:06. Klipstein put the Bison ahead for the first time with a goal with 3:47 left in the first half.

The Bison scored the only goal of the third quarter, a Chris Palmer tally at 6:47 to give Bucknell a 6-4 lead. Bucknell's goalie made five saves in the stanza.

Bucknell put the game away with five goals in the fourth quarter. Austin Winter and Streep tallied at 11:43 and 10:40, respectively, to open the stanza and give the Bison an 8-4 lead. Buckeye senior Mario Ventiquattro found freshman Logan Schuss for a goal with 4:05 on the clock to stop the Bucknell run. The Bison scored three goals in less than a minute to close out the scoring. Tim Brandau scored man-down at 3:14, Mike Danylyshyn tallied man-up at 2:53 and Streep completed his hat trick at 2:28.

Ohio State was outshot in the game, 38-22. Freeman played all 60 minutes and had 11 saves for the second-consecutive game. For Bucknell Sam Finnell started and allowed three goals on four shots in 21:52. Kyle Feeney picked up the win, making nine saves while allowing two goals.