Buckeyes lose 7-6 in Overtime against Fighting Irish
Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio State men's lacrosse team lost in overtime at No. 9 Notre Dame, 7-6, Saturday in Notre Dame, Ind. Seniors James Green and Mario Ventiquattro each had a hat trick to provide the scoring for the Buckeyes, while freshman goalie Ryan Brant had 10 saves in his first career start.
"I'm proud of the way the team competed and played today," Nick Myers, Ohio State head coach, said. "It was a tough loss but something we can ultimately build on moving forward."
The game was the first of five-consecutive road contests for Ohio State (4-3). The team will play at Fairfield Tuesday night in its first ECAC League game and will take on Quinnipiac Saturday in Hamden, Conn.
The Buckeyes opened the game vs. Notre Dame (5-2) with a 2-0 lead. Ventiquattro scored just 36 seconds into the contest and freshman Dominique Alexander set up Green for a tally at 7:37. The Irish cut the lead in half on David Earl's goal less than a minute later (6:48), making the score 2-1 Buckeyes after one quarter.
Mike Pires set up Ventiquattro three minutes into the second quarter but the Irish scored the last three goals of the stanza to send the teams into halftime with Notre Dame ahead, 4-3. Andrew Irving answered Ventiquattro's goal 26 seconds later to cut the lead to one (3-2). Zach Brenneman scored the next two goals, tying the game at 8:13 and giving the Irish their first lead of the game with 21 seconds left in the quarter.
Ohio State scored the only goals of the third quarter to regain the lead, 6-4. Ventiquattro opened the scoring in the quarter for the third time, finding the back of the cage at 13:44 to knot the score at 4-all. Green tallied the next two, regaining the Buckeye lead at 8:41 and extending the advantage to two (6-4) at 3:08.
The Irish rallied to force overtime. Brenneman tallied at 8:49 to trim the Buckeye lead to one (6-5). At 3:20 Earl scored to deadlock the game at 6. Brant had five saves in the quarter, including one as time wound down, as the Irish put all seven of their shots on net.
In overtime, the Buckeyes won the opening faceoff and put a shot on net but ND goalie Scott Rogers made the save. A Notre Dame shot was blocked after the Irish cleared the ball, with Ohio State getting the groundball and a clear of its own. Notre Dame forced a turnover to regain the ball and Earl scored with 1:21 remaining in the first OT period for the win.
Notre Dame outshot Ohio State, 27-23, in the game. Brant played all 62:19 in the cage for the Buckeyes, making a career-high 10 saves. Rodgers had 10 stops for the Irish as well.
Buckeye freshman Trey Wilkes won 11-of-17 faceoffs on the day.
The Buckeyes had 31 groundballs, with Notre Dame scooping 21. Conor David led the way for Ohio State with five.
Green now leads the Buckeyes with 12 goals this season, followed by freshman Jeff Tundo with 11 and freshman Logan Schuss and Ventiquattro with 10 each. Schuss has a team-high 19 points, followed by Tundo (15), Ventiquattro (14), Green (13) and Pires (10).
