Buckeyes Open Season with Home Games vs. Detroit and Mercer
(Courtesy of Ohio State Athletic Communications)
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State men’s lacrosse team begins the 2011 season with two games in three days, hosting Detroit (0-1) at 7 p.m. Thursday and taking on Mercer (0-0) at 1 p.m. Saturday. Both games will be played on the field inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center in Columbus, Ohio.
A webstream of both games will be available through Buckeye Vision on OhioStateBuckeyes.com for a fee. Live stats links can be found on the men’s lacrosse schedule page at OhioStateBuckeyes.com, and in-game updates also will be on Twitter.com/OhioState_MLAX.
Watch the
Buckeyes
All Ohio State men’s lacrosse home games will be available to
fans nationwide this season. Five games will be streamed through
Buckeye Vision on OhioStateBuckeyes.com (Detroit, Mercer, North
Carolina, Lehigh and Loyola). The game vs. Hobart April 9 will be
produced by BigTenNetwork.com and streamed on that site for a fee.
The broadcast may then be televised at a later date on Big Ten
Network; an air date has not been set.
The Showdown in the Shoe, set for April 23 vs. Fairfield, will be televised live by Big Ten Network. It marks the second-consecutive year the network will air the record-setting game.
Links to webcasts for away games can be found on the men’s
lacrosse schedule page at OhioStateBuckeyes.com before game
day.
Buckeyes vs. Titans
Ohio State is 2-0 all-time vs. Detroit, including a 16-7 win inside
Woody Hayes Athletic Center Feb. 27, 2010. The squads first faced
off Feb. 7, 2009, a 21-1 victory for the Buckeyes as Nick Myers
began his tenure as Ohio State head coach. The game also was the
inaugural game for Detroit as a varsity program.
Detroit, which was 3-12 last year and 2-6 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, took on Delaware last Saturday in the first Division I game of the 2011 season, falling to the Blue Hens, 13-5. Shayne Adams had three goals for Detroit, with Scott Harris and Matt Gregson also scoring. Harris also chipped in two assists. All five Titan goals were scored man-up. Goalie A.J. Levell had 17 saves in the loss.
Detroit is joined in the MAAC by Canisius, Jacksonville, Manhattan, Marist, Saint Joseph’s, Siena and VMI.
For
Openers
Ohio State is 2-0 in season openers under head coach Nick Myers,
with a 21-1 victory over Detroit in 2009 and a 10-8 win against
Villanova last year. This is the fifth-consecutive year Ohio State
is opening the year with a home game. The squad suffered an 8-7
loss in overtime to Navy to begin the 2008 campaign and won the
2007 opener, beating Robert Morris in Columbus, 13-5.
The Mercer Bears
Mercer, located in Macon, Ga., is in its first season as a Division
I program and is the first Division I men’s lacrosse program
in the state of Georgia. The squad’s inaugural game will be
against Ohio State after an exhibition game with Georgia
Tech’s club team Jan. 29. A scrimmage with Sewanee was
cancelled last week after the Sewanee squad was hit with the flu
bug. The Bears are competing as an independent this season.
Jason Childs, a native of Baltimore who played at Dickinson College, is the squad’s head coach. He has previous experience starting a program, as he was the head coach for Presbyterian when it began play in 2005.
The Buckeye
Captains
Five captains have been selected for the Buckeyes this season,
including seniors Jarred Bowman, Conor David, Scott Lathrop and
Bryce Woodson and junior Brock Sorensen. The captains were selected
by a vote of their teammates. The five selected were part of a
group of players who indicated an interest in leading the team
before practice began and auditioned throughout fall camp.
On the
Sidelines
Nick Myers is now in his third year as the head coach of the
Buckeyes. He is joined by Andrew Baxter, also in his third year
with the squad, and Dave Dobbins, who is in his second campaign.
The newest addition to the staff is Patrick DeBolt, who joined the
team as the volunteer assistant coach after spending last year with
NCAA champion Duke as its volunteer. DeBolt is a 2009 graduate of
Hofstra and spent time as an undergraduate assistant with the team.
Mark Bergey is in his second year as the team’s director of
operations.
Indoor
Lax
Ohio State is 7-0 in games played inside Woody Hayes Athletic
Center. The first indoor game for the program came in March 2008
when a blizzard forced the Buckeyes and Penn State indoors and the
Buckeyes downed the Nittany Lions, 17-6. In 2009 the Buckeyes
defeated Detroit (21-1), Bucknell (10-9 OT) and Fairfield (11-6)
inside the WHAC. The 2010 squad posted wins over Villanova (10-8),
Detroit (16-7) and Penn State (11-10 OT) on the Woody Hayes
turf.
Preseason Picks
The Buckeyes were slated fourth in the ECAC Lacrosse Preseason
Poll. Denver is first, followed by Loyola and Fairfield. Hobart was
ranked fifth, with Air Force sixth and Bellarmine seventh.
Buckeye sophomore Logan Schuss, an honorable mention All-American and the ECAC Rookie of the Year, was named to the 2011 Preseason All-ECAC Team. In the coaches’ preseason picks in Faceoff Yearbook Schuss and defenseman Brock Sorensen both were named to the team.
Home Sweet
Home
In all, Ohio State will play in three venues on the Ohio State
campus this year - at least two games inside Woody Hayes Athletic
Center, three games scheduled for Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium and
one or two contests in Ohio Stadium, including the third-annual
Showdown in the Shoe April 23 vs. Fairfield.
The Buckeyes are 10-3 in Columbus over the last two seasons.
Flashback
The Buckeyes were 7-8 last season and 3-4 in conference play in its
first season as a member of the ECAC Lacrosse League. Logan Schuss
led the Buckeyes with an Ohio State freshman-record 56 points,
including 31 goals and 25 assists en route to ECAC Rookie of the
Year, first team all-conference and honorable mention All-America
accolades. Jeff Tundo was second on the team with 35 points,
ranking fourth with 20 goals.
In all, 32 letterwinners return from that squad, including six
starters.
Get Your Tickets
Tickets for all Ohio State men’s lacrosse home games in 2011
are now on sale. Tickets for the first six contests are $5 for
adults and $3 for children, with Ohio State students (with BuckID)
and children 6 and under admitted free. Tickets for groups of 10 or
more are $2 each; to purchase contact group sales at
614-247-1984.
Fans are encouraged to prepurchase tickets for the first three games – Thursday vs. Detroit, Saturday vs. Mercer and Feb. 19 vs. North Carolina because space is limited. The game vs. the Tar Heels is scheduled to be played outside in Ohio Stadium, pending the weather conditions. The confirmed location will be announced the week of the game and additional tickets will be made available should the game be played in Ohio Stadium
Tickets for the fourth annual Showdown in the Shoe, which features the Ohio State men’s lacrosse team taking on Fairfield at 11 a.m. April 23 in Ohio Stadium, went on sale Feb. 4. Single-game tickets, which include both the lacrosse game and football spring game, are $7 each when purchased prior to game day. Children 6 and under and Ohio State students (with BuckID) are admitted free. Gameday tickets will be $15 each and must be purchased with cash. Tickets for groups of 50 or more are available prior to gameday for $5 each. The group rate is not available online; those interested in purchasing group tickets should call 614-292-0043.
Tickets to all games may be purchased by going online to www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com (click on SHOP, then TICKETS, then BUY SINGLE GAME TICKETS, or click HERE), by calling 800-745-3000, in person at any Ticketmaster outlet or in person at the OSU Ticket Office in the southeast corner of the Schottenstein Center. Note additional service charges apply to any phone or online ticket orders.
