Knucklebucks: Outscored 8-1 over weekend against UMOhio State operates the NCAA's second-largest athletic department. Eleven Warriors is committed to keeping you informed of what's happening with those sports that make Ohio State athletics more than just football and basketball. Around the Oval will be your bi-weekly update on these teams.
Greetings, dubyans, and welcome to the latest installment of ATO. I'll be your host this week as Jeremy is likely off with Alex breaking into the bedrooms of guys yet to commit to Urban Meyer in hopes of swiping some ironclad info from their respective diaries. You know how those two do it.
Anyhoo, I was kinda hyped about filling in since the OSU Knucklebucks were slated to take on The Figure Skaters From Up North on Friday in the Schott setting up the outdoor showdown at Progressive Field but, well, then the games happened.
Entering the weekend as the #2 team in the country sporting a 14-4-3 record, OSU dropped the Friday night opener in the Schott by a score of 4-0 before falling 4-1 on Sunday afternoon in the Frozen Diamond Faceoff.
Friday night wasn't as bad as the 4-0 score looked as OSU's Cal Heeter surrendered two goals in the 1st period but none after that with Michigan logging to empty netters in the final 1:17 of regulation. Plus, there was an on-ice Script Ohio so there's that.
Sunday was a little tougher to watch. In front of 25,684 frozen sets of eyeballs in Progressive Field, the Buckeyes trailed just 2-1 less than a minute into the 2nd after a Chris Crane net tickler but OSU would get no closer as Michigan scored two goals in 28 seconds. The first came off a deflected shot after Ohio State coughed it up deep in their own zone and the second came from in close as David Wholberg beat Heeter making it 4-1 bad guys midway through the 2nd period.
Afterward, Crane summed up the state of things quite nicely offering, "We're in a funk. All teams go through adversity over the course of a season. We just have to work hard in practice and work our way out of it on the ice."
Despite the losses, the Buckeyes are still 1st in the CCHA with 34 points with Western Michigan (33 pts) and Michigan (29) rounding out the top three. They did see their national ranking slip to 5th which seems kind considering the lopsided scores against Michigan came on the heels of two shootout losses to the not very good Bowling Green Falcons the previous weekend.
With four straight losses in hand, an 11 game winning steak earlier this season that included a weekend sweep of Michigan for the first time in 26 years seems like a distant memory. Luckily, they've all probably taken enough headshots to more easily forget and move on.
The rest of the season begins this Friday and Saturday as the Buckeyes host Ferris State in the Schott. Catch them while you can as there will be just three regular season home tilts after this weekend.
PRAHALIS is so gangsta
The Lady Buckeyes improved to 17-1 on the season with a 10 point against Northwestern on Thursday followed by a 64-56 win in Breslin against Sparty on Sunday. The pair of victories moved OSU from 11th to 10th in the latest AP Poll.
Tayler Hill poured in 24 against the Wildcats including 19 in the 2nd half while Samantha Prahalis added 20 points and six dimes in what I'm sure were 40 cocky minutes.
The win set up a chance for the Buckeyes to move into 2nd place with a win over Sparty and that's exactly what happened as Tayler went off for 21 points and seven rips. Prahalis was again in the mix scoring 15 points including four late to help ice the game.
Never missing a chance to get under the skin of opposing fans and players, Prahalis gave the "shhh" finger over lips gesture after a bucket early which is made all the more sweet by the fact she actually has "SHHH" tatted on her freaking finger. Gotta love a little smack-runnin' in women's hoops. Now if they just lower the damn rim to 8 feet and get some dunks goin...I kid.
Purdue sits at a perfect 5-0 in B1G play with OSU, Sparty and Nebraska all just one game back. The Buckeyes host the Huskers at 6pm Thursday night before welcoming Illinois to the Schott for a 2pm tip Saturday.
Men's Gymnastics opens season with a bang
The 7th rated OSU men's gymnastics squad kicked off the 2012 campaign by claiming 1st place at Windy City Invitational, their first such title since 2006.
Predicted to finish 4th in the conference this year, the Buckeyes took down both #2 Illinois and #3 Michigan in Chi-town.
The Buckeyes are led by All-Americans Ty Echard (pommel horse), Kris Done (high bar) and Jeff Treleaven (vault) and sport a new head coach in Rustam Sharipov. He takes over the program after six years as an assistant at Oklahoma.
Sharipov should be set for the forseeable future as the Buckeyes sport eight freshmen and nine sophomores on the 25 man roster.
Buckeye Bits
The 4th ranked mens indoor track team went on the road Saturday and issued a 91.5 - 70.5 beatdown to Michigan, notching a fifth straight W in the rivalry series dubbed "The Dual". OSU won 10 of the 15 events, improving to 7-2 against Michigan since The Dual was ressurrected in 2008.
The men's volleyball team unveiled the 2011 National Championship banner on Saturday but fell to #7 Penn State, dropping to 2-3 on the young season. The 8th ranked Buckeyes are back in action tonight as they welcome Sacred Heart to St. John Arena. Just like the extravaganza at the fairgrounds, admission is FREE!
