Ohio State excellence is not exclusive to the football field or the basketball court. Around the Oval is our way of keeping you informed of the amazing things happening with the other 34 varsity sports on campus.
The fall athletic season is officially underway with both soccer teams, the field hockey team, and the women's volleyball team starting their seasons this past week. With that, Around the Oval — our weekly love-letter to non-revenue sports — is also back in action. Here's your update on how things have gone for the Buckeyes across the athletic program since the start of the 2015 season.
Women's Soccer undefeated
The Ohio State women’s soccer team is off to hot start. After beginning the season unranked, a barrage of goals against Illinois State and an overtime winner against the eighth-ranked Florida Gators vaulted the Buckeyes to a number 18 national ranking.
Junior forward Nichelle Prince was expected to have a huge 2015 season, and she has delivered. Prince has scored or assisted on five of the Buckeyes’ nine total goals, including an overtime game-winner in Ohio State’s upset of Florida. Her performance has not gone unrecognized as she was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week.
Fellow forward Lindsay Agnew has also been key to the Buckeyes success. The junior has one goal and three assists on the season, and has really complimented Nichelle Prince on the attack. Of her three assists, two have gone to Prince and her lone goal was assisted by Prince. Together, the two have been nearly unstoppable and will look to stay in this form all season.
The team is undefeated on the season with a record of 3-0-1 after a scoreless tie to Texas in Austin Sunday afternoon. Aside from that outcome, the team has started vast improvement from last season, particularly offensively. The Buckeyes will look to improve upon this solid start as they take on Florida International Thursday.
men's soccer searching for form
The Ohio State men’s soccer team hosted their annual Wolstein Classic this weekend, but they had to settle for second place.
The Buckeyes began the tournament with a 2-0 shut-out win against Cal State Fullerton, but struggles were already evident even in a win. From an Ohio State release, head coach John Bluem said “Cal State Fullerton is a very good team and we were fortunate that they were given a red card in the first half.” He went on to explain that they “weren’t at our best tonight.”
Ohio State got exposed further in the second and final game of the tournament against Binghamton, where they lost 1-0. Head coach John Bluem said in a release, “we have a good team, but we aren’t playing very well right now. We need to recognize that to find out what the issues are and move forward.”
Many of the issues are at the offensive end. The Buckeyes are teeming with talent on attack with Kenny Cunningham, Danny Jenson, and Marcus McCrary, but they've struggled mightily to create and finish chances. It’s hard to imagine this issue persists all season given the past success of the players mentioned, but it’s certainly an area of concern at the moment, and early season losses do nothing to help a team's tournament resume.
One bright spot on the team has been senior goalkeeper Chris Froschauer. After the departure of Alex Ivanov, goalkeeper was one of the question marks for this squad going into the 2015 season. Froschauer, a graduate transfer from The University of Dayton, appears to have answered those questions. He was named to the to the 2015 Wolstein Classic All-Tournament Team after making a few spectacular saves in the Buckeyes’ first two games.
The Buckeyes start a four match road-trip this weekend with matches against UMBC and Navy Friday and Sunday. They'll look to rebound and find their form before starting their Big Ten schedule with Northwestern next week.
Other Scores and News
- Women’s Volleyball: After a 3-1 loss in the season opener to Wyoming, the 14th-ranked Buckeyes bounced back, sweeping both Butler and South Dakota. They have a season record of 2-1.
- Women’s Field Hockey: The Buckeyes defeated St. Louis 5-0 in the season opener Friday, but fell to No. 7 Albany (led by reigning National Player of the Year Paula Heuser) 3-1.
What's Happening This Week?
- Women's Soccer: Ohio State Takes on Florida International at home Thursday evening.
- Men's Soccer: The Buckeyes begin a four match road-trip with matches against UMBC Friday and Navy Sunday.
- Women's Volleyball: The Buckeyes host the annual Koehl Classic in Columbus Friday where they’ll face Florida State and Northern Illinois.
- Women's Field Hockey: Ohio State goes on the road to face No. 11 Wake Forest Friday, and Missouri State Saturday.
