Around the Oval on Wednesday, October 16th

Around the Oval is Eleven Warriors' weekly love letter to Ohio State sports that don't get the coverage they should.

  
Totts has the Buckeyes locked and loaded

The football Buckeyes may be 6-0, but they aren't the only Ohio State team firing on all cylinders.

The Ohio State pistol team defeated Army (yes, Army) and Akron this past Saturday at the Lt. Hugh W. Wylie Range at West Point.  

Led by individual event winners Joe Totts (standard pistol), Jason Reineck (free pistol) and Kim Hullings (women's sport pistol), the Buckeyes swept all three open events en route to a milestone victory.  Army, not surprisingly, has won the pistol national championship four out of the past five years.

The Buckeyes are actually one of the best non-military schools for pistol, competing at a high level nationally year-in and year-out.  

Ohio State is off until Friday, October 25th, when they will travel to Lexington, Virginia to face off with Virginia Military Academy.

Join us after the jump to get the latest scoop on the other Ohio State athletic teams.

Soccer

Both soccer teams played well this weekend, with the men's team battling No. 18 Michigan State to a 1-1 draw and the women's team defeating the Spartans 3-1.

Prince continues to rule opposing defenses

In women's action, Nichelle Prince paced the Bucks with an assist and the eventual game-winning goal.  The freshman from Ontario leads Ohio State in both goals (7) and assists (5) this season.

Ohio State took an early 1-0 lead near the end of the first half when Prince found Ellyn Gruber for a header.  Prince put the Lady Bucks ahead 2-0 in the 72nd minute off an assist from Kayla Varner, before Michigan State finally responded with a goal of their own.  Michela Paradiso sealed the game for the Buckeyes when she beat a Spartan defender and scored in the 80th minute to put Ohio State up 3-1.

With the win, the Lady Buckeyes improve to 8-3-3 (2-2-2 in B1G) on the season.  They travel to State College to face Penn State on Thursday before hosting Northwestern on Sunday at noon for senior day.

The men's soccer team impressed as well when they found a way to force overtime against Michigan State.  Trailing 1-0 with six minutes left, Ryan Ivancic found the back of the net to knot the game at 1-1 and force an overtime draw.

Ohio State moves to 2-6-4 (0-2-1) on the season and next plays against Northwestern this Sunday at home.

Women's Volleyball

It was a tough week for the women's volleyball team, as they dropped a pair of hard-fought matches at home.  Ohio State fell to No. 19 Wisconsin on Friday before losing to No. 11 Minnesota on Saturday.  With the losses, Ohio State falls to 14-4 (2-4) on the season.

Taylor Leary had another strong week, with 27 kills, while Taylor Sherwin picked up her fourth and fifth double-doubles of the season, tallying 67 assists and 22 digs over the two matches.

After beginning the season 12-0, the Buckeyes have fallen into somewhat of a slump during Big Ten play, winning only two of their last six matches.  Ohio State looks to get back on track tonight at Northwestern before traveling to Illinois to take on the Fighting Illini on Sunday.

Field Hockey

The field hockey team dropped their only match this week in lopsided fashion, losing to No. 8 Penn State 6-1 this past Friday.  With the loss, Ohio State falls to 4-8 (0-2) on the season.

Ohio State sophomore forward Peanut Johnson scored the Buckeyes lone goal in defeat, her eighth goal of the season to lead the team.  Johnson has been a menace on offense for the Buckeyes, leading the team in goals (8) and points (17), with the second highest goals scored being 3 (Nora Murer and Mona Frommhold).

Despite giving up 6 goals, Ohio State goalie Sarah Lemieux matched her season high with eight saves as Penn State outshot Ohio State 23-8.  The Buckeyes return to Columbus to face Iowa (Friday) and Michigan (Sunday) this weekend.

UPCOMING Home EVENTS

Friday: Field Hockey hosts  Iowa at 3 pm at Buckeye Varsity Field.

Sunday: Women's Soccer hosts Northwestern at 12 pm at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, Field Hockey hosts Michigan at 1 pm at Buckeye Varsity Field, Men's Soccer hosts Northwestern at 2:30 pm at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

Wednesday: Men's Soccer hosts Oakland at 7 pm at Jesse Owen's Memorial Stadium.