Based on several requests in my Boston recap, I tried to whip up a decent overview of this year's team. Below is a fairly comprehensive, but not exhaustive, breakdown of important players on the 2018 Buckeye Men's lacrosse team. New names are sure to emerge, but I think I hit most of the big names.
For the casual, I mention Canadian players because their style of play is almost entirely single handed, but extremely creative and tricky. They're really fun to watch on offense.
Here we go...
Goalie:
#2 Matthew Smidt: 1st year starter between the pipes. Played sparingly as a backup for 3 years. Has 22 saves this year. No other goalie on the team has a minute played in 2018.
Faceoffs:
#23 Christian Feliziani starts at the X. He currently is 19-28. #30 Justin Inacio, a true freshman, is 15-19 on the year. Inacio was the top ranked faceoff guy in the class of 2017, making him a crown jewel in the freshman class. Inacio may end up the starter by year's end if he can overtake Feliziani. Either way, Ohio State is set at the faceoff X, maybe the most important position in today's game.
Close D:
#32 Matt Borges: 2nd year starter as a true junior. Started every game last year during the Bucks' run to the title game. Has 2 starts and 6 groundballs this year.
#40 Ben Randall: Senior, transfer from Stony Brook. The only 1st team All American in the histpry of the program. The 4th player ever named an All American. Has 2 starts and 3 groundballs on the year.
#43 Erik Evans: 3rd year starter, Captain, Senior. Started 43 straight games for the Buckeyes. Became a starter for final 7 games of his freshman season, hasn't missed one since. Has 2 groundballs this year.
Midfielders:
#10 John Kelly - Captain, 1st year starter, 5th year senior due to Medical Redshirt. Can play both ways, having switched to short stick defensive midfielder last year fpr the last 7 games. Scored 4 goals against Cleveland State in the opener, adding another against Boston to go with 2 assists.
#13 Bo Lori - Captain, 5th year Senior due to transfer from Lehigh, plays defensive midfielder as a short stick, no groundballs or caused turnovers in 2018 yet.
#29 Jackson Reid - true freshman, first year starter, Canadian, will be an offensive force for the Buckeyes this year. Had 4 goals against Boston, scored a goal and an assist against Cleveland State, has 6 groundballs this year. Watch #29.
#35 Logan Maccani - True Junior, more of a short stick defemder who can play a little offense. Has 1 goal and 6 groundballs this year.
#34 Ryan Terefenko - True Sophomore, Short stick defensive midfielder, got hurt during the tournament last year and couldn't go. Has played 2 games this year, with 2 assists and 4 groundballs.
#44 Freddy Freibott - True Senior, D/Long stick Midfielder, Freddy plays on the wing off Faceoffs and while the Bucks are on D, has 9 groundballs this year. Last year he recorded the most groundballs by a non-FOGO since 2004 with 58.
Attack:
#14 Tre Leclaire - True Sophomore from Canada, plays both attack and midfield, 2 starts this year, led the team in goals last year with 49, has 6 goals and 2 assists on the year already. Leclaire is a workhorse, and will be counted on heavily by the Buckeyes to put points on the board.
#3 Tre Bugliosi - True Freshman, started 2 games at Attack for the Buckeyes this year. Came from Calvert Hall in Maryland. Has a goal and an assist on the year. Calvert Hall is a bit of a Buckeye pipeline for lacrosse. Something like 4 of the 2018 recruiting class are from the school.
#5 Jack Jasinski - True Junior, started final 3 games of 2017 for the Buckeyes, as well as 2 in 2018, at attack. Currently has 3 goals and 1 assist on the year.
#7 Lukas Buckley - 3rd year Sophomore after redshirting 2016. Has a start against Boston and 1 assist on the year. Most likely is the attackman who will rotate with Leclaire extensively. Had 15 goals in 2017.
#22 Colin Chell - Senior, Captain, plays attack on a relief basis in 2018 thus far. No idea if that is a coach's decision or due to injury. Has a goal and assist on the year, will be counted on for leadership offensively as the Buckeyes navigate a rough B1G schedule.
