Now that the dust has settled from the wild win over Jacksonville, we can take a look at Ohio State's next opponent. Marquette has barely started the season in comparison to other teams, having played only 2 official games. The Golden Eagles beat a feisty JU 11-10 in their opener, then leveled Detroit Mercy 13-6. This is going to be a good game for the Buckeyes as they begin a weekend doubleheader.
Marquette is a team whose offense thus far is based on volume. The Eagles outshot their 1st 2 opponents 81 to 42. Only 48% of those shots have been on target, however. Similarly, Marquette has only converted 3 of their 10 EMOs. Goals come, but they have to put in a LOT of work. Ohio State, by comparison, has gone 3-11 on EMOs through 4 games. Which, of course, is not great.
From a personnel standpoint, Marquette relies heavily on their attackmen after losing all point-scorers from last year's matchup with Ohio State. Anthony Orsini, a true freshman from Maryland, leads the Golden Eagles in goals with 6, and is tied for the team lead in points with 8. Junior Canadian John Wagner has 5 goals and 3 assists. These men will be a serious challenge to the Buckeye D, who need to extend their 4th quarter form against JU.
The midfield is no slouch for Marquette either, with Connor McClelland, Jack Zerrillo, and Peter Henkhaus scoring 10 combined goals in the past 2 games. After allowing a true freshman to explode last week for 5 goals, the Buckeye staff and players will have even more to worry about this week. A balanced Marquette offensive attack is going to be quite the riddle for Ohio State to solve on a packed weekend of lacrosse.
Defensively, Marquette starts Brendon Connolly, Jackson Ehlert, and Nick Grill. Grill was 2nd Team All-Big East last year, and has 5 groundballs this year, with a caused turnover too. Ehlert has 3 groundballs and 2 caused turnovers in 2018, while Connolly has 2 caused turnovers this year. Not the most fearsome unit, though Grill will certainly be a force to be reckoned with. Even so, look for Leclaire, Jasinski, and Chell to put the pressure on.
At the faceoff X, Senior Zachary Melillo is winning 60% of his draws this year. Against JU, he went a respectable 12-25, right at the 50% mark. Melillo also has 11 groundballs on the year. It will be another tough assignment for the duo of Feliziani and Inacio this week, as they'll look to take the next step after splitting last week's draws right down the middle. Inacio appears to have taken over a starting role at FOGO, so his performance against MU will be a good marker of what he can do the rest of the season. Melillo also missed last year's game due to injury, so it will be new faces all around on faceoffs.
In goal, Marquette starts senior Cole Blazer, who has 12 saves on the year and a .444 save percentage. He's only given up 15 goals this season, which is admittedly still very young for Marquette. Blazer was 2nd team All-Big East last year and had a school record 18 saves in last year's 12-6 Buckeye win. All signs point to a good matchup for this weekend's opener.
Amateur prediction: Buckeyes win 12-8.
