Following the Buckeyes' loss to Marquette on Friday in overtime, they have a real fast turnaround leading into a matchup against Detroit Mercy. Detroit has been a perennial fixture on Ohio State's schedule, with some mixed results. Detroit defeated OSU in 2015, but was shellacked in 2016 by a 16-5 score, also losing in 2017 in a 14-8 drubbing. Obviously, the Buckeyes have figured out a way to take care of business against the Titans of late.
Detroit comes into this matchup 2-3 on the year. The Titans lost their opener to Notre Dame in South Bend, defeated Mercer the next week, then lost consecutively to Ohio State's last two opponents as well. Against Bellarmine on Friday, the Titans managed to right the ship by an 11-5 score against Bellarmine. A young program, Detroit is fighting to climb off the bottom of the Division 1 lacrosse pyramid.
Offensively, Detroit is led by freshman Brett Erskine, a native of Canada. With 6 goals and 3 assists, Erskine leads the Titans in goals and points. Closely following Erskine is attackman Matthew Vangalen, a senior transfer from Furman who has 5 goals and 5 assists on the year. Freshman midfielder Brennan Kamish has also contributed 6 goals to the Titans' cause, but Detroit hasn't been exceptionally good on offense. The Titans are being outscored 40-50 on the year by their 1st 5 opponents. With the personnel on hand, Ohio State's defense should be in a good place after a tough game against Marquette.
Defensively, Detroit is quite capable. Sophomore LSM Alex Akins has been a force for the Titans, with 11 groundballs and 8 caused turnovers. Paired with defensive shortsticks Sean Birney and Charlie Hayes, the Titans have a tough, tenacious defensive midfield. The team as a whole has caused 53 turnovers in 5 games. For reference, last year's leading team in caused turnovers had 162 in 18 games, good for 9 caused turnovers per game. Detroit is averaging 10.6 a game against top notch competition. The Buckeye offensive middies are going to have to strap up and play hard for 60 minutes.
The faceoff X is where Detroit is weakest. And, frankly, the Titans have been abysmal. They are 31-107 on the year, good for a 29% win rate. Pretty atrocious. Honestly, if the Titans were around 45 to 50 percent, they would be much more competitive with their defensive ability. Inacio should be able to build on his 56% win rate from the Marquette game against FOGOs who have struggled all season long. Look for a lot of make-it-take-it lacrosse on Sunday.
With a decided advantage at the faceoff X and a Detroit offense that is sputtering, this should be a good tuneup win for Ohio State after an abysmal offensive outing against Marquette.
Buckeyes roll, 16-7.
