It was 2018 all over again in The Shoe today, as Ohio Stare had an absolutely putrid offensive performance against the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers. Just awful from start to finish.
Absolutely none of what made the Buckeyes so potent in their first 7 games was on display today, and that shpwed in the scoreline. Autopsy commences now.
Offensively, there wasn't anything good to say. Tre Leclaire was the only Buckeye with multiple goals, on 2 of 9 shooting. Jasinski and Reid failed to record a single point, and went 0 for 13 shooting.
Jack Myers tied Leclaire's point total with a goal and assist. All told, the Buckeyes connected on just 6 of 45 shots, for a shooting percentage of .133. That's about a third of what they had coming in. Despite outshooting the Knights in total shots, the Buckeyes tied for shots on goal.
And Max Edelmann stonewalled the Buckeyes to the tune of 17 saves. Ohio State couldn't buy a goal, and shot so poorly it may as well have been any of the local JV teams out there. No one did well, and there is tons to work on.
Defensively, Ohio State struggled. No other way to put it. Kieran Mullins absolutely ripped the defense, going off for 4 goals and 4 assists on 7 shots. Adam Charalambides had 3 goals on 12 shots, slightly less efficient, but really just piled on to the damage done by Mullins.
It was an evisceration, and there's no other way to describe it. Ohio State has to get back to the drawing board, and buckle down to prepare for an ever more difficult slate.
In goal, Max Edelmann put himself in line for all-B1G and potentially all-American honors. He had 17 saves, stopped two of OSU's best three O players cold, and made the Buckeyes look inept.
Kirson had 9 saves, but a save % under 40%. That's not good. Not at all. I've alternately maligned and praised Kirson, but there's not much to say about his performance today. No one was even adequate. Except the FOGO.
Justin Inacio, after struggling last week, lit up 3 different Rutgers FOGOs to the tune of 17 for 22. Inacio won 77% of faceoffs, and the rest of the team did nothing to help him.
There's not much you more you can ask of a FOGO, and while it certainly is a team game, not a single person can blame #30 for what happened today. It was just one of those days.
Special teams were a complete disaster for the Buckeyes today. Rutgers had 3 Man Up opportunities, and converted 2. OSU had 4 Man Up opportunities and converted 0.
I said in the preview this would happen in a loss, I just didn't think it would be this meaningless. Take away those two goals, and OSU still loses by 6. It was a terrible performance, but didn't affect the outcome, really. It just ensured the margin would be 8.
The less said about this performance, the better. Only one player played to his potential, and the rest imploded. The risk of emotional victories like the Notre Dame game is a followup drubbing.
And that certainly happened today. This takes care of any notion of an undefeated season, and really adds a ton of pressure to the remaining 4 games.
Rutgers, Hopkins, and TTUN were the most winnable games left, and the Buckeyes laid a huge egg today. It'll be a mad scramble to the B1G tourney. Buckle up.
