Now that the schedule has been settled, mostly, we get to talk about lacrosse. Really talk about it. Which is glorious. A real live game will be played on Saturday, and it is awesome.
Ohio State begins the men's lacrosse season with a game against Johns Hopkins, away. This game will tell us a lot about what these teams are going to look like this season. There's so much turnover from last year, that it's pretty tough to get a good read on how things will be moving forward. But I will speculate wildly anyway.
Offensively, Johns Hopkins has all the talent in the world at its disposal. Even with the downturn of Coach Pietremala's final few years, the roster has a former #1 overall recruit and numerous 4- and 5-star players sprinkled throughout. No one can deny they have talent.
Now we will see what the new staff will do with it. The arrival of Coach Milliman from Cornell is going to be big for Hopkins. He brought in John Grant Jr, who helped Air Force look like a genuine program on the rise in CO. The Falcons really had some good pieces in place, and had Canadian flair to boot.
Grant, Jr. is a legend as a player, probably the best scorer in history, and has some serious coaching chops. With all the Canadian players on the roster, look for box lacrosse concepts to make an early appearance.
In 2021, Hopkins is going to have a lot of familiar names looking to score goals. Connor Desimone, #3, is a senior who apparently is down at attack after years in midfield. Cole Williams, #14, came back for a 5th year, and will bounce between attack and midfield.
Williams was in the transfer portal at one point, but decided to come back for one last go at Homewood. Also at attack will be one of the biggest recruits in recent memory, Brendan Grimes, #9. Grimes was a top 5 recruit in the class of 2020, and will look to pair with former #1 overall recruit Joey Epstein, #32, now a junior. The Jays have a loaded attack unit for 2021, and they will be exceedingly dangerous in the offensive end.
At middie, the Blue Jays are weakest offensively. They still have 4- and 5-star guys all over, but the returning players haven't necessarily panned out the way Hopkins was hoping. A new year brings new blood, however, and there is plenty of talent to make life hard for the Buckeye defensive midfielders.
Senior Brett Baskin, #1, returns, along with juniors Evan Zinn, #29, and Garrett Degnon, #40. Degnon had 11 goals last year, at 6'4", making him a man the Buckeyes will have to watch. For Hopkins, though, the bigger threats might be freshmen.
Johnathan Peshko, #53, is a 6'4" righty from Canada. He has incredible shooting skills and is going to be a physical presence. Casey Mcdermott, #33, is the #14 overall recruit in the class of 2020, running out of the box and potentially splitting duties with Cole Williams at attack.
Add to that a darkhorse guy like Dylan Bauer, a Park City, Utah product who was a stud running back in high school. There's a lot to like in the freshman class, but they're all still unproven. Peshko's size is innate, but the midfielders as a whole are pretty much a big question mark.
Defensively, Johns Hopkins is pretty average when everyone is healthy, which they are not. The Jays brought in LSM Jared Fernandez, a transfer from Syracuse who did some good things for the Orange. Unfortunately, per Inside Lacrosse, Fernandez tore his ACL and is out for the year.
At close D, redshirt senior Jack Lyne, #28, returns, having started all of Johns Hopkins' games last year. Junior Owen McManus, #31, also returns as a starter at close D. Senior Jared Reinson, #87, who played as an LSM last season, appears to have been pushed down to close D for 2021, giving us an idea of what the Jays' starting rotation will be in game one of the season.
All in all, it's not a daunting lineup the way Maryland's unit will be, or Penn State's, for that matter. At the same time, it's not as though these players will be complete slouches.
In goal will most likely be a name all of us who follow Buckeye lacrosse are very familiar with. Transfer Josh Kirson, #8, will be between the pipes for Johns Hopkins after departing Ohio State.
Kirson had a really good 2020, after being up and down for most of his career. The Buckeyes will have an advantage in knowing his tendencies inside and out, but the counterpoint is that he knows every Buckeye shooter better than any goalie in the country. Should be a fun duel.
At the faceoff X, there is so much uncertainty right now you can't really make a true preview. Kyle Prouty, #25, is a senior FOGO who won 61% of his faceoffs last year as Hopkins split duties. Look for him to be the starter at the opening whistle against Justin Inacio.
Will Prouty win at the same rate? Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on how much time he put in over the off-season to deal with the new rules. Any potential outcome is possible.
The biggest question that Johns Hopkins will have is how sharp will the entire team be after essentially zero organized practice? The Jays didn't have a fall, and barely had a spring after Covid swept through the squad. It's a perfect storm for Ohio State, as it takes a while to truly get where you should be as a team. Johns Hopkins has incredible talent, but even talent needs practice time to gel. And if you don't get practice, the games get ugly. With Joey Epstein and a slew of top 50 guys, I don't know that it will be that bad. But I think Ohio State makes a statement early in Maryland.
Final score: Ohio State 13, Hopkins 9.
