New year, new look, another W. Ohio State came out in what I am dubbing the "Black Death" unis, and completely stifled the revamped Johns Hopkins Blue Jays, 14-8. Two years after their last meeting, Ohio State started strong and never let up, cruising to an easy away victory at once mighty Homewood Field. And, despite the massive W, there's not a lot to rest easy on with (edit: Rutgers) up next.
For this afternoon, however, the big names came through in big spots. Tre Leclaire fired in 4 goals on 9 shots. Jack Myers had 3 goals on 8 shots. Grant Mitchell took a step in midfield and scored a couple of tallies, while Griffin Hughes continued his breakout from last year with 3 goals and 1 assist, tied with Leclaire for the team lead in points.
Omari DeBerry chipped in a goal as well, while Jack DeSantis had an assist from his defensive slot. All in all, the Buckeyes shot a respectable 37.8% against a team that was bound to struggle, given its lack of true practice time together. Still, you can only call today a success from the offensive viewpoint.
Defensively, Ohio State did well. The new-look unit held a loaded Johns Hopkins offense to 25% shooting, and kept them under 60% of their shots on goal. Only Connor DeSimone, the senior attackman, scored more than one goal. DeSimone did have a hat trick, but that's nearly 50% of goals from one guy. You will take that all day. Joey Epstein was a quiet 1-4 shooting the ball, and former Buckeye commit Brendan Grimes went 0-3 shooting from his lefty spot.
The defense has a lot to be proud of, led by Jeff Henrick's 4 groundballs and 2 caused turnovers. Eric Wenz had 4 groundballs as well, while Ryan Terefenko was a wizard all over the field, filling up the stat sheet. Lots to build on from here.
The biggest storyline is the absence of Justin Inacio. Without their best faceoff man, Ohio State struggled, winning only 12 of 26 faceoffs. Ryan Terefenko was the most effective option there, winning 5 of the 9 draws he took. Sam Faber went 4-8, James Hogan went 3-7, and Steven Zupicich went 0-2. That's 4 different Buckeyes taking draws, which won't lead to success down the road. The staff will need to figure out who the guy will be, who isn't named Terefenko.
In goal, Skylar Wahlund stood tall, saving 11 shots and only allowing 8 goals. That's a tremendous effort against the Blue Jays, and a perfect way to start the season.
It's always weird shooting on a lefty, and Wahlund came up big in the first game of his junior season. Hopefully he continues this trend, as that's a lot better than any performance Wahlund had prior in his career. Congratulations, Skylar!
Oddly enough, only one penalty was called all game, and it was on Ohio State, though the Blue Jays couldn't convert. So, for all intents and purposes, the Buckeye special teams were perfect this week. That's a far cry from the last few years, where both sides of that coin were pretty bad.
Overall, a tremendous win to start the season, all the momentum in the world heading onto next Saturday's showdown with (edit: Rutgers). This is a giant game, and will really test the Buckeyes in all facets. Tune in next week for what is sure to be a barnburner!
Go Bucks!
