Same story, different day. Penn State has had Ohio State's number in lacrosse for years, and today was no different. The Buckeyes always follow the same script. Take about 10 fewer shots, keep the score generally close, but always take the L.
There's so much to hate about this loss. I could go for pages, but it's omce too often to go ballistic. The fact of the matter is that Penn State, for reasons unknown to mankind, always best the Buckeyes in men's lacrosse.
There's no method that's far superior to the ability of the staff. The Penn State offense is not particularly complex. It's not particularly surprising. It hasn't changed despite the loss of Grant Ament. And yet, the Bucks can't stop it. Ten goals should have resulted in a Buckeye win. Ohio State put up 13 in the first half of the season. Scoring 11 or more shouldn't have been hard, especially since Ryan Terefenko was back. And yet, here we are. Another L.
I mentioned in the preview/game thread that this was an embarrassing loss. I said it because, regardless of context, only Ohio State was unable to beat the Nittany Lions this year. Maryland, Rutgers, Johns Hopkins, and TTUN ALL beat Penn State. And the Buckeyes got swept.
Three offensive coordinators in three years, defensive continuity out the wazoo, and Coach Myers still can't find a winning formula. At this point, it's just unlikely to happen under the current regime. Even with all the losses in personnel nect year for Penn State, it's unlikely Ohio State finds a way to win. And that's frustration on a Cooper vs. TTUN level right now.
We can talk about stats, schemes, and the like, but what this comes down to is the staff hasn't recruited well enough to be a team of note. Coach Myers won gold at the U19 championships, in spite of handicapping his team with two future Buckeye players who didn't live up to the billing.
Coach Ross and Coach Sheridan, with separate strengths, didn't have the pull to get elite players in Columbus. There's no reason for the Buckeye middies to be as utterly trash as they have been since 2017 ended. None. More top 100 HS middies quit the team since 2018 than scored goals this year for OSU.
Right now, the only thing we know for sure is that there will be a huge reset of the roster for 2022. I hope, sincerely hope, that Coach Myers hits the portal hard. Because the Buckeyes need some talent. This shit has got to go.
Go Bucks.
