With the turn of the calendar, we find ourselves on the brink of a brand new lacrosse season. The grind never stops, obviously, but now all that work comes to fruition. And it also means I get to drop another season preview. This is probably the most intriguing season in a while, due to the many, many changes that we have seen in the past 12 months.

First of all, there was actually a team fall practice session, instead of pods of individuals doing drills. So the scheme could be refined, there could be actual scrimmages, and fallball games occurred.

And it's been pretty spectacular all around. There's been rumors about games, but also there is tape. And it's leading me to believe there's room for optimism, maybe even hope.

We have seen the schedule drop at the earliest juncture that I have ever witnessed. Usually it's posted randomly two weeks before opening day. Now we know what to expect, and we can see that there are a lot of really big games coming up in 2022.

The question is, what can we expect to see from the Buckeyes as we move towards the opening faceoff?

With all the changes in personnel, I am going to keep the format pretty much the same as past years. We will do position group previews, scheme overview, then a brief crystal ball into the season schedule. It's going to be a long ride, so grab a beverage and settle in.

Up first, position groups. And we always start at attack, because going north-south is my default.

Attack

The biggest change for this group is the loss of the Canadian Cannon, Tre Leclaire. The best goalscorer in Buckeye history, Leclaire spent five years in Columbus ripping holes in the net, and helping Ohio State get to the brink of history.

Only a run-in with conference foe Maryland prevented the Buckeyes from winning their first national championship ever in lacrosse. In 2022, Leclaire has moved on to pro lacrosse, and leaves an absolutely massive hole on the righty attack side for the Bucks.

For this season, Colby Smith (#4), a fifth year senior, looks like he will be the replacement in that slot. Smith knows the offense, knows what Coach Myers wants to see, and is capable enough at that spot. Given Jack Myers' (#2) ascendance as the X attackman (the general area directly behind the net), Smith will be tasked with a lot fewer ball-carrying responsibilities.

This is perfect, because Smith isn't the most dynamic attackman out there. If Colby Smith is unfamiliar, that would be due to his missing all of 2021 with an injury. 2022 is a redemption year in more than one way.

Smith's definitely got more guile than Leclaire off the shot, as Leclaire is going to fire a laser in the vicinity of a quadrant of the goal, and hope it scores. Smith isn't nearly as strong, but he'll place shots a lot better.

And if you're any student of applied ballistics, you'll know placement is a lot more important than power.

On the left-handed side of the field, put down Jason Knox's (#16) name in pen. He transferred in from Hobart after a down 2021, mostly because the Statesmen lost all of their good middies after 2020.

Knox is about as close to a Leclaire facsimile as you're going to get. He can run out of the box, but that lefty hammer is too good to not have on the field for fast break goals. Having scored 36 goals as a freshman with Hobart, Knox can put the ball in the net.

His production fell off drastically after the 2020 season, going from 18 goals in 5 games to 8 in 5 games for 2021. Again, though, the midfield dynamic was so different that it's hard to fault him for that.

The added threat of having a big left-handed shooter, versus a big righty, will stretch the field in a good way for Knox and the Buckeyes.

Jack Myers really needs no review. He was the Buckeyes' best player in 2020 and 2021, led the team in scoring last year (34 goals, 11 assists) and will be the biggest indicator of Buckeye success in 2022.

If Myers controls the game, the Buckeyes will win. If he does not, rack up an L. Expect big things from him this season.

There's going to be very little rotation of attackmen this year. The young guns won't be on campus until the fall, and there's not really any middle ground for this position.

Griffin Hughes (#9), Scott White (#6), and Jackson Reid (#29) may step down there for a break from running middie shifts, but that will be temporary only. This is the crew.

Projected starters: Colby Smith, Jack Myers, Jason Knox.

Names to watch: N/A.

Offensive midfield

This position group is dramatically improved, based on the scrimmages I have seen. The loss of Grant Mitchell hurts, no doubt about it. That is just a fact. The remaining players, however, are really impressing in the fall, and hopefully in the spring as well.

Starting with the knowns, Griffin Hughes is the best midfielder the Buckeyes have right now.

Hughes is a decent dodger, but much better against the number 2 or 3 defender than a Big Ten team's lockdown guy. As a scorer, though, Hughes is lights out.

There's a reason he went off in 2021, and that is only going to continue in 2022. Hughes can pick a spot and hit it quickly, which is more important than shooting hard but releasing slow. Whether it's off-ball in the all even, or as a shooter on Man Up, Hughes combines very well with his teammates.

Having Jack Myers behind the cage to pull the strings really opens up lanes for Hughes.

Johnny Wiseman is going to get a lot of time with the ball in 2022 as well. He has shown himself to be a good dodger, but poor shooter on the run during his time at Ohio State.

If Wiseman can up his assist tally, or add the running shot to his game, the Buckeyes will see a big jump in offensive success. During the fall, Wiseman did pretty well as an off-ball shooter, but we will see if that continues into the season.

After these top two players, there's a lot of unknowns at this point, though that's not because of a lack of quality. I'll briefly go through the players in the mix, and project after that.

Jackson Reid has bumped to middie full time, and is going to be a slick shooter from that spot. Reid was streaky at attack, scoring in bunches at times, but also really struggling for a series of games each season. Hopefully he can be more consistent out of the box.

Connor Mitchell (#24) has struggled with injuries for years, dating back to high school, and is looking to put it all together this season. Mitchell went both ways in the scrimmages, doing okay on the defensive end, but he shines as an off-ball shooter.

Trent DiCicco (#18) looks like a player who wants to be a bigger part of the offense in year two. DiCicco really dodges well down the alley, but struggles getting a solid scoring chance. He got stuffed a couple times trying to bring the stick back across his body after a successful alley dodge. If he can figure out how to get back lefty, DiCicco can have a really good sophomore season.

Mitchell Pehlke (#25) is in the mix as a ball handler as well. Pehlke has above average ability as a dodger, but isn't going to be able to be the primary option. He just doesn't have that dodging skillset to dominate a Big Ten or ACC defense. Pehlke can play, but he's a role guy at middie.

Ari Allen (#3) is already the most dangerous dodger on the team. He also is prone to turnovers or being shutdown by an upperclassman opponent. That's not a knock, he hasn't even played a DI game yet. Allen can be what this team has needed for years.

A dominant dodger who can make defenses panic. Perfect example of what I mean was a play against Syracuse last fall. He took the ball to X, cleanly beat his defender, then attempted a behind the back feed across the face of goal to a teammate on the crease. It was easily batted down, Syracuse got the ball, and cleared successfully. It's all there for Ari, he just needs to bridle his aggression in favor of ball retention somewhat.

There hasn't been a dodger like him in the Scarlet and Gray since Eric Fannell, and Allen is a completely different player to Fannell. By that I mean that Fannell had incredible stickwork and the ability to thread insane passes to Leclaire on the right. Allen is a speedster who is going to slash through the D. Look out for #3. If he can avoid the Myers' Black Hole of freshmen, Allen will do some special things.

Scott White is in his 4th year with the program, and started to make a bit of an impact in 2021. It's been a long road for him, but there's some hope yet to see #6 do some good things.

White bumped up from attack in 2021, and got minutes in relief on offense. We will see if he can maintain his position with all the new faces.

That is probably about it for middies on O. I don't see the other freshmen seeing the field very much, if at all, and the other veterans haven't been able to get on the field outside of blowouts. This is most likely the rotation for 2022, barring injury or a big leap from someone on the team.

First Line: Griffin Hughes, Johnny Wiseman, Jackson Reid.

Second Line: Trent DiCicco, Mitchell Pehlke, Connor Mitchell.

Name to watch: Ari Allen.

SSDM/LSM

I combined these two because it's just not worth breaking out the LSMs from the poles down low. Your starter is going to be Steven Zupicich (#11), hands down. Zupicich was starting games last year, and has looked good thus far in scrimmages. He scored in transition against Syracuse in the fall, so you know he's looking to get a tally when possible.

Carson Raney (#15) has seemingly jumped from close D to LSM, and was pretty decent during the fall. He isn't quite as dynamic as Zupicich, but that's fine. Raney is a good second option at the LSM slot, especially given the attrition there over the past couple of years.

Connor Cmiel (#8) is the number one option at SSDM, and after that it's pretty up in the air. Cmiel is going to try to be a Terefenko-esque player, though they're pretty different stylistically. Cmiel can certainly score in transition, but he doesn't quite have the same shake as Terefenko when the ball is in his stick. That's not meant to be a criticism, just an observation.

Carter Hilleary (#40) is the most likely partner for Cmiel, and the pairing gives a nice 1-2 shortie punch on defense. Hilleary is a solid defender, and can handle the ball when needed. He is a good matchup against opposing middies, and will be dangerous in transition.

Dante Bowen (#23) is a freshman poised to get minutes as a backup SSDM, spelling either Hilleary or Cmiel. He is good straight up, but will probably need some time to fit into the entire defensive scheme as a whole. Not quite as dynamic in transition as Cmiel or Hilleary, Bowen will still be someone to watch in the offensive zone with his great stick skills.

Evan Riss (#50) made an emergency jump from close D to SSDM last year, and is likely to reprise his role there this year. Riss is a decent SSDM, but just doesn't quite bring enough to be on the first line. He will look to ride out his senior year as a contributor with the short stick.

First Line: Connor Cmiel, Carter Hilleary, Steven Zupicich.

Name to watch: Dante Bowen.

Close D

This is the biggest area of change from the disappointment that was 2021. New faces abound, and there's a lot to like. Jeff Henrick moved on to the professional ranks, which is a big loss, however the additions are really looking good this year.

Transfer Tyler Gallagher (#42) comes in as a DIII All American, and has looked really good. Gallagher doesn't overwhelm athletically, but his positioning, footwork, and checks are really good. Even better, his off-ball work is excellent. There's not enough noise nationally about this transfer, because Gallagher is going to completely change this defense.

A freshman, Bobby Van Buren (#44), is also looking really good in his first year of scholastic lacrosse. Van Buren is sort of the perfect complement to Gallagher, in that his lack of experience makes him vulnerable occasionally, but the on-ball skillset is extraordinary.

Van Buren is going to be a problem for opposing offenses, especially since he won't be counted on to be the defensive leader immediately. Lots to like from a 5-star recruit looking to make an instant impact.

Jacob Snyder (#52) is the lone returner from last year's starting close defense who will be in the same role this spring. Snyder is going to represent Team USA this summer in the U21 world games, and is already an established defensive stalwart.

He knows the defense best, and will keep the entire unit on the same page this year (hopefully). That would be an amazing boon to a defense that was trash most of the year.

George Walsh (#43) and Jack DeSantis (#32) are the only other returners who saw the field at close D in 2021. Each had their struggles, making them depth pieces.

Noah Mendoza (#46) comes in as a first year player who did pretty well at Lafayette last year. He will also likely be in the mix. Thankfully, this year looks like it will need far less rotation than last year to be successful.

Starters: Tyler Gallagher, Bobby Van Buren, Jacob Snyder.

Name to watch: Noah Mendoza

Faceoff:

This is going to be the shortest section of the preview. Justin Inacio (#30) is back as a 5th-year player. He will start. Drew Blanchard (#20) is a 5th-year transfer who will split time with Inacio. Those are your FOGOs for 2022.

Starter: Justin Inacio

Name to watch: Drew Blanchard

Goalie:

The arrival of Caton Johnson (#12) couldn't have been more timely. An all-ACC goalie for UNC in 2020, he was passed over in 2021. His presence is an instant upgrade for the Buckeyes, in so many ways. Johnson should stabilize a position that has constantly been in flux for Ohio State since 2017. Look for Johnson to start day 1, and be an impact player.

Skylar Wahlund (#1) has been a rotational starter for Ohio State his entire career. He was good last year in game one against a Hopkins team in serious flux, but cratered quickly. Wahlund was benched, then only came on in relief a couple of times.

He looked solid in the scrimmage against Syracuse last fall, but not better than Johnson. He will be the backup, barring a crazy emergence from freshman Henry Blake (#7).

Starter: Caton Johnson

Name to watch: N/A

That about covers it from a personnel standpoint. Now we move to the scheme section of the preview. It's going to cover the phases in the half-field, then transition, and finally special teams.

Offense

The offense flows through Jack Myers, but based on the scrimmages is going to be a lot more balanced than previous years. By balanced, I mean that Tre Leclaire's gravitational pull will no longer be there to have passes and ball-carrying duties sucked in.

That's not a knock on Leclaire, just an obvious observation that he was probably the most dangerous offensive player of his era after 2017.

Myers is in a good spot this year because of his passing abilities. Teams that get too focused on stopping his dodges are going to find themselves on the wrong side of a pass over the top. Myers had 4 assists or so between his Syracuse and Yale fall scrimmages by doing just that. A 30 goal, 20 assist season is the minimum expectation for Ohio State will use Myers as the fulcrum of the offense.

Generally, the Buckeyes are going to rely on alley dodges that lead to assisted goals, or inverts using a dodging option from the box. Ohio State is trying to get to a positionless/box offense, where there are dodgers, shooters, and pickers, based on skillsets.

Dodgers from up top and below GLE will determine how far this goes. Look for Johnny Wiseman, Trent DiCicco, and Griffin Hughes to fulfill this role. Ari Allen will get his shots early, but may not get the green light in the B1G if he turns the ball over.

Shooters will be Jason Knox and Jackson Reid, as their lefty looks should be wide open when the ball goes behind. Colby Smith probably falls here as well, because his dodging just isn't at the B1G level. Jack Myers will bounce between these roles, depending on his matchups.

Pickers will pretty much be everyone else, with the opportunity to roll off of those picks liberally. With such a Canadian-heavy lineup this year, there will be many such looks, and the execution should be drastically better.

Defense

The defense should be drastically improved from last year, though it still has a troubling tendency to lose sight of what needs to happen off-ball. Watching the scrimmages this fall, the defense didn't figure out who was hot with the ball behind the net very well. Yes, it was fall ball, and yes, they're all new personnel.

So tomorrow and the 29th will say a lot. But it's something to keep an eye on.

The SSDMs seem to have improved a lot as well, which is to be expected now that Carter Hilleary is a junior and Connor Cmiel is a sophomore. If Dante Bowen progresses well, the midfield defense could be really good. SSDMs always seem to lag a bit in the off-ball phase of the game, so that's another thing to watch as we start the year.

In goal, Caton Johnson seems to really distribute well, in addition to being a good shotstopper. Skylar Wahlund looks like he has progressed a little in saving the ball, but that's only based off of one half of one game. He starts well, but quickly gets found out.

With Johnson as the presumed starter, however, we could be in the hunt for a Tom Carey-esque figure between the pipes. That's very exciting.

Faceoffs

The Buckeyes look good. Justin Inacio is back, Drew Blanchard is going to immediately be a really solid alternative, and the rest are going to be jockeying for draws as well. Wings are excellent with Cmiel, Carter, and the LSMs. Good times ahead.

Transition

Probably the biggest change you will see this year is a renewed emphasis on riding. The Buckeyes were in the 10-man ride (full-court press essentially, except the goalie comes out of net) against Syracuse and Yale, with pretty good results. There was very little in the way of fast breaks, and more than a few forced turnovers.

Virginia rides incredibly hard, and it has helped the Cavs win back to back national titles. Aggressive rides help develop an aggressive mindset in all phases, and really put the opposing team under pressure. This can only be good.

Clearing, the Buckeyes look about the same as ever, though Steven Zupicich looks like he may score a few on the break. Zupicich nailed Ohio State's second or third goal against Syracuse on a nice shot as a trailer. Something to watch out for on slow breaks against teams that don't bring offensive players back on D.

Special Teams

The Buckeyes try out a few different plays each year on Man Up, always looking a bit different. This year is no different, from what I could see. There was a lot more movement of both ball and men, which is an excellent change. And with so many quality lefties, the whole dynamic changes as the ball moves.

It's very Canadian in setup and personnel, which is nice to see. It led to some very pretty goals in the scrimmages, which we hope will carry over into the season.

The Man Down defense should be much improved, as the poles have gotten drastically better from where they were in 2021. Hilleary and Cmiel in the shorty slot will help as well. I don't think anything will really change structurally, but it should be a much better unit overall.

Final verdict

This may come as a surprise, but I am actually very bullish on this team's chances coming into the season. The Buckeyes looked really good in the fall, and more than held their own with three different top 10 challengers.

There's certainly room for optimism as we head towards the opener in two weeks. I will see if anything from the next two scrimmages changes my mind, but overall I think this will be a better year than the rest of the country believes Ohio State can put together.

Putting it in specifics, I think this team finishes a solid 3rd in the Big Ten, makes it to the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament, and qualifies for the NCAA national tournament.

This team should be a quarterfinalist team, though that may be their limit with how tough the ACC and Ivy Leagues are currently. Still, a solid bounce back year that should springboard the Buckeyes into great things!

Final Record: 11-6 (3-2 Big Ten, 1-1 Big Ten Tournament, 1-1 NCAA Tournament).

Leading scorer: Jack Myers (38 goals, 22 assists)

MVP: Caton Johnson

Go Bucks!