That was a complete disaster. It was so bad after the first quarter that I can't even pinpoint a single unit or entity that is responsible. This was a relatively easy win if everyone executes even 80% of their capacity. And not a single player, unit, or the coaching staff did.
The Kirsts are my least favorite lacrosse family ever, because they're just always killing the Buckeyes. Whomever guarded Kirst got worked all game. Kirst got every groundball, every putback, just kept Cornell in it. Piatelli is also a Buckeye assassin. But really, the defense did well enough guarding players to win.
Handling the ball, however, was absolutely abysmal. There were so many missed clears that it was a minor miracle to get the ball from defense to offense. All players on D played a role. If you can't even get the ball out of your own end, you have no chance to win.
Caton Johnson didn't have his best day, but it is hardly fair to critique him too much after no one got a groundball or a clear in front of him. That many second chances are tough to save.
Faceoffs were absolutely abysmal today. Justin Inacio was under .500 for the first time in many, many games. Every time Ohio State was looking to make a move, Petrakis would win 3 faceoffs in a row. The formula for OSU is ball possession off each face, play a lot of O, and score based on volume. Can't do that when you win under 50% of draws.
The offense, as per usual during Myers' tenure, ran through a bunch of seasoned veterans who completely shit the bed. For whatever reason, there are three to five games a year where the seniors (and now fifth-years) will collectively fail to hit on more than one shot each. Today was that day.
Jack Myers, Colby Smith, and Jackson Reid went 3-19 from the field today. Shooting 15% isn't going to cut it, especially when those 19 shots are 54% of the team's total. I don't know what happened to Griffin Hughes or Johnny Wiseman today, but someone, anyone, with experience needed to step up today. None of them did.
Bright spots: Ed Shean, who had 4 points to double up the next nearest scorer. That's a big time game from a true freshman out of a non-lacrosse environment. Shean has been improving all season, and the future of the middies is looking bright.
The other freshman middies who are playing, Gurr and Allen, also had decent days. Gurr scored on an assist from Allen, which hopefully becomes a common occurrence.
Otherwise, today's game was irredeemably bad. The team clearly didn't come ready to execute after a hot start. Yes, it was a top 10 opponent, on the road. But that level of slop comes from bad practice. The defense continues to find ways to be an Achilles heel, while the offense refuses to run reliably more than two or three games in a row.
Fortunately, there are plenty of practices left, and a game against Dartmouth is a nice palette cleanser. Should have more on them later. There will be better days this season.
Go Bucks.
