In what seems like a whirlwind, we are already on to game two of Ohio State's season. After today, the season will be 1/7th complete. Feels like it's flying by, after all the time spent waiting. At least we have plenty to talk about, since nothing of note at all is happening with football.
Cleveland State has been slowly regressing since the departure of Dylan Sheridan a few years ago. That's nothing against their current coach, just an objective fact. The Vikings are a poor fit for college lacrosse, and are stuck as a minnow against some titans of the sport.
Regardless, we get to witness the Buckeyes host Ohio's only other DI team. And that's pretty cool. The Vikings lost their best player on offense to the Buckeyes this past off-season. And, for any non-Buckeye, it's a bit of a shame. The CSU offense is not good. They played marginally well in the opener against VMI, another moribund DI program that doesn't quite belong.
Parker Yearego(#22), kicked off the season with a bang, scoring 4 goals against VMI in an overtime win. Yearego is easily going to be Ohio State's biggest threat this game. No one outside of Yearego is really going to scare this Buckeye defense. And, suffice it to say, the performance against VMI doesn't inspire confidence for dealing with a Big Ten defense.
Speaking of defense, CSU is lucky that they escaped VMI with a win. The Vikings allowed VMI to get off more shots, and really struggled to get a stop after shutting them out in the first quarter.
Goalie Connor Kernan (#0) had 14 saves, which you can probably credit with getting CSU into the win column. John Sokolowski (#77), Zack Tower (#45), and Reggie Regala (#26) will be your starters down low. I expect the Buckeyes to feast on offense.
At the faceoff dot, CSU was bad against VMI, only winning 12 of 27. Tommy Burke is a certified stud, and Robbie Stewart (#21) went 9-20 as the primary faceoff taker for the Vikings last week. I am just going to be honest, if Tommy Burke doesn't won 75% of today's faceoffs, it's going to be a letdown. Huge advantage, Buckeyes.
On special teams, the Vikings both let in a goal and scored a goal on Man Up. Each team had 2 opportunities. It's not particularly telling yet, but I imagine that Ohio State will be in a little better position. We will see if Henry Blake continues to be the starting keeper for the Buckeyes, and how he does against a much lesser team.
The Buckeyes had a really tough offensive performance last week, but pulled it together enough to win. This will be the week we see a lot of backups playing, and trying to shine. I am interested to see if guys like Kyle Lewis keep getting time over others who should probably be on the field. Nothing but interesting times.
Final Prediction: Ohio State 20, Cleveland State 9.
This should be over quickly, and CSU gets to 9 only because the backups play the 4th quarter.
Game is at noon, on BTN+.
Go Bucks!
